arXiv subjects

Man-Hong Yung

Publications and source records attributed to Man-Hong Yung.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Weak Permanent Anti-Concentration for Random Gaussian Matrices in Boson Sampling

Recent demonstrations of quantum computational advantage have been driven largely by sampling problems. A prominent model, boson sampling, involves sampling from the output distribution of a linear optical network. However, its classical hardness hinges on two plausible yet less-studied conjectures: the average-case hardness of approximating Gaussian permanents, and the permanent anti-concentration conjecture (PACC). The PACC is a purely mathematical assertion regarding the distributional properties of random Gaussian matrices. While the typical magnitude of the permanent has been established for discrete random matrices, the complex Gaussian case, which governs transition amplitudes in linear optical networks, has remained open. Here, we establish a weak anti-concentration bound by upper-bounding the probability that a random Gaussian permanent is superexponentially smaller than its standard deviation. Tightening this bound to an inverse-polynomial fraction would prove the original PACC. As a corollary, we establish the typical magnitude of Gaussian permanents, on par with Tao and Vu's seminal result for Bernoulli matrices. Combined with the Aaronson-Arkhipov framework, our result implies that classically simulating boson sampling to within a superexponentially small total variation distance would collapse the polynomial hierarchy, assuming the remaining conjectures hold.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

A reduction scheme for general-order Ising-like Hamiltonians in quantum heuristic solvers

The Ising model is ubiquitous in various optimization problems but notoriously difficult to solve due to combinatorial explosion. In view of this, Hamiltonian reduction is a useful preprocessing technique for reducing the effective problem size before applying heuristic solvers. However, existing reduction techniques mainly target second-order Ising models, whereas many pseudo-Boolean formulations naturally contain higher-order interactions. In this work, we generalize the concept of non-separable groups to arbitrary-order Ising-like models and develop a Hamiltonian reduction framework that iteratively detects and merges constrained spin groups into single variables. We benchmark the reduction on synthetic hypergraphs and higher-order network datasets, and evaluate its integration with downstream order-reduction and solver workflows. Our results establish a foundation for Hamiltonian reduction in higher-order Ising-like optimization problems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Quantum-Enhanced Multi-Objective Optimization

Multi-objective combinatorial optimization requires identifying Pareto-optimal trade-off solutions among conflicting objectives, often making it more demanding than its single-objective counterpart. Although quantum multi-objective optimization methods have begun to emerge, most existing quantum optimization workflows are still built around single-objective or fixed-scalarization settings. Building on existing weighted-sum QAOA approaches to quantum multi-objective optimization, we propose QEMOO, a quantum-enhanced multi-objective optimization framework that combines Pareto-based selection and warm-started QAOA sampling in a multi-round protocol under the same total shot budget. We further introduce a PBI-inspired adaptive direction-update scheme to improve coverage in strongly conflicting benchmark regimes. Across three benchmark stages, QEMOO improves Pareto-front hypervolume over the single-pass weighted-sum QAOA baseline under matched shot budgets, suggesting a practical route toward shot-efficient quantum-assisted multi-objective optimization and its future applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Multi-Objective Optimization by Quantum-Annealing-Inspired Algorithms

Combinatorial optimization is widely regarded as a primary application for near-term quantum processors, although a definitive demonstration of the practical quantum advantage remains elusive. Recent studies have reported that both gate-based quantum circuits and quantum annealers can outperform state-of-the-art classical heuristics on multi-objective optimization (MO-MaxCut) problems. However, these studies did not fully account for the substantial pre- and post-processing overheads intrinsic to quantum solvers, leading to incomplete comparisons between quantum and classical approaches. In this work, we re-examine the same benchmark suite using GPU-based quantum-annealing-inspired algorithms (QAIAs), which, analogously to quantum processors, generate probabilistic samples and thus serve as formidable classical contenders. Our results show that QAIAs can sample candidate solutions approximately two orders of magnitude faster than previously studied quantum processors. In terms of end-to-end runtime, QAIAs also surpass industry-leading classical solvers, thereby establishing themselves as the superior performers among the quantum and classical solvers evaluated thus far for the MO-MaxCut instances.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

