Optimization through quantum annealing: theory and some applications

Quantum annealing is a promising tool for solving optimization problems, similar in some ways to the traditional (classical) simulated annealing of Kirkpatrick et al. Simulated annealing takes advantage of thermal fluctuations in order to explore the optimization landscape of the problem at hand, whereas quantum annealing employs quantum fluctuations. Intriguingly, quantum annealing has been proved to be more effective than its classical counterpart in many applications. We illustrate the theory and the practical implementation of both classical and quantum annealing – highlighting the crucial differences between these two methods – by means of results recently obtained in experiments, in simple toy-models, and more challenging combinatorial optimization problems (namely, Random Ising model and Travelling Salesman Problem). The techniques used to implement quantum and classical annealing are either deterministic evolutions, for the simplest models, or Monte Carlo approaches, for harder optimization tasks. We discuss the pro and cons of these approaches and their possible connections to the landscape of the problem addressed.     

Quantum phase transitions in electronic systems

Quantum phase transitions occur at zero temperature when some non‐thermal control‐parameter like pressure or chemical composition is changed. They are driven by quantum rather than thermal fluctuations. In this review we first give a pedagogical introduction to quantum phase transitions and quantum critical behavior emphasizing similarities with and differences to classical thermal phase transitions. We then illustrate the general concepts by discussing a few examples of quantum phase transitions occurring in electronic systems. The ferromagnetic transition of itinerant electrons shows a very rich behavior since the magnetization couples to additional electronic soft modes which generates an effective long‐range interaction between the spin fluctuations. We then consider the influence of rare regions on quantum phase transitions in systems with quenched disorder, taking the antiferromagnetic transitions of itinerant electrons as a primary example. Finally we discuss some aspects of the metal‐insulator transition in the presence of quenched disorder and interactions.     

模拟退火算法在化学自由能模型中的应用

对化学自由能模型进行系统性的研究，着重分析化学反应动态平衡条件下粒子组分的求解方案，提出应用模拟退火算法寻找自由能密度函数极小值点的求解方案.该方案同时解决了两个难题：1）在一级相变区化学势平衡方程组可能遇到多个解而无法甄别其物理意义.通过模拟退火算法定位到自由能密度函数曲面的最低点，因而可从多个解中甄别出稳定的热力学平衡态.2）模拟退火算法用随机的"热涨落"消除初值敏感性，因而可采用同一套初值计算不同的温度密度点，为实现宽区域上大量温度密度点的连续快速计算奠定基础.作为该平衡态求解方案的应用，计算氦流体在"等离子相变"区的物态方程，揭示了丰富的"等离子相变"现象，并与第一性原理计算揭示的氢流体"液液相变"现象进行类比.     

Dephasing in (Ga,Mn)As nanowires and rings

To understand quantum mechanical transport in a ferromagnetic semiconductor, the knowledge of basic material properties such as the phase coherence length and corresponding dephasing mechanism are indispensable ingredients. The lack of observable quantum phenomena has prevented experimental access to these quantities so far. Here we report the observations of universal conductance fluctuations in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As. The analysis of the length and temperature dependence of the fluctuations reveals a T(-1) dependence of the dephasing time.     

Quantum Solitons and Breathers in an Anisotropic Ferromagnet with Octupole-Dipole Interaction

By using a full quantum approach based on the time-dependent Hartree approximation and the semidiscrete multiple-scale method, we study quantum nonlinear excitations in a one-dimensional ferromagnetic chain with octupole-dipole interaction and on-site uniaxial anisotropy. We find that quantum solitons and breathers can exist in the ferromagnetic chain, and analyze existence conditions of these excitations. Since the system states corresponding to quantum breathers are stationary states, we can get the energy level formula of such quantum breathers.     

Quantum fluctuation driven first-order phase transition in weak ferromagnetic metals

In a local Fermi liquid (LFL), we show that there is a line of weak first-order phase transitions between the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases due to purely quantum fluctuations. We predict that an instability towards superconductivity is only possible in the ferromagnetic state. At T?=?0 we find a point on the phase diagram where all three phases meet and we call this a quantum triple point (QTP). A simple application of the Gibbs phase rule shows that only these three phases can meet at the QTP. This provides a natural explanation of the absence of superconductivity at this point coming from the paramagnetic side of the phase diagram, as observed in the recently discovered ferromagnetic superconductor, UGe ₂.     

