Introduction. Quantum computers provide several times faster solutions to several NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems in comparison with computing clusters. The trend of doubling the number of qubits of quantum computers every year suggests the existence of an analog of Moore's law for quantum computers, which means that soon they will also be able to get a significant acceleration of solving many applied large-scale problems. The purpose of the article is to review methods for creating algorithms of quantum computer mathematics for combinatorial optimization problems and to analyze the influence of the qubit-to-qubit coupling and connections strength on the performance of quantum data processing. Results. The article offers approaches to the classification of algorithms for solving these problems from the perspective of quantum computer mathematics. It is shown that the number and strength of connections between qubits affect the dimensionality of problems solved by algorithms of quantum computer mathematics. It is proposed to consider two approaches to calculating combinatorial optimization problems on quantum computers: universal, using quantum gates, and specialized, based on a parameterization of physical processes. Examples of constructing a half-adder for two qubits of an IBM quantum processor and an example of solving the problem of finding the maximum independent set for the IBM and D-wave quantum computers are given. Conclusions. Today, quantum computers are available online through cloud services for research and commercial use. At present, quantum processors do not have enough qubits to replace semiconductor computers in universal computing. The search for a solution to a combinatorial optimization problem is performed by achieving the minimum energy of the system of coupled qubits, on which the task is mapped, and the data are the initial conditions. Approaches to solving combinatorial optimization problems on quantum computers are considered and the results of solving the problem of finding the maximum independent set on the IBM and D-wave quantum computers are given. Keywords: quantum computer, quantum computer mathematics, qubit, maximal independent set for a graph.
Introduction. Quantum computers provide several times faster solutions to several NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems in comparison with computing clusters. The trend of doubling the number of qubits of quantum computers every year suggests the existence of an analog of Moore's law for quantum computers, which means that soon they will also be able to get a significant acceleration of solving many applied large-scale problems. The purpose of the article is to review methods for creating algorithms of quantum computer mathematics for combinatorial optimization problems and to analyze the influence of the qubit-to-qubit coupling and connections strength on the performance of quantum data processing. Results. The article offers approaches to the classification of algorithms for solving these problems from the perspective of quantum computer mathematics. It is shown that the number and strength of connections between qubits affect the dimensionality of problems solved by algorithms of quantum computer mathematics. It is proposed to consider two approaches to calculating combinatorial optimization problems on quantum computers: universal, using quantum gates, and specialized, based on a parameterization of physical processes. Examples of constructing a half-adder for two qubits of an IBM quantum processor and an example of solving the problem of finding the maximum independent set for the IBM and D-wave quantum computers are given. Conclusions. Today, quantum computers are available online through cloud services for research and commercial use. At present, quantum processors do not have enough qubits to replace semiconductor computers in universal computing. The search for a solution to a combinatorial optimization problem is performed by achieving the minimum energy of the system of coupled qubits, on which the task is mapped, and the data are the initial conditions. Approaches to solving combinatorial optimization problems on quantum computers are considered and the results of solving the problem of finding the maximum independent set on the IBM and D-wave quantum computers are given. Keywords: quantum computer, quantum computer mathematics, qubit, maximal independent set for a graph.
Combinatorial optimization problems play a vital role in computer science and engineering, with applications in logistics, network design, finance, and resource allocation. However, many of these problems are NP-hard, making them computationally expensive to solve using classical optimization techniques, especially for large-scale instances. In recent years, quantum computing has emerged as a promising paradigm capable of addressing these limitations by leveraging quantum mechanical principles such as superposition and entanglement. This study investigates the application of quantum computing for solving combinatorial optimization problems, with a focus on algorithm design, complexity analysis, and real-world applicability. The research primarily employs the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and Grover's search algorithm to solve representative problems such as Max-Cut and the Knapsack problem. The performance of these algorithms is evaluated using key metrics including accuracy, execution time, and approximation ratio, and is compared with classical optimization techniques. The results demonstrate that QAOA is capable of generating near-optimal solutions, achieving accuracy levels of up to 93% for small problem instances. However, the study also highlights the challenges associated with current quantum systems, including noise, limited qubit availability, and increased execution time. Comparative analysis reveals that while classical methods remain more efficient for small-scale problems, quantum algorithms show significant potential for scalability and handling complex optimization tasks. The findings suggest that hybrid quantum-classical approaches offer a practical solution in the current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era. The study concludes that although quantum computing is still evolving, it holds strong potential for transforming combinatorial optimization in the future.
