Viewing Vanilla Quantum Annealing Through Spin Glasses

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of quantum annealing devices, especially smaller, high-quality qubit machines, to outperform classical optimization methods by analyzing their behavior through the lens of spin glasses.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical perspective on quantum annealing's capabilities and suggests that smaller, more tunable devices may be more effective than larger ones for optimization tasks.

Findings

Quantum annealing can be modeled using spin glass theory.

Smaller, high-quality qubit devices may outperform larger, noisier ones.

Potential for quantum annealing to revolutionize optimization applications.

Abstract

Quantum annealing promises to solve complex combinatorial optimization problems faster than current transistor-based computer technologies. Although to date only one commercially-available quantum annealer is procurable, one can already start to map out the application scope of these novel optimization machines. These mid-scale programmable analog special-purpose devices could, potentially, revolutionize optimization. However, their disruptive application domain remains to be found. While the commercial analog quantum optimization machine by D-Wave Systems Inc. already exceeds 1000 qubits, here it is argued that maybe smaller devices with better quality qubits, higher connectivity, and more tunability might be better suited to answer if quantum annealing will ever truly outperform specialized silicon technology combined with efficient heuristics for optimization and sampling applications.