Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Between science and economics

Quantum Machine Learning

Published Apr 1, 2020• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum Machine Learningby Jordi RIU This project applies reinforcement learning techniques to optimize a quantum algorithm.The upcoming quantum computers are capable of optimization tasks in an exponentially large parameter space.Having access to such a large optimization space potentially allows an advantage of Quantum methods over classical algorithms, but at the price of problems in the optimization process -just to name a few, the presence of local minima and the low convergence speeds-.This project explores the application of reinforcement learning techniques to control and optimize the operation of a quantum computer solving a hard combinatorial problem, namely the MaxCut problem.Our methods use a collection of quantum observables to feed the state of the agent, inspired on a similar classical approach to the problem applied to the antiferromagnetic Ising model lattice.Our results show how an agent using these observables can optimally control the operation of a quantum device to obtain quasi-optimal solutions when in combination with the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA).v

DOI
10.1142/9781786348210_0010

Related papers

Quantum Optimization for Machine Learning

Asha Sohal, Ramesh Kait, Asha Sohal

The convergence of machine learning (ML) and quantum computing is quickly becoming a game-changing new frontier in computational science. The most intriguing area of overlap may be quantum optimization, which seeks to reduce the exponentially increasing complexity and computational cost of ML algorithms. As they grow larger and more complicated, traditional optimization methods, particularly in high-dimensional and non-convex space, will inevitably hit performance limits. Quantum optimization is the whole new paradigm that leverages quantum mechanical effects like superposition, entanglement, and tunnelling to explore solution spaces more efficiently. The chapter outlines the theory, practice, and potential of hybrid quantum-classical optimization algorithms for machine learning. The most brilliant research direction in the current NISQ (noisy intermediate-scale quantum) era is mixed systems leveraging classical computing capability augmented by quantum capacity. In such designs, computationally intensive subroutines like optimization for global optima or escape from local minima are left to quantum processors and data preprocessing, iterative refinement, and model testing are performed by classical processors. We start by defining the fundamental principles of quantum computing and acquainting readers with the fundamentals like qubits, quantum gates, and quantum circuits. These are the building blocks for quantum algorithms, which hopefully can be utilized for optimization, for example, the QAOA (quantum approximate optimization algorithm), the VQE (variational quantum Eigensolver), and quantum annealing. They all build to optimize the problems in some way differently: QAOA through parameterized quantum circuits, VQE through approximations of ground states of the Hamiltonians, and quantum annealing through quantum evolution to low-energy solutions. We then form a loop between these quantum algorithms and regular machine learning tasks. Optimization impacts virtually all ML phases, from training neural networks, where one reduces loss functions; feature selection, where one aims to discover the most relevant subset of input variables; and hyperparameter optimization, which often involves expensive search procedures over extremely large combinatorial spaces. Quantum optimization techniques can therefore, in principle, accelerate such procedures through computational complexity reduction and enhancing solutions over challenging landscapes. Realistic simulations and case studies emphasize the degree to which hybrid quantum-classical algorithms have been employed in solving ML problems, that is, QSVMs, quantum-enhanced clustering, and quantum reinforcement learning. Despite their experimental nature, these applications already show encouraging results in terms of improved performance metrics as well as reduction in time-to-solution compared to classical-only solutions. Notwithstanding that, this new field is not bereft of real challenges. Quantum hardware suffers from hard limits on qubit fidelity, decoherence, and scalability in the current times. Furthermore, quantum circuit integration into broad ML pipelines requires novel architectures and software platforms. As a counter to those issues, this chapter surveys recent advances in quantum programming languages, simulators, and hybrid platforms like PennyLane, Qiskit, and TensorFlow Quantum. We conclude by looking to the future possibility that quantum optimization will revolutionize the machine learning landscape. As hardware improves and algorithmic complexity increases, the possibility of quantum-powered learning systems solving hard problems becomes increasingly accessible. From speeding up deep network training to enabling new types of unsupervised learning, quantum optimization holds the potential to recast computational tractability in machine learning. This chapter is an all-encompassing introduction and state-of-the-art work for students, researchers, and practitioners interested in using quantum optimization for practical ML applications. It sets the foundation for understanding how to pursue hybrid approaches (how they may be applied today in the real world and bracing oneself for disruption in the future).

