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arXiv:2605.08332

Optimal FALQON for Quantum Approximate Optimization via Layer-wise Parameter Tuning

Michael Mancini, Shabnam Sodagari

quant-phcs.AISubmitted May 8, 2026• Announced May 11, 2026• 0 citations
v1 · May 8, 2026v2 · Jul 7, 2026
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Abstract

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 ($δ_k$) and scaling factor ($M_k$) 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.

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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 (δkδ_kδk​) and scaling factor (MkM_kMk​) 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.
The Feedback-based Algorithm for Quantum Optimization (FALQON) offers a deterministic alternative to variational quantum algorithms by bypassing classical optimization loops. However, maintaining convergence on large problem instances often requires restricting the time step, necessitating quantum circuit depths that exceed Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) hardware capabilities. This paper investigates the parameter transferability of second-order FALQON applied to the Max-Cut problem on 3-regular graphs. Through numerical experiments evaluating quantum circuits up to 16 layers on graphs up to 24 nodes, we demonstrate a highly advantageous scaling behavior: transferring feedback parameters optimized on small instances to larger target graphs yields significantly higher approximation ratios than natively optimizing the parameters directly on the larger graphs. This performance advantage arises because parameters trained on smaller instances can safely adopt aggressively larger time steps. By offloading the expensive parameter discovery phase to small-scale instances, this transfer strategy simultaneously reduces computational overhead and enhances the approximation ratio, thereby bringing FALQON closer to practical viability on near-term quantum architectures.
The feedback-based algorithm for quantum optimization (FALQON), which is an extension of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA), is a promising approach for finding approximate solutions to combinatorial optimization problems. The FALQON avoids the optimization of variational parameters by using information derived from iterative measurements. To solve a constrained combinatorial optimization problem, it is sometimes more efficient to use an XY mixer rather than the conventional X mixer. We applied the FALQON with the XY mixer to graph coloring and investigated the expectation value of the problem Hamiltonian, success probability of graph coloring, and fair sampling for several small-scale problems. The FALQON with the XY mixer exhibited better performance than that with the X mixer.
The Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) has emerged as a promising approach for solving NP hard combinatorial optimization problems on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware. However, its performance is critically dependent on the selection of the circuit depth a parameter that must be specified a priori without clear guidance. In this paper, we introduce a variant of QAOA called dynamic depth Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (DDQAOA) that resolves the challenge of pre selecting a fixed circuit depth. Our method adaptively expands circuit depth, starting from p = 1 and progressing up to p = 10, by transferring learned parameters to deeper circuits based on convergence criteria. We tested this approach on 100 instances of the Constrained Shortest Path Problem (CSPP) at 10 qubit and 16 qubit scales. Our DDQAOA achieved superior approximation ratios and success probabilities with fewer CNOT gate evaluations than the standard QAOA for p = 3, 5, 10, and 15. In particular, while standard QAOA at p = 15 achieved results close to our approach, it used 217% and 159.3% more CNOT gates for 10 qubit and 16 qubit instances, respectively. This demonstrates the performance and practical applicability of DDQAOA to solve combinatorial optimization problems on near term devices.
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.
Abstract The paper introduces a novel hybrid Feedback-Based Quantum Optimization (FBQO) framework that integrates reinforcement learning (RL) for adaptive parameter control and Kalman filters for noise mitigation to enhance quantum optimization on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. Unlike traditional quantum Approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA), the proposed method dynamically tunes parameters through learned policies and statistically filtered feedback, enabling faster convergence and greater noise resilience. Key contributions include the formulation of quantum optimization as a Markov Decision Process, integration of deep quantum networks (DQNs) for adaptive control, and the use of Kalman filtering for robust state estimation. Experimental results on the Max-Cut problem demonstrate superior performance in convergence rate, stability, and optimization accuracy over existing techniques. The main finding is that RL-FBQO achieves convergence in 10–20 iterations, compared to 20–30 for FBQO and 40–50 for QAOA, with superior stability.
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.