A new adiabatic quantum search algorithm

Adiabatic quantum search algorithm for structured problems

The study of quantum computation has been motivated by the hope of finding efficient quantum algorithms for solving classically hard problems. In this context, quantum algorithms by local adiabatic evolution have been shown to solve an unstructured search problem with a quadratic speed-up over a classical search, just as Grover's algorithm. In this paper, we study how the structure of the search problem may be exploited to further improve the efficiency of these quantum adiabatic algorithms. We show that by nesting a partial search over a reduced set of variables into a global search, it is po…

Accuracy vs run time in adiabatic quantum search

Adiabatic quantum algorithms are characterized by their run time and accuracy. The relation between the two is essential for quantifying adiabatic algorithmic performance, yet is often poorly understood. We study the dynamics of a continuous time, adiabatic quantum search algorithm, and find rigorous results relating the accuracy and the run time. Proceeding with estimates, we show that under fairly general circumstances the adiabatic algorithmic error exhibits a behavior with two discernible regimes: the error decreases exponentially for short times, then decreases polynomially for longer tim…

Analog Grover search by adiabatic passage in a cavity-laser-atom system

A physical implementation of the adiabatic Grover search is theoretically investigated in a system of N identical three-level atoms trapped in a single mode cavity. Some of the atoms are marked through the presence of an energy gap between their two ground states. The search is controlled by two partially delayed lasers which allow a deterministic adiabatic transfer from an initially entangled state to the marked states. Pulse schemes are proposed to satisfy the Grover speedup either exactly or approximately, and the success rate of the search is calculated.

Quantum search algorithm by adiabatic evolution under a priori probability

Grover's algorithm is one of the most important quantum algorithms, which performs the task of searching an unsorted database without a priori probability. Recently the adiabatic evolution has been used to design and reproduce quantum algorithms, including Grover's algorithm. In this paper, we show that quantum search algorithm by adiabatic evolution has two properties that conventional quantum search algorithm doesn't have. Firstly, we show that in the initial state of the algorithm only the amplitude of the basis state corresponding to the solution affects the running time of the algorithm, …

The quantum adiabatic search with decoherence in the instantaneous energy eigenbasis

In Phys. Rev. A {\bf 71}, 060312(R) (2005) the robustness of the local adiabatic quantum search to decoherence in the instantaneous eigenbasis of the search Hamiltonian was examined. We expand this analysis to include the case of the global adiabatic quantum search. As in the case of the local search the asymptotic time complexity for the global search is the same as for the ideal closed case, as long as the Hamiltonian dynamics is present. In the case of pure decoherence, where the environment monitors the search Hamiltonian, we find that the time complexity of the global quantum adiabatic se…

Local adiabatic quantum search with different paths

We report on a detailed analysis of generalization of the local adiabatic search algorithm. Instead of evolving directly from an initial ground state Hamiltonian to a solution Hamiltonian a different evolution path is introduced and is shown that the time required to find an item in a database of size $N$ can be made to be independent of the size of the database by modifying the Hamiltonian used to evolve the system.

Comment on Partial Adiabatic Quantum Search

The partial adiabatic search algorithm was introduced in [A. Tulsi, Phys. Rev. A 80, 052328 (2009)] as a modification of the usual adiabatic algorithm for quantum search with the idea that most of the interesting computation only happens over a very short range of the adiabatic path. By focussing on that restricted range, one can potentially gain advantage by reducing the control requirements on the system, enabling a uniform rate of evolution. In this comment, we point out an oversight in the original work [1] that invalidates its proof. However, the argument can be corrected, and the calcula…

量子游走启发的动态绝热量子局部搜索

Quantum Walk Inspired Dynamic Adiabatic Local Search

针对CTQW搜索算法迁移至AQC框架时的能隙不一致问题，本文用Z oracle算子修改催化Hamilton量，证明运行时间最优，并研究自适应调度以改进局部搜索。

How Quantum is the Speedup in Adiabatic Unstructured Search?

