Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization Research Articles

Multivehicle Task Assignment Based on Collaborative Neurodynamic Optimization With Discrete Hopfield Networks.

This article presents a collaborative neurodynamic optimization (CNO) approach to multivehicle task assignments (TAs). The original combinatorial quadratic optimization problem for TA is reformulated as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem with a quadratic utility function and a penalty function for handling load capacity and cooperation constraints. In the framework of CNO with a population of discrete Hopfield networks (DHNs), a TA algorithm is proposed for solving the formulated QUBO problem. Superior experimental results in four typical multivehicle operation scenarios are reported to substantiate the efficacy of the proposed neurodynamics-based TA approach.

QUBO formulations for training machine learning models

Training machine learning models on classical computers is usually a time and compute intensive process. With Moore’s law nearing its inevitable end and an ever-increasing demand for large-scale data analysis using machine learning, we must leverage non-conventional computing paradigms like quantum computing to train machine learning models efficiently. Adiabatic quantum computers can approximately solve NP-hard problems, such as the quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO), faster than classical computers. Since many machine learning problems are also NP-hard, we believe adiabatic quantum computers might be instrumental in training machine learning models efficiently in the post Moore’s law era. In order to solve problems on adiabatic quantum computers, they must be formulated as QUBO problems, which is very challenging. In this paper, we formulate the training problems of three machine learning models—linear regression, support vector machine (SVM) and balanced k-means clustering—as QUBO problems, making them conducive to be trained on adiabatic quantum computers. We also analyze the computational complexities of our formulations and compare them to corresponding state-of-the-art classical approaches. We show that the time and space complexities of our formulations are better (in case of SVM and balanced k-means clustering) or equivalent (in case of linear regression) to their classical counterparts.

Qubit-efficient encoding schemes for binary optimisation problems

We propose and analyze a set of variational quantum algorithms for solving quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problems where a problem consisting of nc classical variables can be implemented on O(log⁡nc) number of qubits. The underlying encoding scheme allows for a systematic increase in correlations among the classical variables captured by a variational quantum state by progressively increasing the number of qubits involved. We first examine the simplest limit where all correlations are neglected, i.e. when the quantum state can only describe statistically independent classical variables. We apply this minimal encoding to find approximate solutions of a general problem instance comprised of 64 classical variables using 7 qubits. Next, we show how two-body correlations between the classical variables can be incorporated in the variational quantum state and how it can improve the quality of the approximate solutions. We give an example by solving a 42-variable Max-Cut problem using only 8 qubits where we exploit the specific topology of the problem. We analyze whether these cases can be optimized efficiently given the limited resources available in state-of-the-art quantum platforms. Lastly, we present the general framework for extending the expressibility of the probability distribution to any multi-body correlations.

Hash Bit Selection via Collaborative Neurodynamic Optimization With Discrete Hopfield Networks.

Hash bit selection (HBS) aims to find the most discriminative and informative hash bits from a hash pool generated by using different hashing algorithms. It is usually formulated as a binary quadratic programming problem with an information-theoretic objective function and a string-length constraint. In this article, it is equivalently reformulated in the form of a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problem by augmenting the objective function with a penalty function. The reformulated problem is solved via collaborative neurodynamic optimization (CNO) with a population of classic discrete Hopfield networks. The two most important hyperparameters of the CNO approach are determined based on Monte Carlo test results. Experimental results on three benchmark data sets are elaborated to substantiate the superiority of the collaborative neurodynamic approach to several existing methods for HBS.

Grover Adaptive Search for Constrained Polynomial Binary Optimization

In this paper we discuss Grover Adaptive Search (GAS) for Constrained Polynomial Binary Optimization (CPBO) problems, and in particular, Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problems, as a special case. GAS can provide a quadratic speed-up for combinatorial optimization problems compared to brute force search. However, this requires the development of efficient oracles to represent problems and flag states that satisfy certain search criteria. In general, this can be achieved using quantum arithmetic, however, this is expensive in terms of Toffoli gates as well as required ancilla qubits, which can be prohibitive in the near-term. Within this work, we develop a way to construct efficient oracles to solve CPBO problems using GAS algorithms. We demonstrate this approach and the potential speed-up for the portfolio optimization problem, i.e. a QUBO, using simulation and experimental results obtained on real quantum hardware. However, our approach applies to higher-degree polynomial objective functions as well as constrained optimization problems.