Auerbach Publications eBooks•Feb 24, 2026•0 citations

Quantum Reinforcement Learning Applied to Board Games

Miguel Teixeira, Ana Paula Rocha, António J. M. Castro

Reinforcement learning is a machine learning paradigm where an agent learns how to optimize its behavior solely through its interaction with the environment. It has been extensively studied and successfully applied to complex problems of many different domains in the past decades, i.e., robotics, games, scheduling. However, the performance of these algorithms becomes limited as the complexity and dimension of the state-action space increases. Recent advances in quantum computing and quantum information have sparked interest in possible applications to machine learning. By taking advantage of quantum mechanics, it is possible to efficiently process immense quantities of information and improve computational speed. In this work, we combined quantum computing with reinforcement learning and studied its application to a board game to assess the benefits that it can introduce, namely its impact on the learning efficiency of an agent. From the results, we concluded that the proposed quantum exploration policy improved the convergence rate of the agent and promoted a more efficient exploration of the state space.

IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence•Dec 14, 2021•1 citation

Quantum Machine Learning for Optimization Problems

Jincheng Zhang

This paper explores the application of quantum machine learning (QML) techniques to address complex optimization problems. Traditional optimization methods often struggle with scalability and computational cost, particularly when dealing with high-dimensional or non-convex landscapes. Quantum machine learning offers a potential paradigm shift by leveraging quantum mechanics to accelerate and potentially improve the solution process. We detail a framework where optimization problems are formulated as quantum machine learning tasks, employing algorithms like Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) and Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) to tackle these problems. The core claim is that QML can significantly enhance the efficiency of optimization, offering a pathway to solve problems intractable for classical methods. We present a theoretical foundation and outline the mechanisms driving this potential improvement, focusing on the transformation of classical optimization problems into quantum-compatible formulations. The paper concludes with a discussion of future research directions and the challenges associated with realizing the full potential of QML in optimization.

•Aug 28, 2026•0 citations

Exploring Quantum Machine Learning in Solving Complex Optimization Problems: Algorithms and Insights

Uzma Nawaz, Zubair Saeed, Kamran Atif

Optimization problems across domains such as logistics, finance, and artificial intelligence often involve complex and NP-hard formulations that are computationally challenging for classical algorithms due to scalability and efficiency limitations. The study aims to systematically investigate the role of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) in addressing complex optimization problems and to analyze its advantages over traditional optimization techniques. A comprehensive survey and comparative analysis of key QML algorithms, including Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), Quantum Neural Networks (QNNs), and Quantum Support Vector Machines (QSVMs), is conducted by examining their working principles, optimization capabilities, and real-world applications. The findings indicate that QML algorithms demonstrate significant potential in exploring large solutions spaces efficiently, achieving faster convergence, and providing improved optimization performance compared to classical approaches, although challenges such as quantum noise, scalability, and hardware limitations remain. The novelty of this study lies in providing a unified and critical comparative framework that integrates multiple QML optimization algorithms, highlights their practical feasibility, and identifies key research gaps hindering their real-world deployment. The implications of this research provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in selecting appropriate QML techniques and emphasize the need for advancements in hybrid quantum -classical systems, algorithms design, and quantum hardware to enable practical large-scale optimization.

Scientific Journal of Computer Science•Feb 19, 2026•0 citations

Quantum machine learning

Riu Vicente, Jordi

We use reinforcement learning techniques to optimize the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm when applied to the MaxCut problem. We explore Q-learning based techniques both for continuous and discrete action environments with regular and irregular graphs.

