Investigating layer-selective transfer learning of QAOA parameters for Max-Cut problem

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Venturelli, Francesco Aldo, Das, Sreetama, Caruso, Filippo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Venturelli, Francesco Aldo
Das, Sreetama
Caruso, Filippo
author_facet Venturelli, Francesco Aldo
Das, Sreetama
Caruso, Filippo
contents The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) is a variational quantum algorithm (VQA) ideal for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) processors, and is highly successful in solving combinatorial optimization problems (COPs). It has been observed that the optimal parameters obtained from one instance of a COP can be transferred to another instance, resulting in generally good solutions for the latter. In this work, we propose a refinement scheme in which only a subset of QAOA layers is optimized following parameter transfer, with a focus on the Max-Cut problem. Our motivation is to reduce the complexity of the loss landscape when optimizing all the layers of high-depth QAOA circuits, as well as to reduce the optimization time. We investigate the potential hierarchical roles of different layers and analyze how the approximation ratio scales with increasing problem size. Our findings indicate that the selective layer optimization scheme offers a favorable trade-off between solution quality and computational time, and can be more beneficial than full optimization at a lower optimization time.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_21071
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Investigating layer-selective transfer learning of QAOA parameters for Max-Cut problem
Venturelli, Francesco Aldo
Das, Sreetama
Caruso, Filippo
Quantum Physics
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Machine Learning
The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) is a variational quantum algorithm (VQA) ideal for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) processors, and is highly successful in solving combinatorial optimization problems (COPs). It has been observed that the optimal parameters obtained from one instance of a COP can be transferred to another instance, resulting in generally good solutions for the latter. In this work, we propose a refinement scheme in which only a subset of QAOA layers is optimized following parameter transfer, with a focus on the Max-Cut problem. Our motivation is to reduce the complexity of the loss landscape when optimizing all the layers of high-depth QAOA circuits, as well as to reduce the optimization time. We investigate the potential hierarchical roles of different layers and analyze how the approximation ratio scales with increasing problem size. Our findings indicate that the selective layer optimization scheme offers a favorable trade-off between solution quality and computational time, and can be more beneficial than full optimization at a lower optimization time.
title Investigating layer-selective transfer learning of QAOA parameters for Max-Cut problem
topic Quantum Physics
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.21071