Qfold: a new modeling paradigm for the RNA folding problem

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules play informational, structural, and metabolic roles in all living cells. RNAs are chains of nucleotides containing bases {A, C, G, U} that interact via base pairings to determine higher order structure and functionality. The RNA folding problem is to predict one or more secondary RNA structures from a given primary sequence of bases. From a mathematical modeling perspective, solutions to the RNA folding problem come from minimizing the thermodynamic free energy of a structure by selecting which bases will be paired, subject to a set of constraints. Here we report on a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) modeling paradigm that fits naturally with the parameters and constraints required for RNA folding prediction. Three QUBO models are presented along with a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm. Extensive testing results show a strong positive correlation with benchmark results.

Exact Facetial Odd-Cycle Separation for Maximum Cut and Binary Quadratic Optimization

The exact solution of the NP-hard (nondeterministic polynomial-time hard) maximum cut problem is important in many applications across, for example, physics, chemistry, neuroscience, and circuit layout—which is also due to its equivalence to the unconstrained binary quadratic optimization problem. Leading solution methods are based on linear or semidefinite programming and require the separation of the so-called odd-cycle inequalities. In their groundbreaking research, F. Barahona and A. R. Mahjoub have given an informal description of a polynomial-time algorithm for this problem. As pointed out recently, however, additional effort is necessary to guarantee that the inequalities obtained correspond to facets of the cut polytope. In this paper, we shed more light on a so enhanced separation procedure and investigate experimentally how it performs in comparison with an ideal setting where one could even employ the sparsest, most violated, or geometrically most promising facet-defining odd-cycle inequalities. Summary of Contribution: This paper aims at a better capability to solve binary quadratic optimization or maximum cut problems and their various applications using integer programming techniques. To this end, the paper describes enhancements to a well-known algorithm for the central separation problem arising in this context; it is demonstrated experimentally that these enhancements are worthwhile from a computational point of view. The linear relaxations of the aforementioned problems are typically solved using fewer iterations and cutting planes than with a nonenhanced approach. It is also shown that the enhanced procedure is only slightly inferior to an ideal, enumerative, and, in practice, intractable global cutting-plane selection.

QUBO formulations of the longest path problem

The longest path problem on graphs is an NP-hard optimization problem, and as such, it is not known to have an efficient classical solution in the general case. This study develops two quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) formulations of this well-known problem. The first formulation is based on an approach outlined by (Bauckhage et al., 2018) for the shortest path problem and follows simply from the principle of assigning positions on the path to vertices; using k|V| binary variables, this formulation will find the longest path that visits exactly k of a graph's |V| vertices, if such a path exists. As a point of theoretical interest, we present a second formulation based on degree constraints that is more complicated, but reduces the dependence of the number of variables on k to logarithmic; specifically, it requires |V|+2|E|⌊log2⁡k⌋+3|E| binary variables to encode the longest path problem. We adapt these basic formulations for several variants of the standard longest path problem. Scaling factors for penalty terms and preprocessing time required to construct the Q matrix representing the problem are made explicit in the paper.

Optimization of the composition in a composite material for microelectronics application using the Ising model

Tailored material is necessary in many industrial applications since material properties directly determine the characteristics of components. However, the conventional trial and error approach is costly and time-consuming. Therefore, materials informatics is expected to overcome these drawbacks. Here, we show a new materials informatics approach applying the Ising model for solving discrete combinatorial optimization problems. In this study, the composition of the composite, aimed at developing a heat sink with three necessary properties: high thermal dissipation, attachability to Si, and a low weight, is optimized. We formulate an energy function equation concerning three objective terms with regard to the thermal conductivity, thermal expansion and specific gravity, with the composition variable and two constrained terms with a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization style equivalent to the Ising model and calculated by a simulated annealing algorithm. The composite properties of the composition selected from ten constituents are verified by the empirical mixture rule of the composite. As a result, an optimized composition with high thermal conductivity, thermal expansion close to that of Si, and a low specific gravity is acquired.

