quant-ph digest — 2026-05-16
Scored against Yuan's research programme (Y1–Y6):
- Y1 — arXiv:2502.09704 — iterative warm-started QAOA
- Y2 — arXiv:2304.06915 — quasi-binary portfolio QAOA
- Y3 — arXiv:2410.16265 — QAOA DGMVP portfolio (QST 2026)
- Y4 — arXiv:2603.14744 — Grover + ADMM cardinality-constrained BO
- Y5 — arXiv:2510.08292 — GW speed-ups via Gibbs states + Pauli sparsity
- Y6 — arXiv:2510.11213 — PBR test on IBM Heron2
Source
arXiv listing: https://arxiv.org/list/quant-ph/new (59 new + 19 cross = 78 entries)
Coverage: all 78 entries scored. 17 relevant (score ≥ 1); 61 SKIP (score 0, omitted).
Scoring rubric
0–10 on method/scope/conclusion overlap — max wins. HIGH 8–10 · MED 5–7 · LOW 1–4 · SKIP 0.
Highly relevant (score 8–10) — 1 paper
Sharp Bounds on the Eigenvalues of Kikuchi Graphs and Applications to Quantum Max Cut
- Authors: Ainesh Bakshi, Arpon Basu, Pravesh Kothari, Anqi Li
- arXiv: 2605.14994
- Category: new submission — Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Data Structures and Algorithms (cs.DS); Combinatorics (math.CO)
- Score: 8/10 (HIGH)
- Overlaps with: Y5, Y1
- Why it matters: Approximation algorithms for Quantum Max Cut and XY Hamiltonian via Kikuchi graph Laplacian bounds — exactly the Goemans-Williamson-style relaxation/SDP analysis that Y5 generalizes, and on the same MaxCut family Y1 warm-starts QAOA for.
We prove that the maximum eigenvalue of the (both signed and unsigned) Laplacian of level $k$ Kikuchi graph of any graph $G$ with $m$ edges is at most $m+k$. This confirms four recent conjectures of Apte, Parekh, and Sud. As applications, we obtain that tensor products of one and two qubit product states achieve an approximation ratio of $5/8$ for Quantum Max Cut and $5/7$ for the XY Hamiltonian. Moreover, combining our bounds with the algorithms analyzed by Apte, Parekh, and Sud, yields efficient algorithms achieving an approximation ratio of $0.614$ for Quantum Max Cut and $0.674$ for the XY Hamiltonian. Finally, we also make modest progress on Brouwer's conjecture and improve Lew's bound …
Moderately relevant (score 5–7) — 6 papers
From Hilbert's Tenth Problem to Quantum Speedup: Explicit Oracles for Bounded Diophantine Systems
- Authors: Gabriel Escrig, M. A. Martin-Delgado
- arXiv: 2605.13980
- Category: new submission — Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
- Score: 7/10 (MED)
- Overlaps with: Y4
- Why it matters: Amplitude amplification (Grover variant) over bounded integer domains via gate-level oracle synthesis — same method family as Y4's Grover-with-feasible-space attack on cardinality-constrained BO.
Solving non-linear Diophantine systems lies at the mathematical core of integer optimization and cryptography. While the general unbounded problem is undecidable, even over bounded integer domains it remains classically intractable in the worst case. In this work, we introduce a fully reversible quantum algorithmic framework tailored to solve arbitrary polynomial Diophantine equations over bounded integer domains. The core of our approach is the explicit, gate-level synthesis of an evaluation oracle for amplitude amplification. By coherently evaluating polynomial constraints via in-place two's complement arithmetic and routing operations into a single recycled accumulator, this garbage-free …
Optimizing the preparation of Dicke states using counterdiabatic driving methods
- Authors: Fengzhe Tang, Gangcheng Wang
- arXiv: 2605.14378
- Category: new submission — Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
- Score: 6/10 (MED)
- Overlaps with: Y4, Y2
- Why it matters: Dicke states are the canonical fixed-cardinality feasible subspace exploited by Y4's Grover-on-cardinality construction and Y2's hard-mixer that preserves cardinality; counterdiabatic preparation is a state-prep method Yuan could swap in.