QHap: Quantum-Inspired Haplotype Phasing

Haplotype phasing, the process of resolving parental allele inheritance patterns in diploid genomes, is critical for precision medicine and population genetics, yet the underlying optimization is NP-hard, posing a scalability challenge. To address this, we introduce QHap, a haplotype phasing algorithm that leverages quantum-annealing-inspired optimization. By reformulating haplotype phasing as a Max-Cut problem and deploying a GPU-accelerated ballistic simulated bifurcation solver, QHap accelerates phasing while maintaining accuracy comparable to established phasing tools. On the highly polymorphic human major histocompatibility complex region, QHap demonstrates 4- to 20-fold acceleration over HapCUT2 and WhatsHap with zero switch error across multiple long-read sequencing platforms. The framework implements two strategies: a read-based method for regional phasing, and a single nucleotide polymorphism-based method that, through quality-weighted probabilistic edge construction, efficiently scales to chromosome-scale tasks. Integration of Pore-C chromatin conformation capture data increases the haplotype N50 by up to 15-fold, enabling near-chromosome-scale haplotype reconstruction. QHap demonstrates that quantum-inspired algorithms operating on classical hardware offer a promising approach to addressing the growing computational demands of sequencing data, establishing a new paradigm for applying physics-inspired optimization to fundamental challenges in computational genomics.

q-bio.GN↗

arXiv2026

Barren Plateaus Beyond Observable Concentration

Parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) are central to quantum machine learning and near-term quantum simulation, but their scalability is often hindered by barren plateaus (BPs), where gradients decay exponentially with system size. Prior explanations, including expressivity, entanglement, locality, and noise, are often presented in ways that conflate two distinct issues: concentration of the measured observable and loss of parameter sensitivity caused by circuit dynamics.We develop a unified statistical framework that separates these mechanisms. We show that several standard BP explanations, including locality- and entanglement-related effects, can be understood through a single phenomenon that we term observable concentration (OC). Importantly, we prove that avoiding OC is necessary but not sufficient for trainability. Beyond OC, we identify two distinct mid-circuit sources of gradient suppression. First, in circuits with effectively independent forward and backward blocks, parameter perturbations can propagate outside the measurement light cone and become inaccessible to the final observable, yielding information-loss-induced BPs. Second, BPs can also arise in circuits with highly correlated forward and backward blocks, as we demonstrate through an echo-type circuit model that is reminiscent of information scrambling.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Z2 Lattice Gauge Theory on Non-trivial Topology and Its Quantum Simulation

Wegner duality is essential for Z2 lattice gauge theory, yet the duality on non-trivial topologies has remained implicit. We extend Wegner duality to arbitrary topology and dimension, obtaining a new class of Ising models, in which topology is encoded in non-local domain-wall patterns. Without the overhead of gauge constraints, simulating this model on an L*L torus requires only L*L qubits with two-body couplings, halving the conventional four-body coupled 2L*L qubits, enabling full experimental realization of Z2 lattice gauge theory on near-term devices.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2025

Pilot-Wave Simulator: Exact Classical Sampling from Ideal and Noisy Quantum Circuits up to Hundreds of Qubits

Quantum circuit simulators running on classical computers offer a vital platform for designing, testing, and optimizing quantum algorithms, driving innovation despite limited access to real quantum hardware. However, their scalability is inherently constrained by exponential memory and computational overhead, which restricts accurate simulation of large-scale quantum circuits and often results in approximate output distributions. Here, we propose an exact sampling algorithm that integrates tensor network contraction techniques with a Markov process, wherein a classical state evolves according to the local structure of the quantum circuit. As a demonstration, we target the challenge of generating samples from ideal and noisy QAOA circuits with up to 476 qubits, incorporating both depolarizing and amplitude damping noise models. These results enable further validation of several assumptions and conjectures at a scale previously out of reach, significantly expanding the scope of classical simulation in quantum algorithm research.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Combinatorial optimization enhanced by shallow quantum circuits with 104 superconducting qubits

A pivotal task for quantum computing is to speed up solving problems that are both classically intractable and practically valuable. Among these, combinatorial optimization problems have attracted tremendous attention due to their broad applicability and natural fitness to Ising Hamiltonians. Here we propose a quantum sampling strategy, based on which we design an algorithm for accelerating solving the ground states of Ising model, a class of NP-hard problems in combinatorial optimization. The algorithm employs a hybrid quantum-classical workflow, with a shallow-circuit quantum sampling subroutine dedicated to navigating the energy landscape. Using up to 104 superconducting qubits, we demonstrate that this algorithm outputs favorable solutions against even a highly-optimized classical simulated annealing (SA) algorithm. Furthermore, we illustrate the path toward quantum speedup based on the time-to-solution metric against SA running on a single-core CPU with just 100 qubits. Our results indicate a promising alternative to classical heuristics for combinatorial optimization, a paradigm where quantum advantage might become possible on near-term superconducting quantum processors with thousands of qubits and without the assistance of error correction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Variational quantum algorithms with invariant probabilistic error cancellation on noisy quantum processors