Spin dynamics in (III,Mn)V ferromagnetic semiconductors: the role of correlations

We address the role of correlations between spin and charge degrees of freedom on the dynamical properties of ferromagnetic systems governed by the magnetic exchange interaction between itinerant and localized spins. For this we introduce a general theory that treats quantum fluctuations beyond the random phase approximation based on a correlation expansion of the Green's function equations of motion. We calculate the spin susceptibility, spin-wave excitation spectrum, and magnetization precession damping. We find that correlations strongly affect the magnitude and carrier concentration dependence of the spin stiffness and magnetization Gilbert damping.     

Magnetic dipolar ordering and quantum phase transition in an Fe8 molecular magnet

We show that a crystal of mesoscopic Fe(8) single-molecule magnets is an experimental realization of the quantum Ising model in a transverse field, with dipolar interactions. Quantum annealing has enabled us to explore the quantum and classical phase transitions between the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases, at thermodynamical equilibrium. The phase diagram and critical exponents that we obtain agree with expectations for the mean-field universality class.     

Determining spatial structures of ion crystals by simulated annealing method

Calculating the spatial structures of ion crystals is important in ion-trapped quantum computation. Here we demonstrate that the simulated annealing method is a powerful tool to evaluate the structures of ion crystals. By calculating equilibrium positions of 10 ions under harmonic potential and those of 120 ions under anharmonic potential, both with the standard procedure and simulated annealing method, we find that the standard procedure to evaluate spatial structures is complicated and may be inefficient in some cases, and that the simulated annealing method is more favorable.     

Quantum critical behavior of clean itinerant ferromagnets

We consider the quantum ferromagnetic transition at zero temperature in clean itinerant electron systems. We find that the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson order parameter field theory breaks down since the electron-electron interaction leads to singular coupling constants in the Landau- Ginzburg-Wilson functional. These couplings generate an effective long-range interaction between the spin or order parameter fluctuations of the form 1 <r ² d?1, with d the spatial dimension. This leads to unusual scaling behavior at the quantum critical point in 1 < d ≤ 3, which we determine exactly. We also discuss the quantum-to-classical crossover at small but finite temperatures, which is characterized by the appearance of multiple temperature scales. A comparison with recent results on disordered itinerant ferromagnets is given.     

Remote sensing of atmospheric duct parameters using simulated annealing

Simulated annealing is one of the robust optimization schemes. Simulated annealing mimics the annealing process of the slow cooling of a heated metal to reach a stable minimum energy state. In this paper, we adopt simulated annealing to study the problem of the remote sensing of atmospheric duct parameters for two different geometries of propagation measurement. One is from a single emitter to an array of radio receivers (vertical measurements), and the other is from the radar clutter returns (horizontal measurements). Basic principles of simulated annealing and its applications to refractivity estimation are introduced. The performance of this method is validated using numerical experiments and field measurements collected at the East China Sea. The retrieved results demonstrate the feasibility of simulated annealing for near real-time atmospheric refractivity estimation. For comparison, the retrievals of the genetic algorithm are also presented. The comparisons indicate that the convergence speed of simulated annealing is faster than that of the genetic algorithm, while the anti-noise ability of the genetic algorithm is better than that of simulated annealing.     

Vortex quantum creation and winding number scaling in a quenched spinor Bose gas

Motivated by a recent experiment, we study nonequilibrium quantum phenomena taking place in the quench of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate through the zero-temperature phase transition separating the polar paramagnetic and planar ferromagnetic phases. We derive the typical spin domain structure (correlations of the effective magnetization) created by the quench arising due to spin-mode quantum fluctuations, and we establish a sample-size scaling law for the creation of spin vortices, which are topological defects in the transverse magnetization.     

Long-range magnetic interaction due to the Casimir effect

The zero-point quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in vacuum are known to give rise to a long-range attractive force between metal plates (Casimir effect). For ferromagnetic layers separated by vacuum, it is shown that the interplay of the Casimir effect and of the magneto-optical Kerr effect gives rise to a long-range magnetic interaction. The Casimir magnetic force is found to decay as D-1 in the limit of short distances, and as D-5 in the limit of long distances. Explicit expressions for realistic systems are given in the large- and small-distance limits. An experimental test of the Casimir magnetic interaction is proposed.     