•Apr 14, 2019•0 citations

Harnessing Quantum Computing to Optimize Reinforcement Learning for NLP Tasks

Kranthi Kumar Lella, Mallu Shiva Rama Krishna

Reinforcement Learning has proven to be promising for training agents in Natural Language Processing to learn and evolve in complex language spaces. However, traditional Reinforcement Learning methods have limitations such as slow learning and high computational costs. In particular large scale NLP problems, Reinforcement Learning may encounter various issues. The reserach presents a method that addresses these limitations, which we refer to as Harnessing Quantum Computing to Optimize Reinforcement Learning for NLP Tasks. We combine quantum computing and classical computing to take advantage of quantum properties such as superposition, quantum entanglement, and Grover’s search algorithm to improve learning. Reinforcement Learning combines quantum-enhanced quantum function and quantum-based circuit to accelerate achievement and evaluate applications. We demonstrate experiments’ applicability, achievement, and scalability with state-of-the-art NLP problems: sentiment analysis, named entity recognition, and language modeling. The quantum enhanced learning model could deliver for practical applications fast learning and good accuracy in solving those problems than standard and quantum models.

International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Signal Processing (AISP)•Nov 22, 2025•1 citation
Quantum Machine Learningby Jordi RIU This project applies reinforcement learning techniques to optimize a quantum algorithm.The upcoming quantum computers are capable of optimization tasks in an exponentially large parameter space.Having access to such a large optimization space potentially allows an advantage of Quantum methods over classical algorithms, but at the price of problems in the optimization process -just to name a few, the presence of local minima and the low convergence speeds-.This project explores the application of reinforcement learning techniques to control and optimize the operation of a quantum computer solving a hard combinatorial problem, namely the MaxCut problem.Our methods use a collection of quantum observables to feed the state of the agent, inspired on a similar classical approach to the problem applied to the antiferromagnetic Ising model lattice.Our results show how an agent using these observables can optimally control the operation of a quantum device to obtain quasi-optimal solutions when in combination with the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA).v
The convergence of machine learning (ML) and quantum computing is quickly becoming a game-changing new frontier in computational science. The most intriguing area of overlap may be quantum optimization, which seeks to reduce the exponentially increasing complexity and computational cost of ML algorithms. As they grow larger and more complicated, traditional optimization methods, particularly in high-dimensional and non-convex space, will inevitably hit performance limits. Quantum optimization is the whole new paradigm that leverages quantum mechanical effects like superposition, entanglement, and tunnelling to explore solution spaces more efficiently. The chapter outlines the theory, practice, and potential of hybrid quantum-classical optimization algorithms for machine learning. The most brilliant research direction in the current NISQ (noisy intermediate-scale quantum) era is mixed systems leveraging classical computing capability augmented by quantum capacity. In such designs, computationally intensive subroutines like optimization for global optima or escape from local minima are left to quantum processors and data preprocessing, iterative refinement, and model testing are performed by classical processors. We start by defining the fundamental principles of quantum computing and acquainting readers with the fundamentals like qubits, quantum gates, and quantum circuits. These are the building blocks for quantum algorithms, which hopefully can be utilized for optimization, for example, the QAOA (quantum approximate optimization algorithm), the VQE (variational quantum Eigensolver), and quantum annealing. They all build to optimize the problems in some way differently: QAOA through parameterized quantum circuits, VQE through approximations of ground states of the Hamiltonians, and quantum annealing through quantum evolution to low-energy solutions. We then form a loop between these quantum algorithms and regular machine learning tasks. Optimization impacts virtually all ML phases, from training neural networks, where one reduces loss functions; feature selection, where one aims to discover the most relevant subset of input variables; and hyperparameter optimization, which often involves expensive search procedures over extremely large combinatorial spaces. Quantum optimization techniques can therefore, in principle, accelerate such procedures through computational complexity reduction and enhancing solutions over challenging landscapes. Realistic simulations and case studies emphasize the degree to which hybrid quantum-classical algorithms have been employed in solving ML problems, that is, QSVMs, quantum-enhanced clustering, and quantum reinforcement learning. Despite their experimental nature, these applications already show encouraging results in terms of improved performance metrics as well as reduction in time-to-solution compared to classical-only solutions. Notwithstanding that, this new field is not bereft of real challenges. Quantum hardware suffers from hard limits on qubit fidelity, decoherence, and scalability in the current times. Furthermore, quantum circuit integration into broad ML pipelines requires novel architectures and software platforms. As a counter to those issues, this chapter surveys recent advances in quantum programming languages, simulators, and hybrid platforms like PennyLane, Qiskit, and TensorFlow Quantum. We conclude by looking to the future possibility that quantum optimization will revolutionize the machine learning landscape. As hardware improves and algorithmic complexity increases, the possibility of quantum-powered learning systems solving hard problems becomes increasingly accessible. From speeding up deep network training to enabling new types of unsupervised learning, quantum optimization holds the potential to recast computational tractability in machine learning. This chapter is an all-encompassing introduction and state-of-the-art work for students, researchers, and practitioners interested in using quantum optimization for practical ML applications. It sets the foundation for understanding how to pursue hybrid approaches (how they may be applied today in the real world and bracing oneself for disruption in the future).