Recently, the technique of counterdiabatic driving, which provides an effective strategy for accelerating adiabatic quantum evolution, has been widely applied in the preparation of many-body quantum states. In this work, we propose a theoretical scheme for the efficient preparation of Dicke states in a system of non-interacting two-level atoms. Our approach leverages the one-axis twisting (OAT) interaction to generate non-classical correlations and combines it with time-dependent external fields to achieve precise control over the dynamics of the system. By employing rapid adiabatic passage (RAP), it demonstrates how the system can be steered from an initial coherent spin state to a target …
Nonlinear Hamiltonians and Boolean satisfiability
- Authors: Michael R. Geller, Victoria S. Ordonez, Yohannes Abate
- arXiv: 2605.14822
- Category: new submission — Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
- Score: 6/10 (MED)
- Overlaps with: Y4
- Why it matters: Nonlinear-Hamiltonian model for Boolean satisfiability counting (#SAT) — same constrained-binary-optimization scope as Y4 with a quantum-advantage claim, but via an extended non-unitary computation model.
We consider an extended model of quantum computation where a scalable fault-tolerant quantum computer is coupled to one or more ancilla qubits that evolve according to a nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Following the approach of Abrams and Lloyd, an efficient quantum circuit evaluating an $n$-bit Boolean function in conjunctive normal form is used to prepare an ancilla encoding its number $s$ of satisfying assignments ($0 \le s \le 2^n$). This is followed by a nonlinear quantum state discrimination gate on the ancilla qubit that is used to learn properties of $s$. Here we consider three types of state discriminators generated by different nonlinear Hamiltonians. First, given a restricted …
QUACOD: Quantum Optimization via Coordinate Descent for Scalable Drone Scheduling
- Authors: Van-Quang-Huy Nguyen, Hoang-Quan Nguyen, Samee U. Khan, Ilya Safro, Khoa Luu
- arXiv: 2605.14001
- Category: new submission — Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
- Score: 5/10 (MED)
- Overlaps with: Y2, Y3
- Why it matters: Quantum optimization for drone scheduling under limited-qubit constraint via coordinate-descent decomposition — adjacent to Y2's iterative-refinement / Y3's layerwise decomposition for QUBO portfolio.
Quantum computing has demonstrated its potential to solve various optimization problems, including drone scheduling, which is important not only for drone delivery but also for logistics in general. However, one of the main obstacles is that practical drone scheduling settings typically require quantum resources that current hardware cannot provide. Therefore, in this work, we introduce a new Quantum Optimization via Coordinate Descent (QUACOD) approach to address this problem under the constraint of a limited number of available qubits. By leveraging coordinate descent, QUACOD decomposes the original high-complexity problem into multiple subproblems, which are then solved using quantum …
Failure-Guided Fuzzing for Hybrid Quantum-Classical Programs
- Authors: Lei Zhang
- arXiv: 2605.14219
- Category: cross submission — Software Engineering (cs.SE); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
- Score: 5/10 (MED)
- Overlaps with: Y1, Y3
- Why it matters: Failure-guided fuzzing of the joint classical-optimizer × quantum-parameter space for VQE/QAOA — directly relevant to Y1/Y3 parameter-scheduling and layerwise-optimization regimes.
Hybrid quantum-classical (HQC) algorithms, such as the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) and the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), are central to near-term quantum computing but remain challenging to test. Sampling-based fuzzing can expose faulty or non-convergent configurations, but under realistic execution budgets, it may miss failure-prone regions in the joint space of classical optimizer settings and quantum circuit parameters. This paper studies failure-guided fuzzing for HQC programs. It models a hybrid input as a pair of classical optimizer hyperparameters and quantum circuit parameters, and evaluates a two-phase strategy that first searches for non-convergent …
A Toolbox to Understand the Physics of Quantum Data Management
- Authors: Wolfgang Mauerer, Manuel Schönberger
- arXiv: 2605.14719
- Category: new submission — Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Databases (cs.DB)
- Score: 5/10 (MED)
- Overlaps with: Y2, Y3
- Why it matters: Computational toolbox for quantum-annealing-based combinatorial optimization (database scope) — adjacent method (QA vs QAOA) on the same QUBO scope that Y2/Y3 target.
The application of quantum computing to data management has attracted growing interest, yet remains constrained by a limited understanding of how the physical behaviour of quantum devices relates to the structure and difficulty of database problems. In particular, evaluating quantum annealing approaches for combinatorial optimisation, which is central to many data management tasks, poses significant challenges beyond the scope of conventional empirical and complexity-theoretic methods. We present a computational toolbox for the systematic numerical analysis of quantum annealing processes derived from data management problem formulations. Adopting a physics-informed perspective, the toolbox …
Tangential (score 1–4) — 10 papers
- 2605.14538 · score 4/10 · Are free choices absolute, when internalized in Wigner's friend? — Wigner's-friend argument against absoluteness of free choices — same PBR/extended-Wigner foundations family as Y6 but theoretical only.
