Education

Title: Considering Industrial Challenges through Quantum Algorithms
         – The Mathematical Role of Annealing and Gate-Based Approaches

Place: IMI Auditorium(W1-D-413) and Live streaming with Zoom

Speaker: Keiichiro Higa (DEVEL Co., Ltd.)

Attendance: 27(Students: 7; Staff: 12;Others: 8)

Summary of Lecture:
At this IMI Colloquium, the speaker gave a lecture entitled “Considering Industrial Challenges through Quantum Algorithms – The Mathematical Role of Annealing and Gate-Based Approaches”.

First, an overview was provided on the differences between classical and quantum computing, as well as the two main quantum computing approaches: “annealing” and “gate-based approach”. Following this, the process of tackling corporate challenges using quantum annealing was introduced. Specifically, procedures such as decomposing the problem into binary values (0 or 1), describing the objective function using quadratic forms, and formulating constraints as penalty terms, were discussed. It was emphasized that without optimal design of variables and constraints, problems can become overly complex, thus, an accurate understanding of the challenge and diverse mathematical knowledge are both essential for appropriate solutions.

Next, the design of key algorithms in the quantum gate-based approach and the corresponding methodology for solving corporate challenges were introduced. Building these solutions also requires proficiency in mathematics, for example, matrix operations, accurate approximation of eigenvectors, and optimization.

Finally, concrete examples of problem formulation and solutions were presented through the speaker’s actual works on the shift optimization and job matching problem. The lecture emphasized that understanding the mathematical structure of problems is indispensable for quantum computing, which will be crucial for solving future challenges. This was highly stimulating and meaningful for faculty and students specializing in mathematics. The subsequent Q&A session was lively, reflecting the participants’ keen interest.