In classical computing, analog approaches have sometimes appeared to be more powerful than they really are. This occurs when resources, particularly precision, are not appropriately taken into account. While the same should also hold for analog quantum computing, precision issues are often neglected from the analysis. In this work we present a classical analog algorithm for unstructured search that can be viewed as analogous to the quantum adiabatic unstructured search algorithm devised by Roland and Cerf [Phys. Rev. A 65, 042308 (2002)]. We show that similarly to its quantum counterpart, the …

Comment on "Adiabatic Quantum Algorithm for Search Engine Ranking"

In their Letter, Garnerone et al. claim that an adiabatic quantum algorithm can extract information about a PageRank vector with either a polynomial or exponential reduction in time resources over the classical algorithm with comparable space resources. Here we argue that the quantum algorithm offers no obvious advantage over the classical algorithm and fails to preserve the fundamental stability property of the classical PageRank algorithm.

Adiabatic Rotation, Quantum Search and Preparation of Superposition States

We introduce the idea of using adiabatic rotation to generate superpositions of a large class of quantum states. For quantum computing this is an interesting alternative to the well-studied "straight line" adiabatic evolution. In ways that complement recent results, we show how to efficiently prepare three types of states: Kitaev's toric code state, the cluster state of the measurement-based computation model and the history state used in the adiabatic simulation of quantum circuit. We also show that the method, when adapted for quantum search, provides quadratic speedup as other optimal metho…

Realizable Quantum Adiabatic Search

Grover's unstructured search algorithm is one of the best examples to date for the superiority of quantum algorithms over classical ones. Its applicability, however, has been questioned by many due to its oracular nature. We propose a mechanism to carry out a quantum adiabatic variant of Grover's search algorithm using a single bosonic particle placed in an optical lattice. By studying the scaling of the gap and relevant matrix element in various spatial dimensions, we show that a quantum speedup can already be gained in three dimensions. We argue that the suggested scheme is realizable with p…

Non-Markovian decoherence in the adiabatic quantum search algorithm

We consider an adiabatic quantum algorithm (Grover's search routine) weakly coupled to a rather general environment, i.e., without using the Markov approximation. Markovian errors generally require high-energy excitations (of the reservoir) and tend to destroy the scalability of the adiabatic quantum algorithm. We find that, under appropriate conditions (such as low temperatures), the low-energy (i.e., non-Markovian) modes of the bath are most important. Hence the scalability of the adiabatic quantum algorithm depends on the infra-red behavior of the environment: a reasonably small coupling to…

Quantum Search by Local Adiabatic Evolution

The adiabatic theorem has been recently used to design quantum algorithms of a new kind, where the quantum computer evolves slowly enough so that it remains near its instantaneous ground state which tends to the solution [Farhi et al., quant-ph/0001106]. We apply this time-dependent Hamiltonian approach to the Grover's problem, i. e., searching a marked item in an unstructured database. We find that, by adjusting the evolution rate of the Hamiltonian so as to keep the evolution adiabatic on each infinitesimal time interval, the total running time is of order $\sqrt{N}$, where $N$ is the number…

Quasi-adiabatic Grover search via the WKB approximation

In various applications one is interested in quantum dynamics at intermediate evolution times, for which the adiabatic approximation is inadequate. Here we develop a quasi-adiabatic approximation based on the WKB method, designed to work for such intermediate evolution times. We apply it to the problem of a single qubit in a time-varying magnetic field, and to the Hamiltonian Grover search problem, and show that already at first order, the quasi-adiabatic WKB captures subtle features of the dynamics that are missed by the adiabatic approximation. However, we also find that the method is sensit…

The Dynamics of Entanglement in the Adiabatic Search and Deutsch Algorithms

The goal of this paper is to study the effect of entanglement on the running time of a quantum computation. Adiabatic quantum computation is suited to this kind of study, since it allows us to explicitly calculate the time evolution of the entanglement throughout the calculation. On the other hand however, the adiabatic formalism makes it impossible to study the roles of entanglement and fidelity separately, which means that results have to be interpreted carefully. We study two algorithms: the search algorithm and the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm. We find some evidence that entanglement can be con…

Fixed-Point Adiabatic Quantum Search

Fixed-point quantum search algorithms succeed at finding one of $M$ target items among $N$ total items even when the run time of the algorithm is longer than necessary. While the famous Grover's algorithm can search quadratically faster than a classical computer, it lacks the fixed-point property --- the fraction of target items must be known precisely to know when to terminate the algorithm. Recently, Yoder, Low, and Chuang gave an optimal gate-model search algorithm with the fixed-point property. Meanwhile, it is known that an adiabatic quantum algorithm, operating by continuously varying a …