In the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era, emerging classical-quantum hybrid optimization algorithms, such as variational quantum algorithms (VQAs), can leverage the unique characteristics of quantum devices to accelerate computations tailored to specific problems with shallow circuits. However, these algorithms encounter biases and iteration difficulties due to significant noise in quantum processors. These difficulties can only be partially addressed without error correction by optimizing hardware, reducing circuit complexity, or fitting and extrapolation. A compelling solution is applying probabilistic error cancellation (PEC), a quantum error mitigation technique that enables unbiased results without full error correction. Traditional PEC is challenging to apply in VQAs due to its variance amplification, contradicting iterative process assumptions. This paper proposes a novel noise-adaptable strategy that combines PEC with the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). It is implemented through invariant sampling circuits (invariant-PEC, or IPEC) and substantially reduces iteration variance. This strategy marks the first successful integration of PEC and QAOA, resulting in efficient convergence. Moreover, we introduce adaptive partial PEC (APPEC), which modulates the error cancellation proportion of IPEC during iteration. We experimentally validated this technique on a superconducting quantum processor, cutting sampling cost by 90.1\%. Notably, we find that dynamic adjustments of error levels via APPEC can enhance escape from local minima and reduce sampling costs. These results open promising avenues for executing VQAs with large-scale, low-noise quantum circuits, paving the way for practical quantum computing advancements.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Cost-driven prunings for iterative solving of constrained routing problem with SRLG-disjoint protection

The search for the optimal pair of active and protection paths in a network with Shared Risk Link Groups (SRLG) is a challenging but high-value problem in the industry that is inevitable in ensuring reliable connections on the modern Internet. We propose a new approach to solving this problem, with a novel use of statistical analysis of the distribution of paths with respect to their cost, which is an integral part of our innovation. The key idea in our algorithm is to employ iterative updates of cost bounds, allowing efficient pruning of suboptimal paths. This idea drives an efficacious exploration of the search space. We benchmark our algorithms against the state-of-the-art algorithms that exploit the alternative strategy of conflicting links exclusion, showing that our approach has the advantage of finding more feasible connections within a set time limit.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2025

High-Order Modulation Large MIMO Detector Based on Physics-Inspired Methods

Applying quantum annealing or current quantum-/physics-inspired algorithms for MIMO detection always abandon the direct gray-coded bit-to-symbol mapping in order to obtain Ising form, leading to inconsistency errors. This often results in slow convergence rates and error floor, particularly with high-order modulations. We propose HOPbit, a novel MIMO detector designed to address this issue by transforming the MIMO detection problem into a higher-order unconstrained binary optimization (HUBO) problem while maintaining gray-coded bit-to-symbol mapping. The method then employs the simulated probabilistic bits (p-bits) algorithm to directly solve HUBO without degradation. This innovative strategy enables HOPbit to achieve rapid convergence and attain near-optimal maximum-likelihood performance in most scenarios, even those involving high-order modulations. The experiments show that HOPbit surpasses ParaMax by several orders of magnitude in terms of bit error rate (BER) in the context of 12-user massive and large MIMO systems even with computing resources. In addition, HOPbit achieves lower BER rates compared to other traditional detectors.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2025

Generalized Cross-Entropy Benchmarking for Random Circuits with Ergodicity

Cross-entropy benchmarking is a central technique used to certify a quantum chip in recent experiments. To better understand its mathematical foundation and develop new benchmarking schemes, we introduce the concept of ergodicity to random circuit sampling and find that the Haar random quantum circuit satisfies an ergodicity condition -- the average of certain types of post-processing function over the output bit strings is close to the average over the unitary ensemble. For noiseless random circuits, we prove that the ergodicity holds for polynomials of degree $t$ with positive coefficients and when the random circuits form a unitary $2t$-design. For strong enough noise, the ergodicity condition is violated. This suggests that ergodicity is a property that can be exploited to certify a quantum chip. We formulate the deviation of ergodicity as a measure for quantum chip benchmarking and show that it can be used to estimate the circuit fidelity for global depolarizing noise and weakly correlated noise. For a quadratic post-processing function, our framework recovers Google's result on estimating the circuit fidelity via linear cross-entropy benchmarking (XEB), and we give a sufficient condition on the noise model characterizing when such estimation is valid. Our results establish an interesting connection between ergodicity and noise in random circuits and provide new insights into designing quantum benchmarking schemes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Free-Energy Machine for Combinatorial Optimization

