Quantum Fault Trees

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel quantum computing approach to fault tree analysis, encoding traditional fault trees into quantum circuits to efficiently compute system failure probabilities, demonstrated on a dynamic positioning system case study.

Contribution

It proposes the first quantum algorithm for fault tree analysis, enabling quantum simulation of system failures for complex engineering systems.

Findings

Quantum fault tree method accurately computes failure probabilities.

Quantum approach effectively simulates dynamic system failures.

Potential for quantum computing to enhance reliability analysis.

Abstract

Fault tree analysis is a technique widely used in risk and reliability analysis of complex engineering systems given its deductive nature and relatively simple interpretation. In a fault tree, events are usually represented by a binary variable that indicates whether an event occurs or not, traditionally associated with the values 1 and 0, respectively. Different events are linked together using logical gates, modelling the dependencies that a subsystem or system may have over its basic components. In this study, quantum computing is leveraged to propose a novel approach to encode a traditional fault tree into a quantum algorithm. This quantum fault tree method uses quantum bits to represent basic events, effectively encoding the original fault tree into a quantum circuit. The execution of the resulting quantum circuit represents a full simulation of the fault tree, and multiple executions can be utilized to compute the failure probability of the whole system. The proposed approach is tested on a case study portraying a dynamic positioning system. Results verify that the quantum-based proposed approach is able to effectively obtain the dynamic positioning failure probability through simulation, opening promising opportunities for future investigations in the area.