Hidetoshi Nishimori: "Theory of Quantum Annealing"

Hidetoshi Nishimori visited Google LA on March 28, 2014 to give a talk: "Theory of Quantum Annealing" Abstract: Quantum annealing is a generic framework, metaheuristic, for combinatorial optimization. I will first review the basic formulation of quantum annealing and numerical evidence for its performance, particularly in comparison with classical simulated annealing. I will then explain a few theorems to guarantee its convergence toward the solution. The final part will be devoted to recent developments concerning the order of quantum phase transitions that may take place in the process of quantum annealing and may impede efficient computation. Bio: Hidetoshi Nishimori is a professor of Physics at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. His academic interests cover statistical physics of disordered systems and quantum physics and computation, quantum annealing in particular. He was awarded Nishina Memorial Prize, IBM Science Prize and is a fellow of the Institute of Physics. He received his PhD from the University of Tokyo. After three years in the United States as a postdoc at Carnegie-Mellon University and Rutgers University, he joined Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he now serves as the Dean of the School of Science.