Finding optimal solutions to combinatorial optimization problems is pivotal in both scientific and technological domains, within academic research and industrial applications. A considerable amount of effort has been invested in the development of accelerated methods that leverage sophisticated models and harness the power of advanced computational hardware. Despite the advancements, a critical challenge persists, the dual demand for both high efficiency and broad generality in solving problems. In this work, we propose a general method, Free-Energy Machine (FEM), based on the ideas of free-energy minimization in statistical physics, combined with automatic differentiation and gradient-based optimization in machine learning. The algorithm is flexible, solving various combinatorial optimization problems using a unified framework, and is efficient, naturally utilizing massive parallel computational devices such as graph processing units (GPUs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). We benchmark our algorithm on various problems including the maximum cut problems, balanced minimum cut problems, and maximum $k$-satisfiability problems, scaled to millions of variables, across both synthetic, real-world, and competition problem instances. The findings indicate that our algorithm not only exhibits exceptional speed but also surpasses the performance of state-of-the-art algorithms tailored for individual problems. This highlights that the interdisciplinary fusion of statistical physics and machine learning opens the door to delivering cutting-edge methodologies that will have broad implications across various scientific and industrial landscapes.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Efficient learning of mixed-state tomography for photonic quantum walk

Noise-enhanced applications in open quantum walk (QW) have recently seen a surge due to their ability to improve performance. However, verifying the success of open QW is challenging, as mixed-state tomography is a resource-intensive process, and implementing all required measurements is almost impossible due to various physical constraints. To address this challenge, we present a neural-network-based method for reconstructing mixed states with a high fidelity (~97.5%) while costing only 50% of the number of measurements typically required for open discrete-time QW in one dimension. Our method uses a neural density operator that models the system and environment, followed by a generalized natural gradient descent procedure that significantly speeds up the training process. Moreover, we introduce a compact interferometric measurement device, improving the scalability of our photonic QW setup that enables experimental learning of mixed states. Our results demonstrate that highly expressive neural networks can serve as powerful alternatives to traditional state tomography.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Quantum-annealing-inspired algorithms for multijet clustering

Jet clustering or reconstruction is a crucial component at high energy colliders, a procedure to identify sprays of collimated particles originating from the fragmentation and hadronization of quarks and gluons. It is a complicated combinatorial optimization problem and requires intensive computing resources. In this study, we formulate jet reconstruction as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem and introduce novel quantum-annealing-inspired algorithms for clustering multiple jets in electron-positron collision events. One of these quantum-annealing-inspired algorithms, ballistic simulated bifurcation, overcomes problems previously observed in multijet clustering with quantum-annealing approaches. We find that both the distance defined in the QUBO matrix and the prediction power of the QUBO solvers have crucial impacts on the multijet clustering performance. This study opens up a new approach to globally reconstructing multijet beyond dijet in one go, in contrast to the traditional iterative method.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Super-Robust Nonadiabatic Holonomic Quantum Computation in coherence-protected Superconducting Circuits

The schmeme of nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation (NHQC) offers an error-resistant method for implementing quantum gates, capable of mitigating certain errors. However, the conventional NHQC schemes often entail longer operations concerning standard gate operations, making them more vulnerable to the effects of quantum decoherence. In this research, we propose an implementation of the Super-Robust NHQC scheme within the Decoherence-Free Subspace (DFS). SR-NHQC has demonstrated robustness against Global Control Errors (GCEs). By utilizing capacitance-coupled transmon qubits within a DFS, our approach enables universal gate operations on a scalable two-dimensional square lattice of superconducting qubits. Numerical simulations demonstrate the practicality of SR-NHQC in DFS, showcasing its superiority in mitigating GCEs and decoherence effects compared to conventional NHQC schemes. Our work presents a promising strategy for advancing the reliability of quantum computation in real-world applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Quantum-inspired Beamforming Optimization for Quantized Phase-only Massive MIMO Arrays

This paper introduces an innovative quantum-inspired method for beamforming (BF) optimization in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) arrays. The method leverages the simulated bifurcation (SB) algorithm to address the complex combinatorial optimization problem due to the quantized phase configuration. We propose novel encoding techniques for high-bit phase quantization, which are then mapped into Ising spins. This enables efficient construction of the Hamiltonians and subsequent optimization of BF patterns. The results clearly demonstrate that the SB optimizer surpasses traditional schemes such as digital BF, holographic algorithms and genetic algorithms, offering faster convergence and higher solution quality. The impressive capability of the SB optimizer to handle complex BF scenarios, including sidelobe suppression and multiple beams with nulls, is undoubtedly demonstrated through several application cases. These findings strongly suggest that quantum-inspired methods have great potential to advance MIMO techniques in next-generation wireless communication.

physics.app-ph↗