Quantum computing is a rapidly developing field that has seen a huge amount of interest in the last couple of decades due to its promise of revolutionizing several domains of business and science. It presents a new way of doing computations by making use of fundamental properties of quantum mechanics such as superposition and entanglement. Optimization, on the other hand, is a field that is omnipresent in the industry and where small improvements can have a significant impact. This thesis aims to tackle optimization problems using quantum algorithms.NP-hard optimization problems are not believed to be exactly solvable through general polynomial time algorithms. Variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) to address such combinatorial problems have been of great interest recently. Such algorithms are heuristic and aim to obtain an approximate solution. The hardware, however, is still in its infancy and the current Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers are not able to optimize industrially relevant problems. Moreover, the storage of qubits and introduction of entanglement require extreme physical conditions.An issue with contemporary quantum optimization algorithms such as the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) is that they scale linearly with problem size. To tackle this issue, we present the LogQ encoding, using which we can design quantum variational algorithms that scale logarithmically with problem size - opening an avenue for treating optimization problems of unprecedented scale on gate-based quantum computers. We show how this algorithm can be applied to several combinatorial optimization problems such as Maximum Cut, Minimum Partition, Maximum Clique and Maximum Weighted Independent Set (MWIS). Subsequently, these algorithms are tested on a quantum simulator with graph sizes of over a hundred nodes and on a real quantum computer up to graph sizes of 256. To our knowledge, these constitute the largest realistic combinatorial optimization problems ever run on a NISQ device, overcoming previous problem sizes by almost tenfold.Next, we apply the LogQ encoding to two use-cases for large companies such as TotalEnergies. Fleet conversion is the process of transitioning a fleet of vehicles to more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives. It is modeled as a column generation scheme with the MWIS problem as the sub-problem or worker problem. We use the LogQ method to solve the MWIS Workers and demonstrate how quantum and classical solvers can be used together in a hybrid manner to approach an industrial-sized use-case. Mesh segmentation refers to the process of dividing a complex mesh (composed of vertices, edges, and faces) into meaningful and semantically coherent parts or regions. Mesh segmentation plays an important part in computer modeling, which is extensively used in the core domains of TotalEnergies' activities such as Earth imaging, physical modeling for reservoirs, and others. We define the problem as a graph optimization problem and use the LogQ encoding to solve it.
Quantum computation appears to offer significant advantages over classical computation and this has generated a tremendous interest in the field. In this thesis we study the application of quantum computers to computational problems in science and engineering, and to combinatorial optimization problems. We outline the results below. Algorithms for scientific computing require modules, i.e., building blocks, implementing elementary numerical functions that have well-controlled numerical error, are uniformly scalable and reversible, and that can be implemented efficiently. We derive quantum algorithms and circuits for computing square roots, logarithms, and arbitrary fractional powers, and derive worst-case error and cost bounds. We describe a modular approach to quantum algorithm design as a first step towards numerical standards and mathematical libraries for quantum scientific computing. A fundamental but computationally hard problem in physics is to solve the time-independent Schrödinger equation. This is accomplished by computing the eigenvalues of the corresponding Hamiltonian operator. The eigenvalues describe the different energy levels of a system. The cost of classical deterministic algorithms computing these eigenvalues grows exponentially with the number of system degrees of freedom. The number of degrees of freedom is typically proportional to the number of particles in a physical system. We show an efficient quantum algorithm for approximating a constant number of low-order eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian using a perturbation approach. We apply this algorithm to a special case of the Schrödinger equation and show that our algorithm succeeds with high probability, and has cost that scales polynomially with the number of degrees of freedom and the reciprocal of the desired accuracy. This improves and extends earlier results on quantum algorithms for estimating the ground state energy. We consider the simulation of quantum mechanical systems