Treating the Independent Set Problem by 2D Ising Interactions with Adiabatic Quantum Computing

We construct a nearest-neighbor Hamiltonian whose ground states encode the solutions to the NP-complete problem INDEPENDENT SET in cubic planar graphs. The Hamiltonian can be easily simulated by Ising interactions between adjacent particles on a 2D rectangular lattice. We describe the required pulse sequences. Our methods could help to implement adiabatic quantum computing by physically reasonable Hamiltonians like short-range interactions.