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Limitations of Decoded Quantum Interferometry for MaxCut

Author Ojas Parekh

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LIPIcs.TQC.2026.6.pdf
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Subject Classification

ACM Subject Classification
  • Theory of computation → Approximation algorithms analysis
  • Theory of computation → Quantum complexity theory
Keywords
  • Decoded Quantum Interferometry
  • MaxCut
  • quantum approximation algorithms

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Abstract

Decoded Quantum Interferometry (DQI) is a framework for approximating special kinds of discrete optimization problems that relies on problem structure in a way that sets it apart from other classical or quantum approaches. We show that any family of instances of MaxCut on which DQI attains a nontrivial asymptotic approximation guarantee is also solvable exactly in classical polynomial time. We include a streamlined exposition of DQI tailored for MaxCut that relies on elementary graph theory instead of coding theory to motivate and explain the algorithm.

Cite As Get BibTex

Ojas Parekh. Limitations of Decoded Quantum Interferometry for MaxCut. In 21st Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 389, pp. 6:1-6:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026) https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2026.6

Author Details

Ojas Parekh
  • Quantum Algorithms and Applications Collaboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA

Funding

This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA). Additional support is acknowledged from DOE, Office of Science, Accelerated Research in Quantum Computing, Fundamental Algorithmic Research toward Quantum Utility (FAR-Qu). This article has been authored by an employee of National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The employee owns all right, title and interest in and to the article and is solely responsible for its contents. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this article or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan https://www.energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan.

Acknowledgements

I thank Stephen Jordan and Noah Shutty for helpful discussions on DQI and feedback on this work.

References

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