Quantum computing and the stable set problem

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Krpan, Aljaž, Povh, Janez, Pucher, Dunja
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Krpan, Aljaž
Povh, Janez
Pucher, Dunja
author_facet Krpan, Aljaž
Povh, Janez
Pucher, Dunja
contents Given an undirected graph, the stable set problem asks to determine the cardinality of the largest subset of pairwise non-adjacent vertices. This value is called the stability number of the graph, and its computation is an NP-hard problem. In this paper, we solve the stable set problem using the D-Wave quantum annealer. By formulating the problem as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problem with the penalty method, we show its optimal value equals the graph's stability number for specific penalty values. However, D-Wave's quantum annealer is a heuristic, so the solutions may be far from the optimum and may not represent stable sets. To address these, we introduce a post-processing procedure that identifies samples that could lead to improved solutions. Additionally, we propose a partitioning method to handle larger instances that cannot be embedded on D-Wave's quantum processing unit. Finally, we investigate how different penalty parameter values affect the solutions' quality. Extensive computational results show that the post-processing procedure significantly improves the solution quality, while the partitioning method successfully extends our approach to medium-size instances.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_12845
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantum computing and the stable set problem
Krpan, Aljaž
Povh, Janez
Pucher, Dunja
Optimization and Control
Primary 90C27, Secondary 81P68
Given an undirected graph, the stable set problem asks to determine the cardinality of the largest subset of pairwise non-adjacent vertices. This value is called the stability number of the graph, and its computation is an NP-hard problem. In this paper, we solve the stable set problem using the D-Wave quantum annealer. By formulating the problem as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problem with the penalty method, we show its optimal value equals the graph's stability number for specific penalty values. However, D-Wave's quantum annealer is a heuristic, so the solutions may be far from the optimum and may not represent stable sets. To address these, we introduce a post-processing procedure that identifies samples that could lead to improved solutions. Additionally, we propose a partitioning method to handle larger instances that cannot be embedded on D-Wave's quantum processing unit. Finally, we investigate how different penalty parameter values affect the solutions' quality. Extensive computational results show that the post-processing procedure significantly improves the solution quality, while the partitioning method successfully extends our approach to medium-size instances.
title Quantum computing and the stable set problem
topic Optimization and Control
Primary 90C27, Secondary 81P68
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.12845