Analog Counterdiabatic Quantum Computing

Abstract: We propose analog counterdiabatic quantum computing (ACQC) to tackle combinatorial optimization problems on neutral-atom quantum processors. While these devices allow for the use of hundreds of qubits, adiabatic quantum computing struggles with non-adiabatic errors, which are inevitable due to the hardware's restricted coherence time. We design counterdiabatic protocols to circumvent those limitations via ACQC on analog quantum devices with ground-Rydberg qubits. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our paradigm, we experimentally apply it to the maximum independent set (MIS) problem with up to 100 qubits and show an enhancement in the approximation ratio with a short evolution time. We believe ACQC establishes a path toward quantum advantage for a variety of industry use cases.