Genetic quantum algorithm and its application to combinatorial optimization problem

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel evolutionary computing method called a genetic quantum algorithm (GQA). GQA is based on the concept and principles of quantum computing such as qubits and superposition of states. Instead of binary, numeric, or symbolic representation, by adopting qubit chromosome as a representation GQA can represent a linear superposition of solutions due to its probabilistic representation. As genetic operators, quantum gates are employed for the search of the best solution. Rapid convergence and good global search capability characterize the performance of GQA. The effectiveness and the applicability of GQA are demonstrated by experimental results on the knapsack problem, which is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem. The results show that GQA is superior to other genetic algorithms using penalty functions, repair methods and decoders.