A Tutorial on Formulating and Using QUBO Models

Understand

The Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) model has gained prominence in recent years with the discovery that it unifies a rich variety of combinatorial optimization problems.

• By its association with the Ising problem in physics, the QUBO model has emerged as an underpinning of the quantum computing area known as quantum annealing and has become a subject of study in neuromorphic computing.
• Through these connections, QUBO models lie at the heart of experimentation carried out with quantum computers developed by D-Wave Systems and neuromorphic computers developed by IBM.
• Computational experience is being amassed by both the classical and the quantum computing communities that highlights not only the potential of the QUBO model but also its effectiveness as an alternative to traditional modeling and solution methodologies.