Adiabatic quantum search with atoms in a cavity driven by lasers

We propose an implementation of the quantum search algorithm of a marked item in an unsorted list of N items by adiabatic passage in a cavity-laser-atom system. We use an ensemble of N identical three-level atoms trapped in a single-mode cavity and driven by two lasers. In each atom, the same level represents a database entry. One of the atoms is marked by having an energy gap between its two ground states. Appropriate time delays between the two laser pulses allow one to populate the marked state starting from an initial entangled state within a decoherence-free adiabatic subspace. The time t…

Hilbert Space Average Method and adiabatic quantum search

We discuss some aspects related to the so-called Hilbert space Average Method, as an alternative to describe the dynamics of open quantum systems. First we present a derivation of the method which does not make use of the algebra satisfied by the operators involved in the dynamics, and extend the method to systems subject to a Hamiltonian that changes with time. Next we examine the performance of the adiabatic quantum search algorithm with a particular model for the environment. We relate our results to the criteria discussed in the literature for the validity of the above-mentioned method for…

Analog Nature of Quantum Adiabatic Unstructured Search

The quantum adiabatic unstructured search algorithm is one of only a handful of quantum adiabatic optimization algorithms to exhibit provable speedups over their classical counterparts. With no fault tolerance theorems to guarantee the resilience of such algorithms against errors, understanding the impact of imperfections on their performance is of both scientific and practical significance. We study the robustness of the algorithm against various types of imperfections: limited control over the interpolating schedule, Hamiltonian misspecification, and interactions with a thermal environment. …

开放系统中退相的绝热量子搜索

Open-System Adiabatic Quantum Search under Dephasing

本文研究开放系统中绝热量子搜索的最优调度，推导出闭合表达式并确定退相干阈值，定义了物理可行的边界条件。

Reflection-Based Adiabatic State Preparation

We propose a circuit-model quantum algorithm for eigenpath traversal that is based on a combination of concepts from Grover's search and adiabatic quantum computation. Our algorithm deploys a sequence of reflections determined from eigenspaces of instantaneous Hamiltonians defined along an adiabatic schedule in order to prepare a ground state of a target problem Hamiltonian. We provide numerical evidence suggesting that, for combinatorial search problems, our algorithm can find a solution faster, on average, than Grover's search. We demonstrate our findings by applying both algorithms to solvi…

并行绝热量子无结构搜索

Adiabatic quantum unstructured search in parallel

该研究优化了Roland和Cerf的绝热量子无结构搜索调度，在保留二次加速的同时提升端点演化速度，通过并行化增强性能，数值模拟验证其概率优势，还提出保证标记态概率的协议，为有限相干时间场景下的量子优势实现提供可能。

Quantum search by partial adiabatic evolution

A quantum search algorithm based on the partial adiabatic evolution\cite{Tulsi2009} is provided. We calculate its time complexity by studying the Hamiltonian in a two-dimensional Hilbert space. It is found that the algorithm improves the time complexity, which is $O(\sqrt{N/M})$, of the local adiabatic search algorithm\cite{Roland2002}, to $O(\sqrt{N}/M)$.

Noise-Induced Sampling of Alternative Hamiltonian Paths in Quantum Adiabatic Search

We numerically simulate the effects of noise-induced sampling of alternative Hamiltonian paths on the ability of quantum adiabatic search (QuAdS) to solve randomly generated instances of the NP-Complete problem N-bit Exact Cover 3. The noise-averaged median runtime is determined as the noise-power and number of bits N are varied, and power-law and exponential fits are made to the data. Noise is seen to slowdown QuAdS, though a downward shift in the scaling exponent is found for N > 12 over a range of noise-power values. We discuss whether this shift might be connected to arguments in the liter…

Optimizing adiabatic quantum pathways via a learning algorithm

Designing proper time-dependent control fields for slowly varying the system to the ground state that encodes the problem solution is crucial for adiabatic quantum computation. However, inevitable perturbations in real applications demand us to accelerate the evolution so that the adiabatic errors can be prevented from accumulation. Here, by treating this trade-off task as a multiobjective optimization problem, we propose a gradient-free learning algorithm with pulse smoothing technique to search optimal adiabatic quantum pathways and apply it to the Landau-Zener Hamiltonian and Grover search …

Quantum search in structured database using local adiabatic evolution and spectral methods

