Quantum Institute: Visitor Schedule

The Quantum Lunch is regularly held on Thursdays in the Theoretical Division Conference Room, TA-3, Building 123, Room 121.

The organizing committee includes Malcolm Boshier (P-21), Lukasz Cincio (T-4), Diego Dalvit (T-4), Michael Di Rosa (C-PCS), Changhyun Ryu (P-21) , Nikolai Sinitsyn (T-4), Rolando Somma (T-4), Yigit Subasi (T-4), Christopher Ticknor (T-1), and Wojciech Zurek (T-4).

For more information, or to nominate a speaker, contact Yigit Subasi.

To add your name to the Quantum Lunch email list, contact Kacy Hopwood.

Speaker: Walter Vinci (USC)

Technical Host: Rolando Somma

TOPIC: Quantum Optimization: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract
Quantum annealing is a promising approach to develop fast and efficient quantum optimization devices. However, theoretical and technological challenges need to be overcome to successfully implement the adiabatic algorithm. D-Wave has developed quantum annealing devices that have a scalable design but are affected by decoherence, control errors, and limited connectivity. My work has focused on the characterization of D-Wave annealers as open quantum systems [1] and the development of new benchmarking methodologies [2]. These studies are improving our understanding of what type of optimization problems can be efficiently solved by quantum annealers and when quantum optimization is superior to classical optimization. Also, the development of error-correcting codes is crucial for scalable quantum annealing. I will discuss an error-correction scheme that can handle arbitrary optimization problems and can be implemented on a general quantum-annealing hardware [3].

[1] "Consistency tests of classical and quantum models for a quantum annealer". T Albash, W Vinci, A Mishra, PA Warburton, DA Lidar. Phys. Rev. A 91, 042314.
[2] "Optimally Stopped Optimization". W Vinci, DA Lidar. arXiv:1608.05764. Accepted in Phys. Rev. Applied.
[3] "Nested Quantum Annealing Correction". W Vinci, T Albash, DA Lidar. npj Quantum Information 2, 16017.