Technique for Transforming Discrete Optimization Problems into QUBO Form

Practical discrete optimization problems often contain multidimensional arrays of variables interrelated by linear constraints such as equalities and inequalities. Values of each variable depend on its specific meaning and can be binary, integer, or discrete. These conditions make it technically difficult to reduce the original problem statement to QUBO form. We identify and examine three necessary transformations of the original problem statement to reduce it to QUBO form, namely transition from a multidimensional to a one-dimensional array, transition to binary variables in mixed problems, and incorporating linear constraints into the objective function in the form of quadratic penalties. We present and prove computationally convenient formulas to simplify these transformations. In particular, the formulas for the transition from a multidimensional to a one-dimensional array of variables are based on the application of the Kronecker product of matrices. The transformations considered are illustrated by numerous examples and used, as an application, to reduce a number of well-known problems in graph theory and combinatorial optimization to QUBO form.