{"external_id":{"arxiv":["2508.10656"]},"year":"2025","publisher":"IEEE","corr_author":"1","oa_version":"Preprint","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","day":"01","author":[{"last_name":"Eder","first_name":"Peter J.","full_name":"Eder, Peter J."},{"full_name":"Kerschbaumer, Aron","first_name":"Aron","last_name":"Kerschbaumer","id":"ade85a9c-3200-11ee-973b-91c1eb240410","orcid":"0009-0002-2370-8661"},{"full_name":"Finžgar, Jernej Rudi","last_name":"Finžgar","first_name":"Jernej Rudi"},{"full_name":"Medina Ramos, Raimel A","first_name":"Raimel A","last_name":"Medina Ramos","orcid":"0000-0002-5383-2869","id":"CE680B90-D85A-11E9-B684-C920E6697425"},{"last_name":"Schuetz","first_name":"Martin J. A.","full_name":"Schuetz, Martin J. A."},{"last_name":"Katzgraber","first_name":"Helmut G.","full_name":"Katzgraber, Helmut G."},{"full_name":"Braun, Sarah","first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Braun"},{"full_name":"Mendl, Christian B.","last_name":"Mendl","first_name":"Christian B."}],"type":"conference","doi":"10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033","publication":"2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering","article_processing_charge":"No","conference":{"end_date":"2025-09-05","location":"Albuquerque, NM, United States","start_date":"2025-08-30","name":"QCE: International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering"},"date_created":"2026-02-17T08:00:17Z","date_updated":"2026-02-18T08:45:56Z","department":[{"_id":"MaSe"}],"publication_status":"published","publication_identifier":{"eisbn":["9798331557362"]},"quality_controlled":"1","date_published":"2025-09-01T00:00:00Z","status":"public","acknowledgement":"P.J.E was partially funded by the German BMWK project QCHALLenge (Grant No. 01MQ22008B).\r\n","OA_place":"repository","OA_type":"green","abstract":[{"text":"Finding the ground state of Ising spin glasses is notoriously difficult due to disorder and frustration. Often, this challenge is framed as a combinatorial optimization problem, for which a common strategy employs simulated annealing, a Monte Carlo (MC)-based algorithm that updates spins one at a time. Yet, these localized updates can cause the system to become trapped in local minima. Cluster algorithms (CAs) were developed to address this limitation and have demonstrated considerable success in studying ferromagnetic systems; however, they tend to encounter percolation issues when applied to generic spin glasses. In this work, we introduce a novel CA designed to tackle these challenges by leveraging precomputed two-point correlations, aiming solve combinatorial optimization problems in the form of Max-Cut more efficiently. In our approach, clusters are formed probabilistically based on these correlations. Various classical and quantum algorithms can be employed to generate correlations that embody information about the energy landscape of the problem. By utilizing this information, the algorithm aims to identify groups of spins whose simultaneous flipping induces large transitions in configuration space with high acceptance probability - even at low energy levels - thereby escaping local minima more effectively. Notably, clusters generated using correlations from the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm exhibit high acceptance rates at low temperatures. These acceptance rates often increase with circuit depth, accelerating the algorithm and enabling more efficient exploration of the solution space.","lang":"eng"}],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"title":"Quantum-guided cluster algorithms for combinatorial optimization","month":"09","oa":1,"arxiv":1,"_id":"21272","citation":{"apa":"Eder, P. J., Kerschbaumer, A., Finžgar, J. R., Medina Ramos, R. A., Schuetz, M. J. A., Katzgraber, H. G., … Mendl, C. B. (2025). Quantum-guided cluster algorithms for combinatorial optimization. In <i>2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering</i>. Albuquerque, NM, United States: IEEE. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033\">https://doi.org/10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033</a>","ista":"Eder PJ, Kerschbaumer A, Finžgar JR, Medina Ramos RA, Schuetz MJA, Katzgraber HG, Braun S, Mendl CB. 2025. Quantum-guided cluster algorithms for combinatorial optimization. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering. QCE: International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering.","ieee":"P. J. Eder <i>et al.</i>, “Quantum-guided cluster algorithms for combinatorial optimization,” in <i>2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering</i>, Albuquerque, NM, United States, 2025.","ama":"Eder PJ, Kerschbaumer A, Finžgar JR, et al. Quantum-guided cluster algorithms for combinatorial optimization. In: <i>2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering</i>. IEEE; 2025. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033\">10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033</a>","chicago":"Eder, Peter J., Aron Kerschbaumer, Jernej Rudi Finžgar, Raimel A Medina Ramos, Martin J. A. Schuetz, Helmut G. Katzgraber, Sarah Braun, and Christian B. Mendl. “Quantum-Guided Cluster Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization.” In <i>2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering</i>. IEEE, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033\">https://doi.org/10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033</a>.","short":"P.J. Eder, A. Kerschbaumer, J.R. Finžgar, R.A. Medina Ramos, M.J.A. Schuetz, H.G. Katzgraber, S. Braun, C.B. Mendl, in:, 2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering, IEEE, 2025.","mla":"Eder, Peter J., et al. “Quantum-Guided Cluster Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization.” <i>2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering</i>, IEEE, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033\">10.1109/qce65121.2025.00033</a>."},"main_file_link":[{"url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.10656","open_access":"1"}]}