A Preliminary Investigation of Quantum-Assisted Ternary Weight Optimization for BitNet Neural Networks: Proof-of-Concept on Real IBM Quantum Hardware using a Hybrid Classical-Quantum Pipeline

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Main Author: sh1vam, b
Format: Recurso digital
Language:English
Published: Zenodo 2026
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author sh1vam, b
author_facet sh1vam, b
contents <p>We present a preliminary investigation of quantum-assisted training for BitNet neural networks, which constrain all weights to ternary values {-1, 0, +1} for memory efficiency. Classical gradient descent gets trapped in saddle points due to vanishing gradients through the sign() quantization function. We propose Quantum-Assisted Critical Weight Search (QACWS): gradient magnitude analysis identifies the 16 hardest weights for classical training; a QAOA-inspired quantum circuit on real IBM Torino hardware (133 qubits) searches exclusively those weights (1 qubit = 1 real weight); classical fine-tuning polishes the result. On a 16-bit XOR benchmark with a 272-weight BitNet model, the hybrid pipeline achieved 59.0% test accuracy, surpassing the classical plateau of 56.8% by +2.2 percentage points. We document a complete five-version experimental trajectory on IBM Torino quantum hardware revealing key failure modes and engineering solutions. All IBM Quantum job IDs are provided for full reproducibility. Source code: github.com/sh1vam-03/bitnet_quantum</p>
format Recurso digital
id zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_19024106
institution Zenodo
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publishDate 2026
publisher Zenodo
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spellingShingle A Preliminary Investigation of Quantum-Assisted Ternary Weight Optimization for BitNet Neural Networks: Proof-of-Concept on Real IBM Quantum Hardware using a Hybrid Classical-Quantum Pipeline
sh1vam, b
BitNet
quantum computing
ternary neural networks
IBM Quantum
QAOA
hybrid quantum-classical
critical weight search
1-bit LLMs
NISQ
gradient magnitude analysis
machine learning
<p>We present a preliminary investigation of quantum-assisted training for BitNet neural networks, which constrain all weights to ternary values {-1, 0, +1} for memory efficiency. Classical gradient descent gets trapped in saddle points due to vanishing gradients through the sign() quantization function. We propose Quantum-Assisted Critical Weight Search (QACWS): gradient magnitude analysis identifies the 16 hardest weights for classical training; a QAOA-inspired quantum circuit on real IBM Torino hardware (133 qubits) searches exclusively those weights (1 qubit = 1 real weight); classical fine-tuning polishes the result. On a 16-bit XOR benchmark with a 272-weight BitNet model, the hybrid pipeline achieved 59.0% test accuracy, surpassing the classical plateau of 56.8% by +2.2 percentage points. We document a complete five-version experimental trajectory on IBM Torino quantum hardware revealing key failure modes and engineering solutions. All IBM Quantum job IDs are provided for full reproducibility. Source code: github.com/sh1vam-03/bitnet_quantum</p>
title A Preliminary Investigation of Quantum-Assisted Ternary Weight Optimization for BitNet Neural Networks: Proof-of-Concept on Real IBM Quantum Hardware using a Hybrid Classical-Quantum Pipeline
topic BitNet
quantum computing
ternary neural networks
IBM Quantum
QAOA
hybrid quantum-classical
critical weight search
1-bit LLMs
NISQ
gradient magnitude analysis
machine learning
url https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19024106