Abstract The practical implementation of quantum optimization algorithms on noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices requires accounting for their limited connectivity. As such, the Parity architecture was introduced to overcome this limitation by encoding binary optimization problems onto planar quantum chips. We investigate the performance of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm on the Parity architecture (Parity QAOA) for solving instances of the signed Max-Cut problem on complete and regular graphs. By comparing the algorithms at fixed circuit depth, we demonstrate that Parity QAOA outperforms conventional QAOA implementations based on SWAP networks. Our analysis utilizes Clifford circuits to estimate lower performance bounds for Parity QAOA for problem sizes that would be otherwise inaccessible on classical computers. For single layer circuits we additionally benchmark the recursive variant of the two algorithms, showing that their performance is equal.
Abstract The practical implementation of quantum optimization algorithms on noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices requires accounting for their limited connectivity. As such, the Parity architecture was introduced to overcome this limitation by encoding binary optimization problems onto planar quantum chips. We investigate the performance of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm on the Parity architecture (Parity QAOA) for solving instances of the signed Max-Cut problem on complete and regular graphs. By comparing the algorithms at fixed circuit depth, we demonstrate that Parity QAOA outperforms conventional QAOA implementations based on SWAP networks. Our analysis utilizes Clifford circuits to estimate lower performance bounds for Parity QAOA for problem sizes that would be otherwise inaccessible on classical computers. For single layer circuits we additionally benchmark the recursive variant of the two algorithms, showing that their performance is equal.
The Parity Architecture was originally introduced in the context of quantum optimization algorithms to overcome hardware connectivity constraints. Here, we show that its benefits extend beyond this role by identifying specific parity transformations that enhance the success probability of the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) for optimization problems defined on hardware-native and sparse graphs. Numerical simulations suggest that this enhancement originates from the higher-order operators introduced by the Parity representation, which accelerate the propagation of correlations across the physical device. We investigate this mechanism for the Signed Max-Cut problem on 3-regular graph instances and demonstrate its practical relevance on IBM Heron quantum processors. QAOA parameters are first classically optimized on small training instances containing up to 14 vertices and subsequently transferred to larger instances executed on quantum hardware. We consider Signed Max-Cut instances of up to 40 vertices and find that, together with an error mitigation technique, the parity-based QAOA identifies the optimal solutions for all the considered 40-vertex instances, whereas the conventional QAOA fails under the same conditions.
Abstract Quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) is a quantum–classical hybrid algorithm proposed with the goal of approximately solving combinatorial optimization problems such as the MAX-CUT problem. It has been considered a potential candidate for achieving quantum advantage in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era and has been extensively studied. However, the performance limitations of low-level QAOA have also been demonstrated across various instances. In this work, we first analytically prove the performance limitations of the standard level-1 QAOA in solving the MAX-CUT problem on bipartite graphs. To this end, we derive an upper bound for the approximation ratio based on the average degree of bipartite graphs. Second, we demonstrate that recursive QAOA (RQAOA), which recursively reduces graph size using QAOA as a subroutine, outperforms the standard level-1 QAOA. However, the performance of RQAOA exhibits limitations as the graph size increases. Finally, we show that RQAOA with a restricted parameter regime can fully address these limitations. Surprisingly, this modified RQAOA always finds the exact maximum cut for any bipartite graphs and even for a more general graph with parity-signed weights.
Abstract The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) is a hybrid quantum–classical algorithm to solve binary-variable optimization problems. Due to the short circuit depth and its expected robustness to systematic errors it is a promising candidate likely to run on near-term quantum devices. We simulate the performance of QAOA applied to the Max-Cut problem and compare it with some of the best classical alternatives. When comparing solvers, their performance is characterized by the computational time taken to achieve a given quality of solution. Since QAOA is based on sampling, we utilize performance metrics based on the probability of observing a sample above a certain quality. In addition, we show that the QAOA performance varies significantly with the graph type. In particular for three-regular random graphs, QAOA performance shows improvement by up to two orders of magnitude compared to previous estimates, strongly reducing the performance gap with classical alternatives. This was possible by reducing the number of function evaluations per iteration and optimizing the variational parameters on small graph instances and transferring to large via training. Because QAOA’s performance guarantees are only known for limited applications and contexts, we utilize a framework for the search for quantum advantage which incorporates a large number of problem instances and all three classical solver modalities: exact, approximate, and heuristic.
The Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) is a promising approach for programming a near-term gate-based hybrid quantum computer to find good approximate solutions of hard combinatorial problems. However, little is currently know about the capabilities of QAOA, or of the difficulty of the requisite parameters optimization. Here, we study the performance of QAOA on the MaxCut combinatorial optimization problem, optimizing the quantum circuits on a classical computer using automatic differentiation and stochastic gradient descent, using QuantumFlow, a quantum circuit simulator implemented with TensorFlow. We find that we can amortize the training cost by optimizing on batches of problems instances; that QAOA can exceed the performance of the classical polynomial time Goemans-Williamson algorithm with modest circuit depth, and that performance with fixed circuit depth is insensitive to problem size. Moreover, MaxCut QAOA can be efficiently implemented on a gate-based quantum computer with limited qubit connectivity, using a qubit swap network. These observations support the prospects that QAOA will be an effective method for solving interesting problems on near-term quantum computers.
This study presents a rigorous empirical evaluation of the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) within a hybrid quantum-classical framework for solving the NP-hard Max-Cut problem. Using Python and Qiskit Aer statevector simulations, we benchmark QAOA (depths p = 2 and p = 3) against established classical algorithms, including simulated annealing, the Goemans–Williamson algorithm, and greedy heuristics, across Erdős–Rényi and regular graphs with 4 to 20 nodes (100 instances per size). Results demonstrate that low-depth QAOA suffers from significant performance degradation, achieving a 0.467 approximation ratio at 20 nodes compared to 0.856 for Goemans–Williamson, alongside a 210× runtime overhead. Convergence analysis further reveals low optimality probabilities and high iteration costs, highlighting limitations of variational optimization in NISQ-era devices. This work provides a reproducible benchmarking framework and contributes to a realistic assessment of near-term quantum advantage.
This study presents a rigorous empirical evaluation of the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) within a hybrid quantum-classical framework for solving the NP-hard Max-Cut problem. Using Python and Qiskit Aer statevector simulations, we benchmark QAOA (depths p = 2 and p = 3) against established classical algorithms, including simulated annealing, the Goemans–Williamson algorithm, and greedy heuristics, across Erdős–Rényi and regular graphs with 4 to 20 nodes (100 instances per size). Results demonstrate that low-depth QAOA suffers from significant performance degradation, achieving a 0.467 approximation ratio at 20 nodes compared to 0.856 for Goemans–Williamson, alongside a 210× runtime overhead. Convergence analysis further reveals low optimality probabilities and high iteration costs, highlighting limitations of variational optimization in NISQ-era devices. This work provides a reproducible benchmarking framework and contributes to a realistic assessment of near-term quantum advantage.