Rapid quantum approaches for combinatorial optimisation inspired by optimal state-transfer

Abstract: We propose a new design heuristic to tackle combinatorial optimisation problems, inspired by Hamiltonians for optimal state-transfer. The result is a rapid approximate optimisation algorithm. We provide numerical evidence of the success of this new design heuristic. We find this approach results in a better approximation ratio than the Quantum Approximate Optimisation Algorithm at lowest depth for the majority of problem instances considered, while utilising comparable resources. This opens the door to investigating new approaches for tackling combinatorial optimisation problems, distinct from adiabatic-influenced approaches.