Hierarchical QAOA circuit design framework for distributed quantum computing

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/ae00ae

Abstract The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) is a promising approach for solving combinatorial optimization problems on real quantum devices. As QAOA scales to tackle larger problem instances, the limited qubit capacity of single-chip systems becomes a critical bottleneck. To overcome this limitation, distributed quantum computing (DQC) provides a scalable solution. However, when QAOA circuits are executed in such systems, their performance is significantly hindered by the high cost of remote communication. Motivated by this challenge, we propose $HiQ$-$DF$, a QAOA circuit design framework tailored for DQC systems. By employing a hierarchical optimization strategy, $HiQ$-$DF$ enables comprehensive multi-objective optimization during circuit construction. Experimental results on QAOA circuits solving MaxCut instances show that our framework significantly outperforms baseline methods, achieving an average reduction of $26.12%$ in EPR pair usage (up to $36.85%$), $26.44%$ in circuit latency (up to $35.27%$), and $39.63%$ in circuit depth (up to $49.3%$).

Keywords: quantum circuit design quantum approximate optimization algorithm distributed quantum computing

Received: 25 June 2025
Revised: 13 August 2025
Accepted manuscript online: 29 August 2025

PACS:	03.67.Lx	(Quantum computation architectures and implementations)
	03.67.Ac	(Quantum algorithms, protocols, and simulations)
	85.25.-j	(Superconducting devices)

Corresponding Authors: Yu-Xin Deng
E-mail: yxdeng@msg.sufe.edu.cn

Cite this article:

Ting-Yu Luo(骆挺宇) and Yu-Xin Deng(邓玉欣) Hierarchical QAOA circuit design framework for distributed quantum computing 2026 Chin. Phys. B 35 040309

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