Colloquium: Adaptive Quantum Optimization Algorithms for Ising-like Models

ABSTRACT

One of the most promising types of quantum algorithms are those that  solve combinatorial optimization problems.  There are a number of  difficulties that stand in the way:  small gaps to excited states, barren plateaus in the energy, and incomplete expressibility of the states.  These obstacles can  be dealt with by making the quantum algorithms adaptable.  I will describe several ways to do this, and show that considerable improvements over non-adaptive algorithms are possible.

BIOGRAPHY

Robert Joynt is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has also served as Department Chair.  His research has ranged from the quantum Hall effect to high-Tc superconductivity, the quantum adiabatic algorithm, decoherence from evanescent-wave Johnson noise, and new designs for qubit devices. Prof. Joynt is the founder and director of the MSc program in Quantum Computing at UW-Madison, which began in 2019. This was the first degree program in quantum computing in the US.