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arXiv:2508.13906

Qudit-based scalable quantum algorithm for solving the integer programming problem

Kapil Goswami, Peter Schmelcher, Rick Mukherjee

Published Aug 19, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

Integer programming (IP) is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem that is widely used to represent a diverse set of real-world problems spanning multiple fields, such as finance, engineering, logistics, and operations research. It is a hard problem to solve using classical algorithms, as its complexity increases with problem size. Most quantum algorithms for solving IP are highly resource-inefficient because they encode integers into qubits. In [1], the issue of resource inefficiency was addressed by mapping integer variables to qudits. However, [1] has limited practical value due to a lack of scalability to multiple qudits to encode larger problems. In this work, by extending upon the ideas of [1], a circuit-based scalable quantum algorithm is presented using multiple interacting qudits for which we show a quantum speed-up for solving the integer programming problem. The quantum algorithm consists of a distillation function that efficiently separates the feasible from the infeasible regions, a phase-amplitude encoding for the cost function, and a quantum phase estimation coupled with a multi-controlled single-qubit rotation for optimization. We prove that our algorithm yields the optimal solution with the maximum measurement probability. The time complexity for the quantum algorithm is shown to be $O(r_P(mn^2log d + d^{n/2}/N_{y_s}^{1/2} + n ε_{\text{QPE}}^{-1}))$ for a problem with the number of variables $n$ taking $d$ integer values, satisfying $m$ constraints with a precision of $ε_{\text{QPE}}$ and $r_P$ repetitions required for reaching a success probability $P$. Compared to the classical time complexity of brute force $O(d^n)$ and the classical exact algorithm $O((\log{n})^{O(n)})$, it incurs a reduction of $\sim d^{n/2}$ in the time complexity (for a polynomial number of repetitions and precision requirements) for solving a general polynomial IP problem.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2508.13906

