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Quantum Information and Computation

Different adiabatic quantum optimization algorithms for the NP-complete exact cover and 3SAT problems

ChoiVicky

Published Jul 1, 2011• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

One of the most important questions in studying quantum computation is: whether a quantum computer can solve NP-complete problems more efficiently than a classical computer? In 2000, Farhi, et al. ...
DOI
10.5555/2230916.2230923

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One of the most important questions in studying quantum computation is: whether a quantum computer can solve NP-complete problems more efficiently than a classical computer? In 2000, Farhi, et al. (Science, 292(5516):472--476, 2001) proposed the adiabatic quantum optimization (AQO), a paradigm that directly attacks NP-hard optimization problems. How powerful is AQO? Early on, van Dam and Vazirani claimed that AQO failed (i.e. would take exponential time) for a family of 3SAT instances they constructed. More recently, Altshuler, et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 107(28): 12446--12450, 2010) claimed that AQO failed also for random instances of the NP-complete Exact Cover problem. In this paper, we make clear that all these negative results are only for a specific AQO algorithm. We do so by demonstrating different AQO algorithms for the same problem for which their arguments no longer hold. Whether AQO fails or succeeds for solving the NP-complete problems (either the worst case or the average case) requires further investigation. Our AQO algorithms for Exact Cover and 3SAT are based on the polynomial reductions to the NP-complete Maximum-weight Independent Set (MIS) problem.
One of the most important questions in studying quantum computation is: whether a quantum computer can solve NP-complete problems more efficiently than a classical computer? In 2000, Farhi, et al. (Science, 292(5516):472--476, 2001) proposed the adiabatic quantum optimization (AQO), a paradigm that directly attacks NP-hard optimization problems. How powerful is AQO? Early on, van-Dam and Vazirani claimed that AQO failed (i.e. would take exponential time) for a family of 3SAT instances they constructed. More recently, Altshuler, et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 107(28): 12446--12450, 2010) claimed that AQO failed also for random instances of the NP-complete Exact Cover problem. In this paper, we make clear that all these negative results are only for a specific AQO algorithm. We do so by demonstrating different AQO algorithms for the same problem for which their arguments no longer hold. Whether AQO fails or succeeds for solving the NP-complete problems (either the worst case or the average case) requires further investigation. Our AQO algorithms for Exact Cover and 3SAT are based on the polynomial reductions to the NP-complete Maximum-weight Independent Set (MIS) problem.
One of the most important quantum algorithms is Grover's search algorithm [G96]. Quantum searching can be used to speed up the search for solutions to NP-complete problems e. g. 3SAT. Even so, the best known quantum algorithms for 3SAT are considered inefficient. \nSoon after Grover's discovery, Farhi and Gutmann [FG96] devised a "continuous-time analogue" of quantum searching. More recently Farhi et. al. [FGGS00] proposed a continuous-time 3SAT algorithm which invokes the adiabatic approximation [M76]. Their algorithm is difficult to analyze, hence we do not know whether it can solve typical 3SAT instances faster than Grover's search algorithm can. \nI begin with a review of the discrete- and continuous-time models of quantum computation. I then make precise the notion of "efficient quantum algorithms", motivating sufficient conditions for discrete- and continuous-time algorithms to be considered efficient via discussion of standard techniques for discrete-time simulation of continuous-time algorithms. After reviewing three quantum search algorithms [F00,FG96,G96], I develop the adiabatic 3SAT algorithm as a natural extension of Farhi and Gutmann's search algorithm. Along the way, I present the adiabatic search algorithm [vDMV01] and remark on its discrete-time simulation. Finally I devise a generalization of the adiabatic algorithm and prove some lower bounds for various cases of this general framework. \nUPDATE (February 2003): Please see article http://arxiv. org/abs/quant-ph/0302138 for a resolution to the problem of simulating the continuous-time adiabatic search algorithm with a quantum circuit using only O(sqrt(N)) resources.
We present a multi-step quantum algorithm for solving the 333-bit exact cover problem, which is one of the NP-complete problems. Unlike the brute force methods have been tried before, in this algorithm, we showed that by applying the clauses of the Boolean formula sequentially and introducing non-unitary operations, the state that satisfies all of the clauses can be projected out from an equal superposition of all computational basis states step by step, and the search space is reduced exponentially. The runtime of the algorithm is proportional to the number of clauses, therefore scales polynomial to the size of the problem. Our results indicate that quantum computers may be able to outperform classical computers in solving NP-complete problems.
The authors analyze the computational power and limitations of the recently proposed 'quantum adiabatic evolution algorithm'. Adiabatic quantum computation is a novel paradigm for the design of quantum algorithms; it is truly quantum in the sense that it can be used to speed up searching by a quadratic factor over any classical algorithm. On the question of whether this new paradigm may be used to efficiently solve NP-complete problems on a quantum computer, we show that the usual query complexity arguments cannot be used to rule out a polynomial time solution. On the other hand, we argue that the adiabatic approach may be thought of as a kind of 'quantum local search'. We design a family of minimization problems that is hard for such local search heuristics, and establish an exponential lower bound for the adiabatic algorithm for these problems. This provides insights into the limitations of this approach. It remains an open question whether adiabatic quantum computation can establish an exponential speed-up over traditional computing or if there exists a classical algorithm that can simulate the quantum adiabatic process efficiently.