---
_id: '9760'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) is a prospective near-term
    quantum algorithm due to its modest circuit depth and promising benchmarks. However,
    an external parameter optimization required in the QAOA could become a performance
    bottleneck. This motivates studies of the optimization landscape and search for
    heuristic ways of parameter initialization. In this work we visualize the optimization
    landscape of the QAOA applied to the MaxCut problem on random graphs, demonstrating
    that random initialization of the QAOA is prone to converging to local minima
    with suboptimal performance. We introduce the initialization of QAOA parameters
    based on the Trotterized quantum annealing (TQA) protocol, parameterized by the
    Trotter time step. We find that the TQA initialization allows to circumvent\r\nthe
    issue of false minima for a broad range of time steps, yielding the same performance
    as the best result out of an exponentially scaling number of random initializations.
    Moreover, we demonstrate that the optimal value of the time step coincides with
    the point of proliferation of Trotter errors in quantum annealing. Our results
    suggest practical ways of initializing QAOA protocols on near-term quantum devices
    and reveal new connections between QAOA and quantum annealing."
acknowledgement: We would like to thank D. Abanin and R. Medina for fruitful discussions
  and A. Smith and I. Kim for valuable feedback on the manuscript. We acknowledge
  support by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon
  2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 850899).
article_number: '491'
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Stefan
  full_name: Sack, Stefan
  id: dd622248-f6e0-11ea-865d-ce382a1c81a5
  last_name: Sack
  orcid: 0000-0001-5400-8508
- first_name: Maksym
  full_name: Serbyn, Maksym
  id: 47809E7E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Serbyn
  orcid: 0000-0002-2399-5827
citation:
  ama: Sack S, Serbyn M. Quantum annealing initialization of the quantum approximate
    optimization algorithm. <i>Quantum</i>. 2021;5. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491">10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491</a>
  apa: Sack, S., &#38; Serbyn, M. (2021). Quantum annealing initialization of the
    quantum approximate optimization algorithm. <i>Quantum</i>. Verein zur Förderung
    des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften. <a href="https://doi.org/10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491">https://doi.org/10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491</a>
  chicago: Sack, Stefan, and Maksym Serbyn. “Quantum Annealing Initialization of the
    Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm.” <i>Quantum</i>. Verein zur Förderung
    des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften, 2021. <a href="https://doi.org/10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491">https://doi.org/10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491</a>.
  ieee: S. Sack and M. Serbyn, “Quantum annealing initialization of the quantum approximate
    optimization algorithm,” <i>Quantum</i>, vol. 5. Verein zur Förderung des Open
    Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften, 2021.
  ista: Sack S, Serbyn M. 2021. Quantum annealing initialization of the quantum approximate
    optimization algorithm. Quantum. 5, 491.
  mla: Sack, Stefan, and Maksym Serbyn. “Quantum Annealing Initialization of the Quantum
    Approximate Optimization Algorithm.” <i>Quantum</i>, vol. 5, 491, Verein zur Förderung
    des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften, 2021, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491">10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491</a>.
  short: S. Sack, M. Serbyn, Quantum 5 (2021).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2021-08-01T22:01:21Z
date_published: 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-06-05T22:31:31Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '530'
department:
- _id: GradSch
- _id: MaSe
doi: 10.22331/Q-2021-07-01-491
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '2101.05742'
  isi:
  - '000669830600001'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: 9706c2bb8e748e9b5b138381995a7f6f
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: cchlebak
  date_created: 2021-08-06T06:44:31Z
  date_updated: 2021-08-06T06:44:31Z
  file_id: '9774'
  file_name: 2021_Quantum_Sack.pdf
  file_size: 2312482
  relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2021-08-06T06:44:31Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '         5'
isi: 1
language:
- iso: eng
month: '07'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: 23841C26-32DE-11EA-91FC-C7463DDC885E
  call_identifier: H2020
  grant_number: '850899'
  name: 'Non-Ergodic Quantum Matter: Universality, Dynamics and Control'
publication: Quantum
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 2521-327X
publication_status: published
publisher: Verein zur Förderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '14622'
    relation: dissertation_contains
    status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Quantum annealing initialization of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 5
year: '2021'
...