This work investigates the impact of time rescaling on the performance of Feedback-Based Quantum Algorithms (FQAs) and their variant for optimization tasks, Feedback-Based Algorithm for Quantum Optimization (FALQON). We introduce the Time-Rescaled Feedback-Based Quantum Algorithm (TR-FQA) and Time-Rescaled Feedback-Based Algorithm for Quantum Optimization (TR-FALQON), time-rescaled versions of FQA and FALQON, respectively. The method is applied to two representative problems: the MaxCut combinatorial optimization problem and ground-state preparation in the axial next-nearest neighbor Ising (ANNNI) model. The results show that TR-FALQON accelerates convergence toward the optimal solution in the circuit's early layers and outperforms the standard version in low-depth regimes. In the context of state preparation, TR-FQA requires fewer layers than the original algorithm. These findings suggest that time rescaling can reduce the number of layers needed to reach a high-quality solution, even if the exact ground state is not obtained.
This work investigates the impact of time rescaling on the performance of Feedback-Based Quantum Algorithms (FQAs) and their variant for optimization tasks, Feedback-Based Algorithm for Quantum Optimization (FALQON). We introduce the Time-Rescaled Feedback-Based Quantum Algorithm (TR-FQA) and Time-Rescaled Feedback-Based Algorithm for Quantum Optimization (TR-FALQON), time-rescaled versions of FQA and FALQON, respectively. The method is applied to two representative problems: the MaxCut combinatorial optimization problem and ground-state preparation in the axial next-nearest neighbor Ising (ANNNI) model. The results show that TR-FALQON accelerates convergence toward the optimal solution in the circuit's early layers and outperforms the standard version in low-depth regimes. In the context of state preparation, TR-FQA requires fewer layers than the original algorithm. These findings suggest that time rescaling can reduce the number of layers needed to reach a high-quality solution, even if the exact ground state is not obtained.
Feedback-based quantum algorithms recently gained attention by demonstrating how quantum computers can be used to solve optimization problems without resorting to hybrid quantum-classical architectures. Recent progress made with Feedback-based Algorithm for Quantum Optimization (FALQON) variants significantly reduced the depth of the required circuits. In this work, we merge the time-rescaled and second-order FALQON variants into a unified framework. The results show an important improvement over past modifications, reducing circuit depth and allowing a more flexible choice of time-steps, while maintaining stable solutions. This FALQON variant makes it suitable for the NISQ era.
Reconstructing DNA sequences without a reference, known as de novo assembly, is a complex computational task involving the alignment of overlapping fragments. To address this problem, a usual strategy is to map the assembly to a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) formulation, which can be solved by different quantum algorithms. In this work, we focus on three versions of the Feedback-based Algorithm, a protocol that eliminates classical optimization loops via measurement feedback. We analyze long-read DNA fragments from SARS-CoV-2 and human mitochondrial DNA using standard FALQON, second-order FALQON (SO-FALQON), and time-rescaled FALQON (TR-FALQON). Numerical results show that both variants improve convergence to the ground state and increase success probabilities at reduced circuit depths. These findings indicate that enhanced feedback-driven dynamics are effective for solving combinatorial problems on near-term quantum hardware.
Feedback-based adaptive quantum optimization (FALQON) is a promising approach for solving combinatorial problems on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices, requiring only single circuit evaluations per layer. However, standard FALQON relies on fixed hyperparameters that severely limit convergence speed, requiring hundreds to thousands of layers for acceptable solutions. This paper proposes Optimal FALQON, an optimization-based formulation that treats the per-layer time step (δk) and scaling factor (Mk) as decision variables optimized via classical methods. We present a comprehensive empirical study on all 94 non-isomorphic 3-regular graphs with 12 vertices, comparing Optimal FALQON with standard FALQON and multiple QAOA variants. Results demonstrate statistically significant improvements in success probability, evaluation efficiency, and depth-normalized cost across the evaluated benchmarks. Furthermore, initializing QAOA with parameters from Optimal FALQON yields superior warm-start performance compared to fixed initialization.
Finding the minimum spanning tree (MST) of a graph is an important task in computer vision, as it enables a sparse and low-cost representation of connectivity among elements (such as superpixels, points, or regions), which is useful for tasks such as segmentation, reconstruction, and clustering. In this work, we propose and evaluate a fully quantum pipeline for computing MSTs using the FALQON algorithm, a feedback-based quantum optimization method that does not require classical optimizers. We construct a Hamiltonian formulation whose ground-state energy encodes the MST of a graph and compare different FALQON strategies: (i) time rescaling (TR-FALQON) and (ii) multi-driver configurations. To avoid domain-specific biases, we adopt graphs with random weights and show that the FALQON variants exhibit significant differences in ground-state fidelity. We discuss the relevance of this approach for computer vision problems that naturally yield graph representations, and experimental results on synthetic instances together with a small demonstrative study on image segmentation illustrate both the potential and the current limitations of the method. Our numerical simulations on randomly weighted graphs show that standard one drive FALQON, although it reduces the expected energy, fails to concentrate amplitude in the MST solution. The multi drive variant succeeds in redistributing probability mass toward the ground state so that the MST appears among the most probable outcomes, and TR FALQON applied over multi drive produces the best results with faster convergence, lower final energy, and the highest solution state probability or fidelity in our tested instances. These improvements were observed on small synthetic graphs, underscoring both the promise of multi drive controls with temporal rescaling and the need for further scaling and hardware validation.
