Discrete combinatorial optimization consists in finding the optimal configuration that minimizes a given discrete objective function. An interpretation of such a function as the energy of a classical system allows us to reduce the optimization proble
m into the preparation of a low-temperature thermal state of the system. Motivated by the quantum annealing method, we present three strategies to prepare the low-temperature state that exploit quantum mechanics in remarkable ways. We focus on implementations without uncontrolled errors induced by the environment. This allows us to rigorously prove a quantum advantage. The first strategy uses a classical-to-quantum mapping, where the equilibrium properties of a classical system in $d$ spatial dimensions can be determined from the ground state properties of a quantum system also in $d$ spatial dimensions. We show how such a ground state can be prepared by means of quantum annealing, including quantum adiabatic evolutions. This mapping also allows us to unveil some fundamental relations between simulated and quantum annealing. The second strategy builds upon the first one and introduces a technique called spectral gap amplification to reduce the time required to prepare the same quantum state adiabatically. If implemented on a quantum device that exploits quantum coherence, this strategy leads to a quadratic improvement in complexity over the well-known bound of the classical simulated annealing method. The third strategy is not purely adiabatic; instead, it exploits diabatic processes between the low-energy states of the corresponding quantum system. For some problems it results in an exponential speedup (in the oracle model) over the best classical algorithms.
A subtle relation between Quantum Hall physics and the phenomenon of pairing is unveiled. By use of second quantization, we establish a connection between (i) a broad class of rotationally symmetric two-body interactions within the lowest Landau leve
l and (ii) integrable hyperbolic Richardson-Gaudin type Hamiltonians that arise in (p_{x}+ip_{y}) superconductivity. Specifically, we show that general Haldane pseudopotentials (and their sums) can be expressed as a sum of repulsive non-commuting (p_{x}+ip_{y})-type pairing Hamiltonians. For the Laughlin sequence, it is observed that this problem is frustration free and zero energy ground states lie in the common null space of all of these non-commuting Hamiltonians. This property allows for the use of a new truncated basis of pairing configurations in which to express Laughlin states at general filling factors. We prove separability of arbitrary Haldane pseudopotentials, providing explicit expressions for their second quantized forms, and further show by explicit construction how to exploit the topological equivalence between different geometries (disk, cylinder, and sphere) sharing the same topological genus number, in the second quantized formalism, through similarity transformations. As an application of the second quantized approach, we establish a squeezing principle that applies to the zero modes of a general class of Hamiltonians, which includes but is not limited to Haldane pseudopotentials. We also show how one may establish (bounds on) incompressible filling factors for those Hamiltonians. By invoking properties of symmetric polynomials, we provide explicit second quantized quasi-hole generators; the generators that we find directly relate to bosonic chiral edge modes and further make aspects of dimensional reduction in the Quantum Hall systems precise.
We explore finite-field frameworks for quantum theory and quantum computation. The simplest theory, defined over unrestricted finite fields, is unnaturally strong. A second framework employs only finite fields with no solution to x^2+1=0, and thus pe
rmits an elegant complex representation of the extended field by adjoining i=sqrt{-1}. Quantum theories over these fields recover much of the structure of conventional quantum theory except for the condition that vanishing inner products arise only from null states; unnaturally strong computational power may still occur. Finally, we are led to consider one more framework, with further restrictions on the finite fields, that recovers a local transitive order and a locally-consistent notion of inner product with a new notion of cardinal probability. In this framework, conventional quantum mechanics and quantum computation emerge locally (though not globally) as the size of the underlying field increases. Interestingly, the framework allows one to choose separate finite fields for system description and for measurement: the size of the first field quantifies the resources needed to describe the system and the size of the second quantifies the resources used by the observer. This resource-based perspective potentially provides insights into quantitative measures for actual computational power, the complexity of quantum system definition and evolution, and the independent question of the cost of the measurement process.
We present a geometric characterization of the ferrotoroidic moment in terms of a set of Abelian Berry phases. We also introduce a fundamental complex quantity which provides an alternative way to calculate the ferrotoroidic moment and its moments, a
nd is derived from a second order tensor. This geometric framework defines a natural computational approach for density functional and many-body theories.