Investigating the Chinese postman problem on a quantum annealer

The recent availability of quantum annealers has fueled a new area of information technology where such devices are applied to address practically motivated and computationally difficult problems with hardware that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. D-Wave annealers are promising platforms to solve these problems in the form of quadratic unconstrained binary optimization. Here we provide a formulation of the Chinese postman problem that can be used as a tool for probing the local connectivity of graphs and networks. We treat the problem classically with a tabu algorithm and simulated annealing, and using a D-Wave device. The efficiency of quantum annealing with respect to the simulated annealing has been demonstrated using the optimal time to solution metric. We systematically analyze computational parameters associated with the specific hardware. Our results clarify how the interplay between the embedding due to limited connectivity of the Chimera graph, the definition of logical qubits, and the role of spin-reversal controls the probability of reaching the expected solution.

An External Definition of the One-Hot Constraint and Fast QUBO Generation for High-Performance Combinatorial Clustering

Recently, a clustering method using a combinatorial optimization problem, called combinatorial clustering, has been drawing attention due to the rapid spreads of quantum annealing and simulated annealing. Combinatorial clustering is performed by minimizing an objective function under a condition to satisfy a one-hot constraint. The objective function and the constraint function are generally formulated to a unified objective function of a QUBO (Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization) problem using the method of the Lagrange multiplier. The coefficients of the QUBO function can be represented by a square matrix, which is called the QUBO matrix. Although the Lagrange multiplier needs to be large enough to avoid violating the constraint, it is usually hard to be set appropriately due to the limitation of the bit precision. For example, the latest quantum annealer can handle values represented by only six or fewer bits. Even conventional computing systems cannot control the larger value of the Lagrange multiplier as the number of data points increases. Besides, the execution time for combinatorial clustering increases exponentially as the problem size increases. This is because the time for the QUBO matrix generation is long and a dominant factor of the total execution time when the problem size is large. To solve these problems, this paper proposes combinatorial clustering that overcomes the limitation of the method of the Lagrange multiplier. The proposed method uses a QUBO solver that can externally define the one-hot constraint independent from the objective function, and the externally-defined constraint is satisfied by the operations with multiple bit-flips. As the QUBO function contains only the objective function, the method of the Lagrange multiplier is not necessary. The proposed method can optimize the objective function sufficiently even when the problem size is large. Since the constraint function is not included in the QUBO function, the proposed method also reduces the time for the QUBO matrix generation. The experimental results obtained using the artificial and real data show that the proposed method can improve the quality of annealing-based clustering results in all data sets. The experimental results also clarify that the quality of the proposed method is almost equal to or better than that of quasi-optimal clustering methods such as K-means. The evaluation using the multiple traveling salesman problem shows that the proposed method can obtain shorter tour lengths than the conventional annealing-based clustering in all 13 cases and K-means++ in 6 out of 12 cases with a significant difference. Furthermore, the proposed method can accelerate the execution time for combinatorial clustering because there is no need to calculate the coefficients of the constraint function.

A Quantum Annealer for Subset Feature Selection and the Classification of Hyperspectral Images

