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Science

A coherent Ising machine for 2000-node optimization problems

Takahiro Inagaki, Yoshitaka Haribara, Koji Igarashi, Tomohiro Sonobe, Shuhei Tamate, Toshimori Honjo, Alireza Marandi, Peter L. McMahon, Takeshi Umeki, Koji Enbutsu, Osamu Tadanaga, Hirokazu Takenouchi, Kazuyuki Aihara, Ken‐ichi Kawarabayashi, Kyo Inoue, Shoko Utsunomiya, Hiroki Takesue

Published Oct 21, 2016• 799 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The analysis and optimization of complex systems can be reduced to mathematical problems collectively known as combinatorial optimization. Many such problems can be mapped onto ground-state search problems of the Ising model, and various artificial spin systems are now emerging as promising approaches. However, physical Ising machines have suffered from limited numbers of spin-spin couplings because of implementations based on localized spins, resulting in severe scalability problems. We report a 2000-spin network with all-to-all spin-spin couplings. Using a measurement and feedback scheme, we coupled time-multiplexed degenerate optical parametric oscillators to implement maximum cut problems on arbitrary graph topologies with up to 2000 nodes. Our coherent Ising machine outperformed simulated annealing in terms of accuracy and computation time for a 2000-node complete graph.

DOI
10.1126/science.aah4243

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The analysis and optimization of complex systems can be reduced to mathematical problems collectively known as combinatorial optimization. Many such problems can be mapped onto ground-state search problems of the Ising model, and various artificial spin systems are now emerging as promising approaches. However, physical Ising machines have suffered from limited numbers of spin-spin couplings because of implementations based on localized spins, resulting in severe scalability problems. We report a 2000-spin network with all-to-all spin-spin couplings. Using a measurement and feedback scheme, we coupled time-multiplexed degenerate optical parametric oscillators to implement maximum cut problems on arbitrary graph topologies with up to 2000 nodes. Our coherent Ising machine outperformed simulated annealing in terms of accuracy and computation time for a 2000-node complete graph.
Various artificial spin systems with networked physical devices are now emerging as a way to simulate the Ising model. Combinatorial optimization problems for many applications can be mapped onto ground state search problems of the Ising model and solved efficiently with the artificial spin system. Here, we report a coherent Ising machine based on 2,048 networked degenerate optical parametric oscillators. All-to-all couplings were achieved with a measurement and feedback scheme to implement arbitrary graph structures with up to 2,048 nodes. The coherent Ising machine can simulate large-scale Ising model and obtain good solutions for the optimization of a 2,000-node complete graph.
We report a coherent Ising machine (CIM), which is a network of degenerate optical parametric oscillators for simulating the Ising model. Using a long-distance fiber cavity that includes a telecom-band phase sensitive amplifier, we generated large number of degenerate optical parametric oscillator (DOPO) pulses multiplexed in time domain, which represent the Ising spins. By using a measurement and feedback scheme, we could implement all-to-all coupling among 2048 DOPOs. We experimentally confirmed that the CIM could find solutions to maximum cut problems for graphs with as many as 2000 nodes.
Computers based on physical systems are increasingly anticipated to overcome the impending limitations on digital computer performance. One such computer is a coherent Ising machine (CIM) for solving combinatorial optimization problems. Here, we report a CIM with 100,512 degenerate optical parametric oscillator pulses working as the Ising spins. We show that the CIM delivers fine solutions to maximum cut problems of 100,000-node graphs drastically faster than standard simulated annealing. Moreover, the CIM, when operated near the phase transition point, provides some extremely good solutions and a very broad distribution. This characteristic will be useful for applications that require fast random sampling such as machine learning.
Coherent Ising machines (CIMs) are increasingly anticipated as a new computer that can solve combinatorial optimization problems. CIMs use degenerate optical parametric oscillator pulses as artificial spins. We constructed a 100,512-spin coherent Ising machine, the world's largest. Our CIM can find good solutions to maximum cut problems of 100,000-node graphs ~1000 times faster than simulated annealing. Furthermore, it provides both very good scores and a broad distribution when we operate it near the phase transition point.
Combinatorial optimizers using physical systems, or "Ising machines," have been intensively studied as a way of computation that is more efficient than current digital computers. Here, we demonstrate that a coherent Ising machine (CIM) based on degenerate optical parametric oscillator (DOPO) pulses can find solutions to large-scale maximum independent set problems, which is an essential optimization problem that is closely related to real-world optimization tasks. We implemented a stable external field for each Ising spin as an interaction between a DOPO pulse and a group of ferromagnetically coupled auxiliary pulses. Consequently, the CIM delivered independent sets for dense graphs with up to 40,000 nodes. We compared the performance of the CIM with that of optimized simulated annealing algorithm implemented on a digital computer and found that the CIM outperformed the central processing unit (CPU) in terms of the time needed to obtain good approximate solutions when the graph size exceeded several thousand nodes.
Coherent Ising machines (CIMs) constitute a promising approach to solve computationally hard optimization problems by mapping them to ground state searches of the Ising model and implementing them with optical artificial spin-networks. However, while CIMs promise speed-ups over conventional digital computers, they are still challenging to build and operate. Here, we propose and test a concept for a fully programmable CIM, which is based on opto-electronic oscillators subjected to self-feedback. Contrary to current CIM designs, the artificial spins are generated in a feedback induced bifurcation and encoded in the intensity of coherent states. This removes the necessity for nonlinear optical processes or large external cavities and offers significant advantages regarding stability, size and cost. We demonstrate a compact setup for solving MAXCUT optimization problems on regular and frustrated graphs with 100 spins and can report similar or better performance compared to CIMs based on degenerate optical parametric oscillators.