1107.4034 (M. Cullimore et al.)

The relationship between minimum gap and success probability in
adiabatic quantum computing    [PDF]

M. Cullimore, M. J. Everitt, M. A. Ormerod, J. H. Samson, R. D. Wilson, A. M. Zagoskin

We explore the relationship between two figures of merit for an adiabatic quantum computation process: the success probability $P$ and the minimum gap $\Delta_{min}$ between the ground and first excited states, investigating to what extent the success probability for an ensemble of problem Hamiltonians can be fitted by a function of $\Delta_{min}$ and the computation time $T$. We study a generic adiabatic algorithm and show that a rich structure exists in the distribution of $P$ and $\Delta_{min}$. In the case of two qubits, $P$ is to a good approximation a function of $\Delta_{min}$, of the stage in the evolution at which the minimum occurs and of $T$. This structure persists in examples of larger systems.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.4034