on a quantum computer. We show a novel divide and conquer approach for Hamiltonian simulation. Using the Hamiltonian structure, we can obtain faster simulation algorithms. Considering a sum of Hamiltonians we split them into groups, simulate each group separately, and combine the partial results. Simulation is customized to take advantage of the properties of each group, and hence yield refined bounds to the overall simulation cost. We illustrate our results using the electronic structure problem of quantum chemistry, where we obtain significantly improved cost estimates under mild assumptions. We turn to combinatorial optimization problems. An important open question is whether quantum computers provide advantages for the approximation of classically hard combinatorial problems. A promising recently proposed approach of Farhi et al. is the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA). We study the application of QAOA to the Maximum Cut problem, and derive analytic performance bounds for the lowest circuit-depth realization, for both general and special classes of graphs. Along the way, we develop a general procedure for analyzing the performance of QAOA for other problems, and show an example demonstrating the difficulty of obtaining similar results for greater depth. We show a generalization of QAOA and its application to wider classes of combinatorial optimization problems, in particular, problems with feasibility constraints. We introduce the Quantum Alternating Operator Ansatz, which utilizes more general unitary operators than the original QAOA proposal. Our framework facilitates low-resource implementations for many applications which may be particularly suitable for early quantum computers. We specify design criteria, and develop a set of results and tools for mapping diverse problems to explicit quantum circuits. We derive constructions for several important prototypical problems including Maximum Independent Set, Graph Coloring, and the Traveling Salesman problem, and show appealing resource cost estimates for their implementations.
Emerging quantum processors provide an opportunity to explore new approaches for solving traditional problems in the post Moore’s law supercomputing era. However, the limited number of qubits makes it infeasible to tackle massive real-world datasets directly in the near future, leading to new challenges in utilizing these quantum processors for practical purposes. Hybrid quantum-classical algorithms that leverage both quantum and classical types of devices are considered as one of the main strategies to apply quantum computing to large-scale problems. In this article, we advocate the use of multilevel frameworks for combinatorial optimization as a promising general paradigm for designing hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. To demonstrate this approach, we apply this method to two well-known combinatorial optimization problems, namely, the Graph Partitioning Problem, and the Community Detection Problem. We develop hybrid multilevel solvers with quantum local search on D-Wave’s quantum annealer and IBM’s gate-model based quantum processor. We carry out experiments on graphs that are orders of magnitude larger than the current quantum hardware size, and we observe results comparable to state-of-the-art solvers in terms of quality of the solution. Reproducibility : Our code and data are available at Reference [1].
In May of 2016, IBM Research has made a quantum processor available in the cloud to the general public. The possibility of programming an actual quantum device has elicited much enthusiasm. Yet, quantum programming still lacks the compiler support that modern programming languages enjoy today. To use universal quantum computers like IBM's, programmers must design low-level circuits. In particular, they must map logical qubits into physical qubits that need to obey connectivity constraints. In this work, we shall formally introduce the qubit allocation problem and provide an exact solution to it. This optimal algorithm deals with the simple quantum machinery available today; however, it cannot scale up to the more complex architectures scheduled to appear. Thus, we will also provide heuristics to solve qubit allocation, one of which is faster, and another one that performs better than the current solutions already implemented to deal with this problem.
We introduce a quantum divide and conquer algorithm that enables the use of distributed computing for constrained combinatorial optimization problems. The algorithm consists of three major components: classical partitioning of a target graph into multiple subgraphs, variational optimization over these subgraphs, and a quantum circuit cutting procedure that allows the optimization to take place independently on separate quantum processors. We simulate the execution of the quantum divide and conquer algorithm to find approximate solutions to instances of the Maximum Independent Set problem which have nearly twice as many nodes than the number of qubits available on a single quantum processor.