Quantum Optimization for Electromagnetics: Physics-Informed QAOA for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Pasquale, Marco, Åsgrim, Erik M., Markidis, Stefano, Quevedo-Teruel, Oscar
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Pasquale, Marco
Åsgrim, Erik M.
Markidis, Stefano
Quevedo-Teruel, Oscar
author_facet Pasquale, Marco
Åsgrim, Erik M.
Markidis, Stefano
Quevedo-Teruel, Oscar
contents Optimizing Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) is a high-dimensional combinatorial challenge. Current quantum algorithms often simplify this problem by ignoring physical constraints like mutual coupling, which significantly degrades real-world performance. Rather than targeting a fully realistic RIS description, we embed progressively more physics-informed models of mutual coupling into Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) formulations. We evaluate four Ising interaction models ($J_{ij}$) for the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), ranging from idealized phase-only to fully dense physical models. Analyzing a $5 \times 5$ grid, our results expose a critical trade-off between spatial pointing accuracy and quantum hardware feasibility. While complete global coupling maximizes beamforming precision, dense Hamiltonians introduce prohibitive routing overhead and complicate convergence on near-term processors. Ultimately, we demonstrate that while physics-informed quantum optimization is mathematically viable, sparse, distance-penalized models remain a necessary compromise for execution on current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_06048
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantum Optimization for Electromagnetics: Physics-Informed QAOA for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
Pasquale, Marco
Åsgrim, Erik M.
Markidis, Stefano
Quevedo-Teruel, Oscar
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Optimizing Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) is a high-dimensional combinatorial challenge. Current quantum algorithms often simplify this problem by ignoring physical constraints like mutual coupling, which significantly degrades real-world performance. Rather than targeting a fully realistic RIS description, we embed progressively more physics-informed models of mutual coupling into Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) formulations. We evaluate four Ising interaction models ($J_{ij}$) for the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), ranging from idealized phase-only to fully dense physical models. Analyzing a $5 \times 5$ grid, our results expose a critical trade-off between spatial pointing accuracy and quantum hardware feasibility. While complete global coupling maximizes beamforming precision, dense Hamiltonians introduce prohibitive routing overhead and complicate convergence on near-term processors. Ultimately, we demonstrate that while physics-informed quantum optimization is mathematically viable, sparse, distance-penalized models remain a necessary compromise for execution on current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices.
title Quantum Optimization for Electromagnetics: Physics-Informed QAOA for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
topic Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06048