Convergence of digitized-counterdiabatic QAOA: circuit depth versus free parameters

Recently, digitized-counterdiabatic (CD) quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) has been proposed to make QAOA converge to the solution of an optimization problem in fewer steps, inspired by Trotterized CD driving in continuous-time quantum annealing. In this paper, we critically revisit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mara Vizzuso, Gianluca Passarelli, Giovanni Cantele, Procolo Lucignano
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ad1536
Description
Summary:Recently, digitized-counterdiabatic (CD) quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) has been proposed to make QAOA converge to the solution of an optimization problem in fewer steps, inspired by Trotterized CD driving in continuous-time quantum annealing. In this paper, we critically revisit this approach by focusing on the paradigmatic weighted and unweighted one-dimensional MaxCut problem. We study two variants of QAOA with first and second-order CD corrections. Our results show that, indeed, higher order CD corrections allow for a quicker convergence to the exact solution of the problem at hand by increasing the complexity of the variational cost function. Remarkably, however, the total number of free parameters needed to achieve this result is independent of the particular QAOA variant analyzed for the problems considered.
ISSN:1367-2630