Automatic Conversion of MiniZinc Programs to QUBO

TL;DR

This paper introduces an automatic converter that transforms MiniZinc models into QUBO formulations, streamlining the process of solving optimization problems on quantum annealers by automating variable encoding and polynomial formulation.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel automatic conversion tool from MiniZinc to QUBO, simplifying and accelerating the preparation of problems for quantum optimization hardware.

Findings

Successfully converts a wide range of MiniZinc problems into QUBO format

Reduces manual effort and potential errors in problem modeling for quantum annealers

Enhances accessibility of quantum optimization for diverse problem types

Abstract

Obtaining Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimisation models for various optimisation problems, in order to solve those on physical quantum computers (such as the the DWave annealers) is nowadays a lengthy and tedious process that requires one to remodel all problem variables as binary variables and squeeze the target function and the constraints into a single quadratic polynomial into these new variables. We report here on the basis of our automatic converter from MiniZinc to QUBO, which is able to process a large set of constraint optimisation and constraint satisfaction problems and turn them into equivalent QUBOs, effectively optimising the whole process.