Since Grover's seminal work which provides a way to speed up combinatorial search, quantum search has been studied in great detail. We propose a new method for designing quantum search algorithms for finding a marked element in the state space of a graph. The algorithm is based on a local diabatic evolution of the Hamiltonian associated with the graph. The main new idea is to apply some techniques such as Krylov bspace projection methods, Lanczos algorithm and spectral distribution methods. Indeed, using these techniques together with the second-order perturbation theory, we give a systematic …

Irreconcilable Difference Between Quantum Walks and Adiabatic Quantum Computing

Continuous-time quantum walks and adiabatic quantum evolution are two general techniques for quantum computing, both of which are described by Hamiltonians that govern their evolutions by Schrödinger's equation. In the former, the Hamiltonian is fixed, while in the latter, the Hamiltonian varies with time. As a result, their formulations of Grover's algorithm evolve differently through Hilbert space. We show that this difference is fundamental; they cannot be made to evolve along each other's path without introducing structure more powerful than the standard oracle for unstructured search. For…

Quantum search with hybrid adiabatic-quantum walk algorithms and realistic noise

Computing using a continuous-time evolution, based on the natural interaction Hamiltonian of the quantum computer hardware, is a promising route to building useful quantum computers in the near-term. Adiabatic quantum computing, quantum annealing, computation by continuous-time quantum walk, and special purpose quantum simulators all use this strategy. In this work, we carry out a detailed examination of adiabatic and quantum walk implementation of the quantum search algorithm, using the more physically realistic hypercube connectivity, rather than the complete graph, for our base Hamiltonian.…

Structured Adiabatic Quantum Search

We examine the use of adiabatic quantum algorithms to solve structured, or nested, search problems. We construct suitable time dependent Hamiltonians and derive the computation times for a general class of nested searches involving n qubits. As expected, we find that as additional structure is included, the Hamiltonians become more local and the computation times decrease.

Effects of dissipation in an adiabatic quantum search algorithm

We consider the effect of two different environments on the performance of the quantum adiabatic search algorithm, a thermal bath at finite temperature, and a structured environment similar to the one encountered in systems coupled to the electromagnetic field that exists within a photonic crystal. While for all the parameter regimes explored here, the algorithm performance is worsened by the contact with a thermal environment, the picture appears to be different when considering a structured environment. In this case we show that, by tuning the environment parameters to certain regimes, the a…

Exact Equivalence between Quantum Adiabatic Algorithm and Quantum Circuit Algorithm

We present a rigorous proof that quantum circuit algorithm can be transformed into quantum adiabatic algorithm with the exact same time complexity. This means that from a quantum circuit algorithm of $L$ gates we can construct a quantum adiabatic algorithm with time complexity of $O(L)$. Additionally, our construction shows that one may exponentially speed up some quantum adiabatic algorithms by properly choosing an evolution path.

Simulation of Quantum Adiabatic Search in the Presence of Noise

Results are presented of a large-scale simulation of the quantum adiabatic search (QuAdS) algorithm in the presence of noise. The algorithm is applied to the NP-Complete problem Exact Cover 3 (EC3). The noise is assumed to Zeeman-couple to the qubits and its effects on the algorithm's performance is studied for various levels of noise power, and for 4 different types of noise polarization. We examine the scaling relation between the number of bits N (EC3 problem size) and the algorithm's noise-averaged median run-time <T(N)>. Clear evidence is found of the algorithm's sensitivity to noise. Two…

Energy and Efficiency of Adiabatic Quantum Search Algorithms

We present the results of a detailed analysis of a general, unstructured adiabatic quantum search of a data base of $N$ items. In particular we examine the effects on the computation time of adding energy to the system. We find that by increasing the lowest eigenvalue of the time dependent Hamiltonian {\it temporarily} to a maximum of $\propto \sqrt{N}$, it is possible to do the calculation in constant time. This leads us to derive the general theorem which provides the adiabatic analogue of the $\sqrt{N}$ bound of conventional quantum searches. The result suggests that the action associated w…

Entanglement and Adiabatic Quantum Computation

Adiabatic quantum computation provides an alternative approach to quantum computation using a time-dependent Hamiltonian. The time evolution of entanglement during the adiabatic quantum search algorithm is studied, and its relevance as a resource is discussed.

Robustness of adiabatic quantum computation

We study the fault tolerance of quantum computation by adiabatic evolution, a quantum algorithm for solving various combinatorial search problems. We describe an inherent robustness of adiabatic computation against two kinds of errors, unitary control errors and decoherence, and we study this robustness using numerical simulations of the algorithm.

