Solving Optimization problems using Qiskit Aqua

This time, Katarzyna Rycerz (from Department of Computer Science
AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, PL) will talk about Qiskit Aqua library for solving optimization problems.

This work focuses on exploring the possibility of solving a popular optimization problem, workflow scheduling [1], using a quantum computer provided by IBM with the Qiskit quantum framework. The problem of assigning workflow tasks to machines in a cloud environment is solved with the use of a hybrid Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VGE) algorithm [2]. The solution was first tested on a simulator from the Qiskit framework and then run on a real quantum device with 15 qubits, provided by IBM Q. This talk will present a problem description, its transformation into Hamiltonian for VQE algorithm and discussion of experimental results [3]. We will also discuss limitations of such an approach, the existing solutions and point possible future work.

References
[1] Deelman, E., Gannon, D., Shields, M., Taylor, I.: Workflows and e-science: An overview of workflow system features and capabilities. Future Generation Computer Systems 25(5), 528–540 (2009)
[2] Alberto Peruzzo, Jarrod McClean et al.: A variational eigenvalue solver on a photonic quantum processor. Nature Communications 5, 4213 (2014)
[3] Małgorzata Stachoń: Solving optimisation problems using Qiskit Aqua, Master of Science Thesis supervised by Katarzyna Rycerz, AGH University of Science and Technology, Department of Computer Science, Krakow, Poland (2020)