Among various algorithms designed to exploit the specific properties of
quantum computers with respect to classical ones, the quantum adiabatic
algorithm is a versatile proposition to find the minimal value of an arbitrary
cost function (ground state energy). Random optimization problems provide a
natural testbed to compare its efficiency with that of classical algorithms.
These problems correspond to mean field spin glasses that have been extensively
studied in the classical case. This paper reviews recent analytical works that
extended these studies to incorporate the effect of quantum fluctuations, and
presents also some original results in this direction.Comment: 151 pages, 21 figure