ARITHMETIC CIRCUIT, ARITHMETIC DEVICE, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR SEARCHING FOR GROUND STATE OF ISING MODEL

1 . An arithmetic circuit comprising:

a variable memory that stores a value indicating a state of one variable in an interaction model;

an interaction coefficient auxiliary memory that stores an interaction coefficient of a subfunction corresponding to the variable memory;

an external magnetic field coefficient auxiliary memory that stores an external magnetic field coefficient of the subfunction corresponding to the variable memory;

a weight input line that receives a weight signal of the subfunction;

an interaction coefficient calculation unit that calculates a weighted subfunction interaction coefficient by using the weight signal of the subfunction and the interaction coefficient of the subfunction;

an external magnetic field coefficient calculation unit that calculates a weighted subfunction external magnetic field coefficient by using the weight signal of the subfunction and the external magnetic field coefficient of the subfunction; and

a next state calculation unit that calculates a next state of the variable based on the value indicating the state of the variable, the weighted subfunction interaction coefficient, and the weighted subfunction external magnetic field coefficient.

2 . The arithmetic circuit according to claim 1 , wherein

the interaction coefficient auxiliary memory stores interaction coefficients of K subfunctions (K is an integer of 2 or more),

the external magnetic field coefficient auxiliary memory stores external magnetic field coefficients of the K subfunctions,

the weight input line inputs weight signals of the K subfunctions, and

the interaction coefficients of the K subfunctions, the external magnetic field coefficients of the K subfunctions, and the weight signals of the K subfunctions are associated with each other.

3 . The arithmetic circuit according to claim 2 , wherein

the interaction coefficient calculation unit calculates K weighted subfunction interaction coefficients by using the weight signals of the subfunctions and the interaction coefficients of the subfunctions associated with each other, and

the external magnetic field coefficient calculation unit calculates K weighted subfunction external magnetic field coefficients by using the weight signals of the subfunctions and the external magnetic field coefficients of the subfunctions associated with each other.

4 . An arithmetic device comprising:

N of the arithmetic circuits according to claim 3 , wherein

the N arithmetic circuits correspond to N variables in the interaction model.

5 . The arithmetic device according to claim 4 , wherein

the interaction coefficient calculation unit adds the K weighted subfunction interaction coefficients to obtain an interaction coefficient J i,j in an energy function H(σ) of an Ising model, and

the external magnetic field coefficient calculation unit adds the K weighted subfunction external magnetic field coefficients to obtain an external magnetic field coefficient h i in the energy function H(σ) of the Ising model,

H

⁡

(

σ

)

=

-

∑

i

<

j

J

i

,

j

⁢

σ

i

⁢

σ

j

-

∑

i

<

j

h

i

⁢

σ

i

[

Equation

⁢

1

]

where σ i represents a value of an i-th variable, J i,j represents an interaction coefficient between the i-th variable and a j-th variable, and h i represents an external magnetic field coefficient acting on the i-th variable.

6 . An information processing apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a main storage device;

an auxiliary storage device;

an input device;

an output device;

the arithmetic device according to claim 4 ; and

a system bus connecting the devices.

7 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein

the output device displays a GUI for setting the weight signal of the subfunction.

8 . A method for searching for a ground state of an Ising model by using an energy function expressed by

H

⁡

(

σ

)

=

∑

k

w

k

·

ϕ

k

(

σ

)

[

Equation

⁢

2

]

where σ i is a value of an i-th spin, σ k is a subfunction of a k-th term, and w k is a weight of the subfunction of the k-th term, and

by using a plurality of spin units, each of the plurality of spin units including a first memory that stores the value σ i of the spin, a second memory that stores an interaction coefficient of the subfunction, and a third memory that stores an external magnetic field coefficient of the subfunction,

the method comprising:

a first step of converting issue data into the Ising model;

a second step of setting an interaction coefficient of each term of the subfunction in the second memory;

a third step of setting an external magnetic field coefficient of each term of the subfunction in the third memory;

a fourth step of setting a weight of each term of the subfunction;

a fifth step of initializing the value of the spin in the first memory; and

a sixth step of executing, by using the interaction coefficient in the second memory, the external magnetic field coefficient in the third memory, and the weight, an interaction operation to calculate a next state of the value of the spin.

9 . The method for searching for a ground state of an Ising model according to claim 8 , wherein

in the fourth step, a GUI is used to allow a user to set the weight of each term of the subfunction.

10 . The method for searching for a ground state of an Ising model according to claim 8 , wherein

after the sixth step, the method returns to the fourth step and the weight of each term of the subfunction is changed, and the fifth step and the sixth step are executed again.

11 . The method for searching for a ground state of an Ising model according to claim 10 , wherein

the weight of each term of the subfunction is changed a plurality of times.