Feedback-based ALgorithm for Quantum OptimizatioN (FALQON) is a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for solving combinatorial optimization problems, which circumvents classical parameter optimization but requires a deep quantum circuit. To reduce circuit depth, Arai et al. proposed second-order FALQON (SO-FALQON), achieving the best depth reduction among existing approaches. However, SO-FALQON brings a 2.3 times per-step measurement overhead, as it needs to calculate an additional second-order control coefficient. In this paper, inspired by the Backtracking Line Search (BLS) theory, we propose another method called BLS-FALQON, which not only reduces circuit depth to a comparable extent, but also achieves fewer measurements than SO-FALQON. Numerical simulations on max-cut problem with 8 to 20 vertices demonstrate that BLS-FALQON reduces the total measurement count by 37.7% compared to SO-FALQON, while maintaining a comparable circuit depth. Furthermore, we conduct real quantum hardware experiments on the Tianyan-176 quantum computer, which uses the zuchongzhi2 superconducting quantum processor, confirming that BLS-FALQON remains effective under real quantum hardware conditions.
This thesis develops a control-theoretic framework for the design and analysis of quantum optimization algorithms.The central idea is to model quantum algorithms as controlled dynamical systems in which quantum gates act as control inputs that steer the system's state toward the ground or excited states of a target Hamiltonian.Within this framework, the thesis advances the family of feedback-based quantum algorithms (FQAs), building on Lyapunov-inspired feedback principles introduced in prior work, and develops new algorithmic extensions for constrained optimization and excited state preparation.This work is motivated by the potential of FQAs to tackle complex optimization problems, such as preparing ground states of Hamiltonians, which underpin a wide range of applications in engineering, chemistry, and combinatorial optimization.This work enhances the performance of FQAs and extends their applicability to a broader class of quantum optimization problems.It consists of three main parts.The first part focuses on enhancing the performance and robustness of FQAs.It introduces an adaptive sampling noise mitigation technique that incorporates a new control law into the algorithm design to improve robustness and convergence with limited measurements.The second part extends the feedback-based framework to excited state preparation, yielding two new algorithms: the feedback-based quantum algorithm for excited states preparation (FQAE) and the weighted feedback-based quantum algorithm for excited states preparation (WFQAE), with applications in quantum chemistry and many-body physics.The third part generalizes the feedback-based framework to tackle more complex combinatorial optimization problems, specifically those with inequality and invalid configuration constraints, by proposing the feedback-based algorithm for quantum optimization with constraints (FALQON-C) and the feedback-based algorithm for quantum optimization with invalid configuration constraints (FALQON-IC).The design of these algorithms leverages control theory to reduce circuit depth while maintaining convergence efficiency within the feedback framework.The thesis demonstrates that control-theoretic tools such as Lyapunov stability analysis and feedback design provide a systematic foundation for developing quantum algorithms with improved robustness, generalization, and scalability.The results offer new insights into quantum optimization and highlight the role of control theory as a guiding principle for the development of efficient feedback-based quantum algorithms.iii ResuméDenne afhandling handler om, hvordan man kan bruge kontrolteori til at udvikle og analysere kvantealgoritmer til optimering.Hovedideen er at betragte kvantealgoritmer som dynamiske systemer, der kan styres, hvor kvanteoperatorer fungerer som styringssignaler, der gradvist bringer systemet hen mod en ønsket tilstand, for eksempel grundtilstanden af en given Hamilton-operator.Inden for denne ramme videreudvikler afhandlingen såkaldte feedback-baserede kvantealgoritmer (FQAs).Disse algoritmer bruger løbende målinger og feedback til at justere sig selv, inspireret af klassiske principper fra kontrolteori.Afhandlingen bygger videre på tidligere arbejde og introducerer nye metoder, som gør det muligt både at løse optimeringsproblemer med begrænsninger og at beregne exciterede tilstande.Motivation for arbejdet er, at denne type algoritmer har potentiale til at løse svære optimeringsproblemer, som f.eks.at finde grundtilstande af Hamiltonoperatorer.Sådanne problemer er centrale i mange anvendelser inden for ingeniørvidenskab, kemi og kombinatorisk optimering.Afhandlingen forbedrer både ydeevnen og anvendeligheden af feedback-baserede kvantealgoritmer og er opdelt i tre hoveddele.Den første del fokuserer på at gøre algoritmerne mere robuste og mindre følsomme over for støj i målinger, blandt andet ved at indføre en adaptiv metode, som fungerer bedre, når antallet af målinger er begrænset.Den anden del udvider metoden til også at kunne beregne exciterede tilstande.Dette fører til to nye algoritmer, som kan anvendes inden for blandt andet kvantekemi og mangelegeme-fysik.Den tredje del viser, hvordan den feedback-baserede tilgang kan bruges til mere komplekse optimeringsproblemer, hvor der er begrænsninger eller ugyldige løsninger.Her introduceres nye algoritmer, der er designet til at håndtere sådanne problemer effektivt, samtidig med at kvantekredsløbene holdes så simple som muligt.Samlet set viser afhandlingen, at værktøjer fra kontrolteori, som stabilitetsanalyse og feedback-design, giver et solidt og systematisk grundlag for at udvikle mere robuste, fleksible og skalerbare kvantealgoritmer.Resultaterne giver ny indsigt i kvanteoptimering og understreger kontrolteoriens vigtige rolle i udviklingen af effektive feedback-baserede kvantealgoritmer.