Generalized Probabilistic Approximate Optimization Algorithm

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abdelrahman, Abdelrahman S., Chowdhury, Shuvro, Morone, Flaviano, Camsari, Kerem Y.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914187006967808
author Abdelrahman, Abdelrahman S.
Chowdhury, Shuvro
Morone, Flaviano
Camsari, Kerem Y.
author_facet Abdelrahman, Abdelrahman S.
Chowdhury, Shuvro
Morone, Flaviano
Camsari, Kerem Y.
contents We introduce a generalized \textit{Probabilistic Approximate Optimization Algorithm (PAOA)}, a classical variational Monte Carlo framework that extends and formalizes prior work by Weitz \textit{et al.}~\cite{Combes_2023}, enabling parameterized and fast sampling on present-day Ising machines and probabilistic computers. PAOA operates by iteratively modifying the couplings of a network of binary stochastic units, guided by cost evaluations from independent samples. We establish a direct correspondence between derivative-free updates and the gradient of the full Markov flow over the exponentially large state space, showing that PAOA admits a principled variational formulation. Simulated annealing emerges as a limiting case under constrained parameterizations, and we implement this regime on an FPGA-based probabilistic computer with on-chip annealing to solve large 3D spin-glass problems. Benchmarking PAOA against QAOA on the canonical 26-spin Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model with matched parameters reveals superior performance for PAOA. We show that PAOA naturally extends simulated annealing by optimizing multiple temperature profiles, leading to improved performance over SA on heavy-tailed problems such as SK-Lévy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_07420
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Generalized Probabilistic Approximate Optimization Algorithm
Abdelrahman, Abdelrahman S.
Chowdhury, Shuvro
Morone, Flaviano
Camsari, Kerem Y.
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Machine Learning
Quantum Physics
We introduce a generalized \textit{Probabilistic Approximate Optimization Algorithm (PAOA)}, a classical variational Monte Carlo framework that extends and formalizes prior work by Weitz \textit{et al.}~\cite{Combes_2023}, enabling parameterized and fast sampling on present-day Ising machines and probabilistic computers. PAOA operates by iteratively modifying the couplings of a network of binary stochastic units, guided by cost evaluations from independent samples. We establish a direct correspondence between derivative-free updates and the gradient of the full Markov flow over the exponentially large state space, showing that PAOA admits a principled variational formulation. Simulated annealing emerges as a limiting case under constrained parameterizations, and we implement this regime on an FPGA-based probabilistic computer with on-chip annealing to solve large 3D spin-glass problems. Benchmarking PAOA against QAOA on the canonical 26-spin Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model with matched parameters reveals superior performance for PAOA. We show that PAOA naturally extends simulated annealing by optimizing multiple temperature profiles, leading to improved performance over SA on heavy-tailed problems such as SK-Lévy.
title Generalized Probabilistic Approximate Optimization Algorithm
topic Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Machine Learning
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.07420