Hyperspectral images (HSIs) showing objects belonging to several distinct target classes are characterized by dozens of spectral bands being available. However, some of these spectral bands are redundant and/or noisy, and hence, selecting highly informative and trustworthy bands for each class is a vital step for classification and for saving internal storage space; then the selected bands are termed a highly informative spectral band subset. We use a mutual information (MI)-based method to select the spectral band subset of a given class and two additional binary quantum classifiers, namely a quantum boost (Qboost) and a quantum boost plus (Qboost-Plus) classifier, to classify a two-label dataset characterized by the selected band subset. We pose both our MI-based band subset selection problem and the binary quantum classifiers as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem. Such a quadratic problem is solvable with the help of conventional optimization techniques. However, the QUBO problem is an NP-hard global optimization problem, and hence, it is worthwhile for applying a quantum annealer. Thus, we adapted our MI-based optimization problem for selecting highly informative bands for each class of a given HSI to be run on a D-Wave quantum annealer. After the selection of these highly informative bands for each class, we employ our binary quantum classifiers to a two-label dataset on the D-Wave quantum annealer. In addition, we provide a novel multilabel classifier exploiting an error-encoding output code when using our binary quantum classifiers. As a real-world dataset in Earth observation, we used the well-known AVIRIS HSI of Indian Pine, north-western Indiana, USA. We can demonstrate that the MI-based band subset selection problem can be run on a D-Wave quantum annealer that selects the highly informative spectral band subset for each target class in the Indian Pine HSI. We can also prove that our binary quantum classifiers and our novel multilabel classifier generate a correct two- and multilabel dataset characterized by their selected bands and with high accuracy such as having been produced by conventional classifiers-and even better in some instances.

Performance Comparison of Typical Binary-Integer Encodings in an Ising Machine

The differences in performance among binary-integer encodings in an Ising machine, which can solve combinatorial optimization problems, are investigated. Many combinatorial optimization problems can be mapped to find the lowest-energy (ground) state of an Ising model or its equivalent model, the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO). Since the Ising model and QUBO consist of binary variables, they often express integers as binary when using Ising machines. A typical example is the combinatorial optimization problem under inequality constraints. Here, the quadratic knapsack problem is adopted as a prototypical problem with an inequality constraint. It is solved using typical binary-integer encodings: one-hot encoding, binary encoding, and unary encoding. Unary encoding shows the best performance for large-sized problems.

Quantum Speedup for Index Modulation

This paper presents a quantum-assisted index modulation for next-generation IoT wireless networks. The NP-hard index selection problem is first formulated by a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem consisting of constraints of feasible solutions. To minimize the number of qubits required for a quantum circuit, this formulation is then simplified by a dictionary-based approach that partially exploits a classical computer. For both formulations, the numbers of required qubits and non-zero elements in QUBO matrices are analyzed algebraically, and found to be in close agreement with the actual measurement. It is observed that the Grover adaptive search can provide the quantum speedup for the index selection problem. This promising result implies that the on-off structure of index modulation is suitable for quantum computation, and future fault-tolerant quantum computers may be useful for obtaining high-performance index activation patterns.

Simulation of implementable quantum-assisted genetic algorithm

Quantum-assisted algorithms are expected to improve the computing performance of classical computers. A quantum genetic algorithm utilizes the advantages of quantum computation by combining the truncation selection in a classical genetic algorithm with the quantum Grover’s algorithm. The parallelism of evaluation can create global search and reduce the need of crossover and mutation in a conventional genetic algorithm. In this work, we aim to demonstrate and simulate the performance of an implementable quantum-assisted genetic algorithm. The algorithm was tested by using quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) for 100 iterations; and the results were compared with those from a classical counterpart for 2000 iterations, where both simulations were performed over 100 repetitions. The results showed that the quantum algorithm converges to the optimal solution faster. While the variance is higher at early stage, it quickly and greatly reduces as the algorithm converges. The histograms of possible solutions consistently exhibits this behavior.

Evaluation of Quantum Annealer Performance via the Massive MIMO Problem

Quantum annealing offers an appealing route to handle large-scale optimization problems. Existing Quantum Annealing processing units are readily available via cloud platform access for solving Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problems. In particular, the novel D-Wave Advantage device has been recently released. Its performance is expected to improve upon the previous state-of-the-art D-Wave 2000Q annealer, due to higher number of qubits and the Pegasus topology. Here, we present a comparative study via an ensemble of Maximum Likelihood (ML) Channel Decoder problems for MIMO scenarios in Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architectures. The main challenge for exact optimization of ML decoders with ever-increasing demand for higher data rates is the exponential increase of the solution space with problem sizes. Since current 5G solutions mainly use approximate methodologies, Kim et al. leveraged Quantum Annealing for large MIMO problems with Phase Shift Keying and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation scenarios. Here, we extend their work and analyze experiments for more complex modulations and larger MIMO antenna array sizes. By implementing the extended QUBO formulae on the novel annealer architecture, we uncover the limits of state-of-the-art quantum optimization for the massive MIMO ML decoder. We report on the improvements and discuss the uncovered limiting factors learned from the 64-QAM extension. We include the enhanced evaluation of raw annealer sampling via implementation of post-processing methods in the comparative analysis between D-Wave 2000Q and the D-Wave Advantage system.

