Sampled-Based Guided Quantum Walk: Non-variational quantum algorithm for combinatorial optimization

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Nzongani, Ugo, Mermoud, Dylan Laplace, Di Molfetta, Giuseppe, Simonetto, Andrea
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Nzongani, Ugo
Mermoud, Dylan Laplace
Di Molfetta, Giuseppe
Simonetto, Andrea
author_facet Nzongani, Ugo
Mermoud, Dylan Laplace
Di Molfetta, Giuseppe
Simonetto, Andrea
contents We introduce SamBa-GQW, a novel quantum algorithm for solving binary combinatorial optimization problems of arbitrary degree with no use of any classical optimizer. The algorithm is based on a continuous-time quantum walk on the solution space represented as a graph. The walker explores the solution space to find its way to vertices that minimize the cost function of the optimization problem. The key novelty of our algorithm is an offline classical sampling protocol that gives information about the spectrum of the problem Hamiltonian. Then, the extracted information is used to guide the walker to high quality solutions via a quantum walk with a time-dependent hopping rate. We investigate the performance of SamBa-GQW on several quadratic problems, namely MaxCut, maximum independent set, portfolio optimization, and higher-order polynomial problems such as LABS, MAX-$k$-SAT and a quartic reformulation of the travelling salesperson problem. We empirically demonstrate that SamBa-GQW finds high quality approximate solutions on problems up to a size of $n=20$ qubits by only sampling $n^2$ states among $2^n$ possible decisions. SamBa-GQW compares very well also to other guided quantum walks and QAOA.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_15138
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sampled-Based Guided Quantum Walk: Non-variational quantum algorithm for combinatorial optimization
Nzongani, Ugo
Mermoud, Dylan Laplace
Di Molfetta, Giuseppe
Simonetto, Andrea
Quantum Physics
We introduce SamBa-GQW, a novel quantum algorithm for solving binary combinatorial optimization problems of arbitrary degree with no use of any classical optimizer. The algorithm is based on a continuous-time quantum walk on the solution space represented as a graph. The walker explores the solution space to find its way to vertices that minimize the cost function of the optimization problem. The key novelty of our algorithm is an offline classical sampling protocol that gives information about the spectrum of the problem Hamiltonian. Then, the extracted information is used to guide the walker to high quality solutions via a quantum walk with a time-dependent hopping rate. We investigate the performance of SamBa-GQW on several quadratic problems, namely MaxCut, maximum independent set, portfolio optimization, and higher-order polynomial problems such as LABS, MAX-$k$-SAT and a quartic reformulation of the travelling salesperson problem. We empirically demonstrate that SamBa-GQW finds high quality approximate solutions on problems up to a size of $n=20$ qubits by only sampling $n^2$ states among $2^n$ possible decisions. SamBa-GQW compares very well also to other guided quantum walks and QAOA.
title Sampled-Based Guided Quantum Walk: Non-variational quantum algorithm for combinatorial optimization
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15138