Scaling of running time of quantum adiabatic algorithm for propositional satisfiability

We numerically study quantum adiabatic algorithm for the propositional satisfiability. A new class of previously unknown hard instances is identified among random problems. We numerically find that the running time for such instances grows exponentially with their size. Worst case complexity of quantum adiabatic algorithm therefore seems to be exponential.

Adiabatic Quantum Computing for Random Satisfiability Problems

The discrete formulation of adiabatic quantum computing is compared with other search methods, classical and quantum, for random satisfiability (SAT) problems. With the number of steps growing only as the cube of the number of variables, the adiabatic method gives solution probabilities close to 1 for problem sizes feasible to evaluate via simulation on current computers. However, for these sizes the minimum energy gaps of most instances are fairly large, so the good performance scaling seen for small problems may not reflect asymptotic behavior where costs are dominated by tiny gaps. Moreover…

Superadiabatic Control of Quantum Operations

Adiabatic pulses are used extensively to enable robust control of quantum operations. We introduce a new approach to adiabatic control that uses the superadiabatic quality or $Q$-factor as a performance metric to design robust, high fidelity pulses. This approach permits the systematic design of quantum control schemes to maximize the adiabaticity of a unitary operation in a particular time interval given the available control resources. The interplay between adiabaticity, fidelity and robustness of the resulting pulses is examined for the case of single-qubit inversion, and superadiabatic pul…

An anatomy of a quantum adiabatic algorithm that transcends the Turing computability

We give an update on a quantum adiabatic algorithm for the Turing noncomputable Hilbert's tenth problem, and briefly go over some relevant issues and misleading objections to the algorithm.

Quantum adiabatic evolutions that can't be used to design efficient algorithms

Quantum adiabatic computation is a novel paradigm for the design of quantum algorithms, which is usually used to find the minimum of a classical function. In this paper, we show that if the initial hamiltonian of a quantum adiabatic evolution with a interpolation path is too simple, the minimal gap between the ground state and the first excited state of this quantum adiabatic evolution is an inverse exponential distance. Thus quantum adiabatic evolutions of this kind can't be used to design efficient quantum algorithms. Similarly, we show that a quantum adiabatic evolution with a simple final …

Adiabatic Quantum Search in Open Systems

Adiabatic quantum algorithms represent a promising approach to universal quantum computation. Whilst in a closed system these algorithms are limited by avoided level crossings, where the gap becomes exponentially small in the system size, their robustness in open systems remains unresolved. We study the dynamics in the proximity of such an avoided level crossing associated with the adiabatic quantum search algorithm in a quantum system that is coupled to a generic environment. At zero temperature, we find that the algorithm remains scalable provided the noise spectral density of the environmen…

Experimental implementation of local adiabatic evolution algorithms by an NMR quantum information processor

Quantum adiabatic algorithm is a method of solving computational problems by evolving the ground state of a slowly varying Hamiltonian. The technique uses evolution of the ground state of a slowly varying Hamiltonian to reach the required output state. In some cases, such as the adiabatic versions of Grover's search algorithm and Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, applying the global adiabatic evolution yields a complexity similar to their classical algorithms. However, using the local adiabatic evolution, the algorithms given by J. Roland and N. J. Cerf for Grover's search [ Phys. Rev. A. {\bf 65} 0423…

Rapid Data Search using Adiabatic Quantum Computation

We show that by a suitable choice of time-dependent Hamiltonian, the search for a marked item in an unstructured database can be achieved in unit time, using Adiabatic Quantum Computation. This is a considerable improvement over the O(sqrt(N)) time required in previous algorithms. The trade-off is that in the intermediate stages of the computation process, the ground state energy of the computer increases to a maximum of O(sqrt(N)), before returning to zero at the end of the process.

A Quantum Adiabatic Algorithm for Factorization and Its Experimental Implementation

We propose an adiabatic quantum algorithm capable of factorizing numbers, using fewer qubits than Shor's algorithm. We implement the algorithm in an NMR quantum information processor and experimentally factorize the number 21. Numerical simulations indicate that the running time grows only quadratically with the number of qubits.