- 2605.14644 · score 4/10 · Generating Non-Decomposable Maps with Differentiable Semidefinite Programming — Differentiable-SDP optimization over Choi matrices for non-decomposable positive maps — shares the SDP-with-structure machinery of Y5 but applied to entanglement-theory certificates rather than GW relaxations.
- 2605.13979 · score 3/10 · Winning Lottery Tickets in Neural Networks via a Quantum-Inspired Classical Algorithm — Quantum-inspired classical algorithm for sparse-subnet (lottery-ticket) selection via ridgelet sampling — same dequantization theme that frames Y5's quantum-inspired SDP solver.
- 2605.14395 · score 3/10 · Interference visibility as a witness of preparation contextuality via overlap inequalities — Interference-visibility witness of preparation contextuality — same foundations family as Y6 but probes contextuality (not PBR ontic/epistemic).
- 2605.14656 · score 2/10 · Blind Quantum Computation on a Modular Superconducting Processor — Blind-MBQC experiment on a modular superconducting processor — overlaps Y6's scope (superconducting-hardware demonstration) only, no foundational tie.
- 2605.14188 · score 1/10 · QOuLiPo: What a quantum computer sees when it reads a book — Neutral-atom-blockade graphs encoding literary texts — combinatorial-graph encoding flavour but no real Y1–Y6 link.
- 2605.14235 · score 1/10 · Quantum Advantage in Multi Agent Reinforcement Learning — Variational quantum circuits for multi-agent RL with CHSH test — quantum-advantage framing but disjoint method/scope.
- 2605.14640 · score 1/10 · Perfect transmission and parallel composition for quantum walks on graphs with two leads — Continuous-time quantum walks on graphs with two leads — graph-based quantum algorithm but disjoint from Yuan's optimization/foundations themes.
- 2605.15090 · score 1/10 · Energy efficiency of quantum computers — Energy-efficiency comparison across qubit platforms — only the NISQ-hardware framing overlaps.
- 2605.15098 · score 1/10 · Accelerating State-Vector Quantum Simulation on Integrated GPUs via Cache Locality Optimization: A … — GPU state-vector simulator for consumer-grade hardware — useful infrastructure for QAOA numerics but no methodological overlap.
Summary table
| Score | arXiv ID | Short title | Overlaps | arXiv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 2605.14994 | Sharp Bounds on the Eigenvalues of Kikuchi Graphs and Applications to Quantum Max Cut | Y5, Y1 | link |
| 7 | 2605.13980 | From Hilbert's Tenth Problem to Quantum Speedup: Explicit Oracles for Bounded Diophantine… | Y4 | link |
| 6 | 2605.14378 | Optimizing the preparation of Dicke states using counterdiabatic driving methods | Y4, Y2 | link |
| 6 | 2605.14822 | Nonlinear Hamiltonians and Boolean satisfiability | Y4 | link |
| 5 | 2605.14001 | QUACOD: Quantum Optimization via Coordinate Descent for Scalable Drone Scheduling | Y2, Y3 | link |
| 5 | 2605.14219 | Failure-Guided Fuzzing for Hybrid Quantum-Classical Programs | Y1, Y3 | link |
| 5 | 2605.14719 | A Toolbox to Understand the Physics of Quantum Data Management | Y2, Y3 | link |
| 4 | 2605.14538 | Are free choices absolute, when internalized in Wigner's friend? | Y6 | link |
| 4 | 2605.14644 | Generating Non-Decomposable Maps with Differentiable Semidefinite Programming | Y5 | link |
| 3 | 2605.13979 | Winning Lottery Tickets in Neural Networks via a Quantum-Inspired Classical Algorithm | Y5 | link |
| 3 | 2605.14395 | Interference visibility as a witness of preparation contextuality via overlap inequalities | Y6 | link |
| 2 | 2605.14656 | Blind Quantum Computation on a Modular Superconducting Processor | Y6 | link |
| 1 | 2605.14188 | QOuLiPo: What a quantum computer sees when it reads a book | — | link |
| 1 | 2605.14235 | Quantum Advantage in Multi Agent Reinforcement Learning | — | link |
| 1 | 2605.14640 | Perfect transmission and parallel composition for quantum walks on graphs with two leads | — | link |
| 1 | 2605.15090 | Energy efficiency of quantum computers | — | link |
| 1 | 2605.15098 | Accelerating State-Vector Quantum Simulation on Integrated GPUs via Cache Locality Optimi… | — | link |