Multiple Target Tracking and Filtering using Bayesian Diabatic Quantum Annealing

In this paper, we present a hybrid quantum/classical algorithm to solve an NP-hard combinatorial problem called the multiple target data association (MTDA) and tracking problem. We use diabatic quantum annealing (DQA) to enumerate the low energy, or high probability, feasible assignments, and we use a classical computer to find the Bayesian expected mean track estimate by summing over these assignments. We demonstrate our hybrid quantum/classical approach on a simple example. This may be the first demonstration of a Bayesian hybrid quantum-classical multiple target tracking filter. We contrast our DQA method with the adiabatic quantum computing (AQC) approach to MTDA. We give a theoretical overview of DQA and characterize some of the technical limitations of using quantum annealers in this novel diabatic modality.