An introduction to quantum annealing

Quantum Annealing, or Quantum Stochastic Optimization, is a classical\nrandomized algorithm which provides good heuristics for the solution of hard\noptimization problems. The algorithm, suggested by the behaviour of quantum\nsystems, is an example of proficuous cross contamination between classical and\nquantum computer science. In this survey paper we illustrate how hard\ncombinatorial problems are tackled by quantum computation and present some\nexamples of the heuristics provided by Quantum Annealing. We also present\npreliminary results about the application of quantum dissipation (as an\nalternative to Imaginary Time Evolution) to the task of driving a quantum\nsystem toward its state of lowest energy.\n