Quantum annealing inspired algorithms for the NISQ Era

arXiv (Cornell University)

Abstract

We study algorithms inspired by quantum annealing that are suited for the NISQ era. First, we analyze approximate quantum annealing (AQA), which employs a discretized annealing ansatz in which the time step and the number of layers are allowed to deviate from a faithful implementation of quantum annealing. Parameter scans identify regimes that reproduce annealing-like behavior with reduced resources, making them more suitable for NISQ devices. The resulting parameters can then be used as an effective warm start for the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA), improving its performance compared to random initializations. We also introduce evolving Hamiltonian quantum optimization (EHQO), a multistep variational scheme that guides the optimization process through intermediate Hamiltonians derived from the standard annealing Hamiltonian. Numerical simulations on sets of hard 2-SAT instances suggest that quantum annealing-inspired algorithms provide practical strategies for enhancing variational quantum optimization.

Authors 5

1. Rijul Sachdeva Aachen

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Jülich Supercomputing Centre , Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich , Germany

   RWTH Aachen University , 52056 Aachen , Germany

2. Vrinda Mehta

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Jülich Supercomputing Centre , Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich , Germany

3. Manpreet Singh Jattana

   Goethe University Frankfurt

   Affiliation as printed

   Modular Supercomputing and Quantum Computing , Goethe University Frankfurt , Kettenhofweg 139 , Frankfurt am Main , 60325 , Germany

4. Kristel F. L. Michielsen

   TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences · Forschungszentrum Jülich · University of Cologne · Jülich Supercomputing Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Computer Science , University of Cologne , 50931 Cologne , Germany

   Jülich Supercomputing Centre , Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich , Germany

5. Fengping Jin

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Jülich Supercomputing Centre , Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich , Germany