Comment on "Distinguishing Classical and Quantum Models for the D-Wave Device"

Seung Woo Shin, Graeme Smith, John A. Smolin, Umesh Vazirani

Published 2014-04-25, updated 2014-04-28Version 2

The SSSV model is a simple classical model that achieves excellent correlation with published experimental data on the D-Wave machine's behavior on random instances of its native problem, thus raising questions about how "quantum" the D-Wave machine is at large scales. In response, a recent preprint by Vinci et al. proposes a particular set of instances on which the D-Wave machine behaves differently from the SSSV model. In this short note, we explain how a simple modeling of systematic errors in the machine allows the SSSV model to reproduce the behavior reported in the experiments of Vinci et al.