Formulating and Solving Routing Problems on Quantum Computers

The determination of vehicle routes fulfilling connectivity, time, and operational constraints is a well-studied combinatorial optimization problem. The NP-hard complexity of vehicle routing problems has fostered the adoption of tailored exact approaches, matheuristics, and metaheuristics on classical computing devices. The ongoing evolution of quantum computing hardware and the recent advances of quantum algorithms (i.e., VQE, QAOA, and ADMM) for mathematical programming make decision-making for routing problems an avenue of research worthwhile to be explored on quantum devices. In this article, we propose several mathematical formulations for inventory routing cast as vehicle routing with time windows and comment on their strengths and weaknesses. The optimization models are compared from a quantum computing perspective, specifically with metrics to evaluate the difficulty in solving the underlying quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problems. Finally, the solutions obtained on simulated quantum devices demonstrate the relative benefits of different algorithms and their robustness when put into practice.

Quantum Algorithms for Mixed Binary Optimization Applied to Transaction Settlement

We extend variational quantum optimization algorithms for Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization problems to the class of Mixed Binary Optimization problems. This allows us to combine binary decision variables with continuous decision variables, which, for instance, enables the modeling of inequality constraints via slack variables. We propose two heuristics and introduce the Transaction Settlement problem to demonstrate them. Transaction Settlement is defined as the exchange of securities and cash between parties and is crucial to financial market infrastructure. We test our algorithms using classical simulation as well as real quantum devices provided by the IBM Quantum Computation Center.

Exploring Embeddings for MIMO Channel Decoding on Quantum Annealers

Quantum Annealing provides a heuristic method leveraging quantum mechanics for solving Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization problems. Existing Quantum Annealing processing units are readily available via cloud platform access for a wide range of use cases. In particular, a novel device, the D-Wave Advantage has been recently released. In this paper, we study the applicability of Maximum Likelihood (ML) Channel Decoder problems for MIMO scenarios in centralized RAN. The main challenge for exact optimization of ML decoders with ever-increasing demand for higher data rates is the exponential increase of the solution space with problem sizes. Since current 5G solutions can only use approximate methodologies, Kim et al. [1] leveraged Quantum Annealing for large MIMO problems with phase shift keying and quadrature amplitude modulation scenarios. Here, we extend upon their work and present embedding limits for both more complex modulation and higher receiver / transmitter numbers using the Pegasus P16 topology of the D-Wave Advantage system.

Inferring the Dynamics of the State Evolution During Quantum Annealing

To solve an optimization problem using a commercial quantum annealer, one has to represent the problem of interest as an Ising or a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem and submit its coefficients to the annealer, which then returns a user-specified number of low-energy solutions. It would be useful to know what happens in the quantum processor during the anneal process so that one could design better algorithms or suggest improvements to the hardware. However, existing quantum annealers are not able to directly extract such information from the processor. Hence, in this work we propose to use advanced features of D-Wave 2000Q to indirectly infer information about the dynamics of the state evolution during the anneal process. Specifically, D-Wave 2000Q allows the user to customize the anneal schedule, that is, the schedule with which the anneal fraction is changed from the start to the end of the anneal. Using this feature, we design a set of modified anneal schedules whose outputs can be used to generate information about the states of the system at user-defined time points during a standard anneal. With this process, called "slicing", we obtain approximate distributions of lowest-energy anneal solutions as the anneal time evolves. We use our technique to obtain a variety of insights into the annealer, such as the state evolution during annealing, when individual bits in an evolving solution flip during the anneal process and when they stabilize, and we introduce a technique to estimate the freeze-out point of both the system as well as of individual qubits.