Symbolic Regression with Evolutionary Quantum Annealing
Jincheng Zhang
Abstract
Symbolic regression is a technique used to discover mathematical equations from data. Despite its potential, traditional symbolic regression methods often struggle to find complex and accurate expressions, particularly when dealing with high-dimensional datasets or intricate relationships. This work proposes a novel approach combining evolutionary algorithms with quantum annealing to address these limitations. The core idea is to leverage the strengths of both techniques: the evolutionary algorithm's ability to explore the solution space effectively and the quantum annealer's capability to efficiently find low-energy states, representing potential mathematical expressions. We utilize the quantum annealer to optimize the search space, guiding the evolutionary algorithm towards promising solutions. Our approach demonstrates improved performance in discovering complex equations compared to standard symbolic regression techniques. The key equation for measuring the fitness of a candidate equation is: *f(x) = a1xn1 + a2xn2 + ... + akxnk* Where *x* is the independent variable, *ai* are the coefficients, and *ni* are the exponents. The fitness function, *F(e)*, is defined as the sum of squared errors between the predicted values of the equation and the observed data: *F(e) = Σi=1N (yi - f(xi))2* Where *yi* represents the i-th observed data point and *xi* the corresponding independent variable. The annealing process is governed by the Hamiltonian: *H(σ) = Σi σi2 + J Σi σi σj cos(θij)* Where σi represents the qubit state, *J* is the coupling strength, and θij are the angles between the qubit states. The evolutionary algorithm employs a selection, crossover, and mutation process to refine the solutions generated by the quantum annealer.