Reinforcement learning is a machine learning paradigm where an agent learns how to optimize its behavior solely through its interaction with the environment. It has been extensively studied and successfully applied to complex problems of many different domains in the past decades, i.e., robotics, games, scheduling. However, the performance of these algorithms becomes limited as the complexity and dimension of the state-action space increases. Recent advances in quantum computing and quantum information have sparked interest in possible applications to machine learning. By taking advantage of quantum mechanics, it is possible to efficiently process immense quantities of information and improve computational speed. In this work, we combined quantum computing with reinforcement learning and studied its application to a board game to assess the benefits that it can introduce, namely its impact on the learning efficiency of an agent. From the results, we concluded that the proposed quantum exploration policy improved the convergence rate of the agent and promoted a more efficient exploration of the state space.
This paper explores the application of quantum machine learning (QML) techniques to address complex optimization problems. Traditional optimization methods often struggle with scalability and computational cost, particularly when dealing with high-dimensional or non-convex landscapes. Quantum machine learning offers a potential paradigm shift by leveraging quantum mechanics to accelerate and potentially improve the solution process. We detail a framework where optimization problems are formulated as quantum machine learning tasks, employing algorithms like Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) and Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) to tackle these problems. The core claim is that QML can significantly enhance the efficiency of optimization, offering a pathway to solve problems intractable for classical methods. We present a theoretical foundation and outline the mechanisms driving this potential improvement, focusing on the transformation of classical optimization problems into quantum-compatible formulations. The paper concludes with a discussion of future research directions and the challenges associated with realizing the full potential of QML in optimization.
Optimization problems across domains such as logistics, finance, and artificial intelligence often involve complex and NP-hard formulations that are computationally challenging for classical algorithms due to scalability and efficiency limitations. The study aims to systematically investigate the role of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) in addressing complex optimization problems and to analyze its advantages over traditional optimization techniques. A comprehensive survey and comparative analysis of key QML algorithms, including Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), Quantum Neural Networks (QNNs), and Quantum Support Vector Machines (QSVMs), is conducted by examining their working principles, optimization capabilities, and real-world applications. The findings indicate that QML algorithms demonstrate significant potential in exploring large solutions spaces efficiently, achieving faster convergence, and providing improved optimization performance compared to classical approaches, although challenges such as quantum noise, scalability, and hardware limitations remain. The novelty of this study lies in providing a unified and critical comparative framework that integrates multiple QML optimization algorithms, highlights their practical feasibility, and identifies key research gaps hindering their real-world deployment. The implications of this research provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in selecting appropriate QML techniques and emphasize the need for advancements in hybrid quantum -classical systems, algorithms design, and quantum hardware to enable practical large-scale optimization.
Reinforcement Learning has proven to be promising for training agents in Natural Language Processing to learn and evolve in complex language spaces. However, traditional Reinforcement Learning methods have limitations such as slow learning and high computational costs. In particular large scale NLP problems, Reinforcement Learning may encounter various issues. The reserach presents a method that addresses these limitations, which we refer to as Harnessing Quantum Computing to Optimize Reinforcement Learning for NLP Tasks. We combine quantum computing and classical computing to take advantage of quantum properties such as superposition, quantum entanglement, and Grover’s search algorithm to improve learning. Reinforcement Learning combines quantum-enhanced quantum function and quantum-based circuit to accelerate achievement and evaluate applications. We demonstrate experiments’ applicability, achievement, and scalability with state-of-the-art NLP problems: sentiment analysis, named entity recognition, and language modeling. The quantum enhanced learning model could deliver for practical applications fast learning and good accuracy in solving those problems than standard and quantum models.