Quantum annealing via real-time Schrödinger dynamics

Abstract

Quantum annealing provides a way to potentially solve optimisation problems faster than its classical counterpart, simulated annealing, but the suitability of this method is still open to debate. Here we present an example of simulated quantum annealing of a 2D Ising spin glass model by the real-time evolution governed by the Schrödinger equation. A bias towards certain ground states is observed for larger annealing times. The final states are compatible with the results obtained in a previous study using path-integral Monte Carlo for simulated quantum annealing