Majorization in Quantum Adiabatic Algorithms

The majorization theory has been applied to analyze the mathematical structure of quantum algorithms. An empirical conclusion by numerical simulations obtained in the previous literature indicates that step-by-step majorization seems to appear universally in quantum adiabatic algorithms. In this paper, a rigorous analysis of the majorization arrow in a special class of quantum adiabatic algorithms is carried out. In particular, we prove that for any adiabatic algorithm of this class, step-by-step majorization of the ground state holds exactly. For the actual state, we show that step-by-step ma…

Speedup in Quantum Adiabatic Evolution Algorithm

Quantum adiabatic evolution algorithm suggested by Farhi et al. was effective in solving instances of NP-complete problems. The algorithm is governed by the adiabatic theorem. Therefore, in order to reduce the running time, it is essential to examine the minimum energy gap between the ground level and the next one through the evolution. In this letter, we show a way of speedup in quantum adiabatic evolution algorithm, using the extended Hamiltonian. We present the exact relation between the energy gap and the elements of the extended Hamiltonian, which provides the new point of view to reduce …

From quantum circuits to adiabatic algorithms

This paper explores several aspects of the adiabatic quantum computation model. We first show a way that directly maps any arbitrary circuit in the standard quantum computing model to an adiabatic algorithm of the same depth. Specifically, we look for a smooth time-dependent Hamiltonian whose unique ground state slowly changes from the initial state of the circuit to its final state. Since this construction requires in general an n-local Hamiltonian, we will study whether approximation is possible using previous results on ground state entanglement and perturbation theory. Finally we will poin…

Optimizing Quantum Adiabatic Algorithm

In quantum adiabatic algorithm, as the adiabatic parameter $s(t)$ changes slowly from zero to one with finite rate, a transition to excited states inevitably occurs and this induces an intrinsic computational error. We show that this computational error depends not only on the total computation time $T$ but also on the time derivatives of the adiabatic parameter $s(t)$ at the beginning and the end of evolution. Previous work (Phys. Rev. A \textbf{82}, 052305) also suggested this result. With six typical paths, we systematically demonstrate how to optimally design an adiabatic path to reduce th…

A modified quantum adiabatic evolution for the Deutsch-Jozsa problem

Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm has been implemented via a quantum adiabatic evolution by S. Das et al. [Phys. Rev. A 65, 062310 (2002)]. This adiabatic algorithm gives rise to a quadratic speed up over classical algorithms. We show that a modified version of the adiabatic evolution in that paper can improve the performance to constant time.

面向搜索问题的、受Grover搜索启发的量子近似优化算法交替算子拟设

Grover Search Inspired Alternating Operator Ansatz of Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm for Search Problems

该研究利用绝热量子搜索与绝热量子计算的框架映射，通过对绝热量子搜索的含调度哈密顿量做Trotter化得到QAOA的变分参数，无需迭代机器学习即可将Grover搜索的最优性能迁移至QAOA框架。

On the adiabatic condition and the quantum hitting time of Markov chains

We present an adiabatic quantum algorithm for the abstract problem of searching marked vertices in a graph, or spatial search. Given a random walk (or Markov chain) $P$ on a graph with a set of unknown marked vertices, one can define a related absorbing walk $P'$ where outgoing transitions from marked vertices are replaced by self-loops. We build a Hamiltonian $H(s)$ from the interpolated Markov chain $P(s)=(1-s)P+sP'$ and use it in an adiabatic quantum algorithm to drive an initial superposition over all vertices to a superposition over marked vertices. The adiabatic condition implies that fo…

Experimental implementation of an adiabatic quantum optimization algorithm

We report the realization of a nuclear magnetic resonance computer with three quantum bits that simulates an adiabatic quantum optimization algorithm. Adiabatic quantum algorithms offer new insight into how quantum resources can be used to solve hard problems. This experiment uses a particularly well suited three quantum bit molecule and was made possible by introducing a technique that encodes general instances of the given optimization problem into an easily applicable Hamiltonian. Our results indicate an optimal run time of the adiabatic algorithm that agrees well with the prediction of a s…

Excited state search using quantum annealing

Quantum annealing (QA) is one of the ways to search the ground state of the problem Hamiltonian. Here, we propose the QA scheme to search arbitrary excited states of the problem Hamiltonian. In our scheme, an $n$-th excited state of the trivial Hamiltonian is initially prepared and is adiabatically changed into an $n$-th excited state of the target Hamiltonian. Although our scheme is general such that we can search any excited states, we especially discuss the first excited state search in this paper. As a comparison, we consider a non-adiabatic scheme to find the first excited state with non-…