Using Quantum Computers to Study Random Close Packing of Granular Discs

We reformulate the problem of granular random close packing of 2D discs as a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization in order to utilize the D-Wave 2000Q quantum annealing computer. The solution is a set of ground states corresponding to jammed configurations in which no single particle can be m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2019 Tenth International Green and Sustainable Computing Conference (IGSC) pp. 1 - 6
Main Authors Gazzillo, Zachary, Franklin, Scott, Alarcon, Sonia Lopez
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.10.2019
Subjects
Annealing
Computers
Jamming
Linear programming
Optimization
Qubit
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DOI10.1109/IGSC48788.2019.8957200

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Summary:We reformulate the problem of granular random close packing of 2D discs as a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization in order to utilize the D-Wave 2000Q quantum annealing computer. The solution is a set of ground states corresponding to jammed configurations in which no single particle can be moved without creating a non-zero potential. The problem is adapted to the quantum computer by discretizing space and mapping each point onto physical quantum-bits (qubits). An objective function is derived that defines the system energy for arbitrary particle locations, subject to constraints biasing solutions toward a pre-determined number of particles. Uniquely, the quantum computer samples and returns minimum values of this function finding low energy states, a subset of which are physically realizable solutions we seek. While quantum computing's technological infancy restricts our study to proofof-concept, our work still shows promise for efficient analysis of complex granular problems.
DOI:10.1109/IGSC48788.2019.8957200