Quantum Optimization

I proposed to use ideas from classical stochastic search algorithms to design a quantum computing algorithm for optimization which would tolerate quantum decoherence. I applied ideas from classical annealing algorithms to quantum optimization. I applied the Redfield theory for spin systems to model decoherence in a quantum computer. I designed a simple quantum computing cell which could be analyzed in terms of the Redfield equation. And I showed how a large number of such cells could be connected to perform a quantum version of simulated annealing for combinatorial optimization. Unfortunately, I did not succeed in effectively and correctly applying the proposed quantum annealing computer to the Min Cut combinatorial optimization problem I chose to attack.