When could NISQ algorithms start to create value in discrete manufacturing ?

Abstract

Are quantum advantages in discrete manufacturing achievable in the near term? As manufacturing-relevant NISQ algorithms, we identified Quantum Annealing (QA) and the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) for combinatorial optimization as well as Derivative Quantum Circuits (DQC) for solving non-linear PDEs. While there is evidence for QAOA's outperformance, this requires post-NISQ circuit depths. In the case of QA, there is up to now no unquestionable evidence for advantage compared to classical computation. Yet different protocols could lead to finding such instances. Together with a well-chosen quantum feature map, DQC are a promising concept. Further investigations for higher dimensional problems and improvements in training could follow.Comment: 39 pages (thesis