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Integer programming (IP) is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem that is widely used to represent a diverse set of real-world problems spanning multiple fields, such as finance, engineering, logistics, and operations research. It is a hard problem to solve using classical algorithms, as its complexity increases with problem size. Most quantum algorithms for solving IP are highly resource-inefficient because they encode integers into qubits. In [1], the issue of resource inefficiency was addressed by mapping integer variables to qudits. However, [1] has limited practical value due to a lack of scalability to multiple qudits to encode larger problems. In this work, by extending upon the ideas of [1], a circuit-based scalable quantum algorithm is presented using multiple interacting qudits for which we show a quantum speed-up for solving the integer programming problem. The quantum algorithm consists of a distillation function that efficiently separates the feasible from the infeasible regions, a phase-amplitude encoding for the cost function, and a quantum phase estimation coupled with a multi-controlled single-qubit rotation for optimization. We prove that our algorithm yields the optimal solution with the maximum measurement probability. The time complexity for the quantum algorithm is shown to be O(rP(mn2logd+dn/2/Nys1/2+nεQPE−1))O(r_P(mn^2log d + d^{n/2}/N_{y_s}^{1/2} + n ε_{\text{QPE}}^{-1}))O(rP​(mn2logd+dn/2/Nys​1/2​+nεQPE−1​)) for a problem with the number of variables nnn taking ddd integer values, satisfying mmm constraints with a precision of εQPEε_{\text{QPE}}εQPE​ and rPr_PrP​ repetitions required for reaching a success probability PPP. Compared to the classical time complexity of brute force O(dn)O(d^n)O(dn) and the classical exact algorithm O((log⁡n)O(n))O((\log{n})^{O(n)})O((logn)O(n)), it incurs a reduction of ∼dn/2\sim d^{n/2}∼dn/2 in the time complexity (for a polynomial number of repetitions and precision requirements) for solving a general polynomial IP problem.
Abstract Integer programming (IP), as the name suggests is an integer-variable-based approach commonly used to formulate real-world optimization problems with constraints. Currently, quantum algorithms reformulate the IP into an unconstrained form through the use of binary variables, which is an indirect and resource-consuming way of solving it. We develop an algorithm that maps and solves an IP problem in its original form to any quantum system possessing a large number of accessible internal degrees of freedom that are controlled with sufficient accuracy. This work leverages the principle of superposition to solve the optimization problem. Using a single Rydberg atom as an example, we associate the integer values to electronic states belonging to different manifolds and implement a selective superposition of different states to solve the full IP problem. The optimal solution is found within a few microseconds for prototypical IP problems with up to eight variables and four constraints. This also includes non-linear IP problems, which are usually harder to solve with classical algorithms when compared to their linear counterparts. Our algorithm for solving IP is benchmarked by a well-known classical algorithm (branch and bound) in terms of the number of steps needed for convergence to the solution. This approach carries the potential to improve the solutions obtained for larger-size problems using hybrid quantum–classical algorithms.
Recently, a hybrid qudit-qubit algorithm [1] was presented for solving the integer programming problem with a polynomial quantum advantage. In this work, we investigate the algorithm [1] to understand the role of qudits (ddd-dimensional quantum system) by conducting a comparative resource analysis with its qubit-only implementation and the classical simulability of the algorithm by exploring the entanglement structure. The resource analysis part is performed in terms of logical gate counts, and fault-tolerant physical resources, including non-Clifford gates. The hybrid qudit-qubit implementation has a more compact structure of the unitary operators as opposed to its qubit-only simulation which reduces the logical and fault-tolerant resource requirements. Two example problems, one with qutrits (d=3d=3d=3) and the other with ququint (d=5d=5d=5), when contrasted with their qubit-only implementation, within a simplified fault-tolerant resource model, showed $\sim 180 \times $ and ∼2220×\sim 2220\times∼2220× fewer total resource count, respectively. For the entanglement study, volume-law-like entropy growth and signatures of multi-partite entanglement is observed leading to increasing difficulty in the classical simulation of the algorithm. The algorithm generates synergistic tri-partite entanglement even for a quadratic problem, revealing that the algorithmic structure itself can generate higher-order entanglement in the system independent of the problem.
Imaginary-time evolution has been shown to be a promising framework for tackling combinatorial optimization problems on quantum hardware. In this work, we propose a classical quantum-inspired strategy for solving combinatorial optimization problems with integer-valued decision variables by encoding decision variables into multi-level quantum states known as qudits. This method results in a reduced number of decision variables compared to binary formulations while inherently incorporating single-association constraints. Efficient classical simulation is enabled by constraining the system to remain in a product state throughout optimization. The qudit states are optimized by applying a sequence of unitary operators that iteratively approximate the dynamics of imaginary time evolution. Unlike previous studies, we propose a gradient-based method of adaptively choosing the Hermitian operators used to generate the state evolution at each optimization step, as a means to improve the convergence properties of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm demonstrates promising results on Min-d-Cut problem with constraints, outperforming Gurobi on penalized constraint formulation, particularly for larger values of d.
We present a method that integrates any quantum algorithm capable of finding solutions to integer linear programs into the branch-and-price algorithm, which is regularly used to solve large-scale integer linear programs with a specific structure. The role of the quantum algorithm is to find integer solutions to subproblems appearing in branch-and-price. Obtaining optimal or near-optimal integer solutions to these subproblems can increase the quality of solutions and reduce the depth and branching factor of the branch-and-price algorithm and hence reduce the overall running time. We investigate the viability of the approach by considering the tail assignment problem and the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). Here, the master problem is the optimization problem set partitioning or its decision version exact cover and can be expressed as finding the ground state of an Ising spin glass Hamiltonian. For exact cover, our numerical results indicate that the required algorithm depth decreases with the number of feasible solutions for a given success probability of finding a feasible solution. For set partitioning, on the other hand, we find that for a given success probability of finding the optimal solution, the required algorithm depth can increase with the number of feasible solutions if the Hamiltonian is balanced poorly, which in the worst case is exponential in the problem size. We therefore address the significance of properly balancing the objective and constraint parts of the Hamiltonian. We empirically find that the approach is viable with QAOA if polynomial algorithm depth can be realized on quantum devices.
Integer linear programming (ILP) remains computationally challenging due to its NP-complete nature despite its central role in scheduling, logistics, and design optimization. We introduce a fully quantum Metropolis-Hastings algorithm for ILP that implements a coherent random walk over the discrete feasible region using only reversible quantum circuits, without quantum-RAM assumptions or classical pre/post-processing. Each walk step is a unitary update that prepares coherent candidate moves, evaluates the objective and constraints reversibly -- including a constraint-satisfaction counter to enforce feasibility -- and encodes Metropolis acceptance amplitudes via a low-overhead linearized rule. At the logical level, the construction uses O(nlog⁡2N)\mathcal{O}(n\log_2 N)O(nlog2​N) qubits to represent nnn integer variables over the interval [−N, N−1][-N,\,N-1][−N,N−1], and the Toffoli-equivalent cost per Metropolis step grows linearly with the total logical qubit count. Using explicit ripple-carry adder constructions, we support linear objectives and mixed equality/inequality constraints. Numerical circuit-level simulations on a broad ensemble of randomly generated instances validate the predicted linear resource scaling and exhibit progressive thermalization toward low-cost feasible solutions under the annealing schedule. Overall, the method provides a coherent, resource-characterized baseline for fully quantum constraint programming and a foundation for incorporating additional quantum speedups in combinatorial optimization.
We present a method that integrates any quantum algorithm capable of finding solutions to integer linear programs into the Branch-and-Price algorithm, which is regularly used to solve large-scale integer linear programs with a specific structure. The role of the quantum algorithm is to find integer solutions to subproblems appearing in Branch-and-Price. Obtaining optimal or near-optimal integer solutions to these subproblems can increase the quality of solutions and reduce the depth and branching factor of the Branch-and-Price algorithm and hence reduce the overall running time. We investigate the viability of the approach by considering the Tail Assignment problem and the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA). Here, the master problem is the optimization problem Set Partitioning or its decision version Exact Cover and can be expressed as finding the ground state of an Ising spin glass Hamiltonian. For Exact Cover, our numerical results indicate that the required algorithm depth decreases with the number of feasible solutions for a given success probability of finding a feasible solution. For Set Partitioning, on the other hand, we find that for a given success probability of finding the optimal solution, the required algorithm depth can increase with the number of feasible solutions if the Hamiltonian is balanced poorly, which in the worst case is exponential in the problem size. We therefore address the importance of properly balancing the objective and constraint parts of the Hamiltonian. We empirically find that the approach is viable with QAOA if polynomial algorithm depth can be realized on quantum devices.