Quantum spherical model in a random field: coherent state path integral approach

By introducing boson operators, a quantum spherical XY model in the presence of a random field has been studied by the coherent state path integral approach. The phase diagram is obtained, and the effects of the random-field fluctuations on the possibilities of the existence of a ferromagnetic phase are discussed. At the critical point, , the order parameter M describing the ordered ferromagnetic phase disappears as .Since the model is equivalent to a Bose system, we also show that the phase transition at zero temperature between the superfluid and the disordered Mott insulator phases occurs at the chemical potential , where J₀ is the strength of the exchange interaction. As the temperature T goes to zero, the asymptotic behavior of the entropy and the specific heat are and , respectively. Received: 20 May 1997 / Accepted: 20 October 1997     

Simulated annealing and quantum detailed balance

The analogue of simulated annealing is considered for time-inhomogeneous evolutions of a von Neumann algebra of operators, whose instantaneous generator at each timet satisfies the quantum detailed balance condition with respect to a faithful normal state which depends on time through a suitable cooling schedule. Convergence to the (nonfaithful) limiting state is proved under the usual kinds of assumptions. The approach is interesting in view of possible applications to stochastic Ising models and to Boltzmann machines.     

Quantum phase diffusions of a spinor condensate

We discuss the quantum phases and their diffusion in a spinor-1 atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. For ferromagnetic interactions, we obtain the exact ground state distribution of the phase fluctuations corresponding to the total atom number (N), the magnetization (M), and the alignment (or hypercharge) (Y) of the system. The mean-field ground state is shown to be stable against these fluctuations, which dynamically recover the two continuous symmetries associated with the conservation of N and M as in current experiments.     

Quantum states in fabricating poly-Si films

The quantum states are presented in these processions of fabricating poly-Si films. Amorphous silicon films prepared by PECVD has been crystallized by conventional furnace annealing (FA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA), respectively. It is found that the thin films grain size present quantum states with the increasing of the gas flow ratios of SiH₄, H₂ mixture, substrate temperatures, frequency power, annealing temperature and time.     

有限温度下一维Gaudin-Yang模型的热力学性质

本文通过数值求解有限温度下一维均匀费米Gaudin-Yang模型的热力学Bethe-ansatz方程, 研究了此模型的基本性质,得到了在给定的温度或给定的相互作用下, 化学势、相互作用、粒子密度和熵的相互变化图像. 对结果分析发现, 在给定温度和相互作用下, 熵随着化学势的变化有一个量子临界区域.     

Growth and time-resolved photoluminescence study of self-organized CdSe quantum dots in ZnSe

Employing two different growth methods: standard molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and low-temperature atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) with subsequent annealing, we have obtained high-quality quantum dot structures consisting of CdSe embedded in ZnSe. Single dot emission lines are observed in micro-luminescence. The samples have been investigated by further optical methods including time-resolved photoluminescence under resonant excitation at 4.2 K. Distinct properties of systems with three-dimensional confinement are observed such as the suppression of the interaction between isolated quantum dots (QDs). In standard quantum wells tunneling/hopping processes generally lead to a pronounced red shift of the luminescence over time due to a lateral localization of excitons in potential fluctuations. A much less pronounced red shift is observed for the QDs reflecting only the different lifetimes of single dots and higher excited states. The red shift completely vanishes under resonant excitation that selectively excites only a few QDs of the ensemble in the layer. Typical behaviour is also observed from the halfwidth of the quantum dot emission.     

Reliability of Digitized Quantum Annealing and the Decay of Entanglement

A banged‐digital‐analog simulation of a quantum annealing protocol is performed in a two‐qubit nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum computer. The experimental simulation employs up to 235 Trotter steps, with more than 2000 gates (pulses), and a protocol success above 80% is obtained. Given the exquisite control of the NMR quantum computer, the simulation is also performed with different noise levels. Thus, the reliability of the quantum annealing process is is analyzed, and it is related to the level of entanglement produced during the protocol. Although the presence of entanglement is not a sufficient signature for a better‐than‐classical simulation, the level of entanglement achieved relates to the fidelity of the protocol.