Quantum optimization regime and resource audit

Family 281: QAOA attains the SK optimum in the thermodynamic-first limit. First application triage, 9 October 2026 Australia/Brisbane.

Problem and potential new use

Quantum optimization teams can prevent a thermodynamic-first QAOA optimality claim from being interpreted as a finite-instance or finite-device performance guarantee.

Applicability and commercial boundary

The paper gives no quantitative required depth or efficient angle-selection procedure. The formal scope covers variational SK value identities and order-parameter properties, not convergence of QAOA circuit energies.

Initial business decision

Prototype evidence workflow. Buyer budget, commercial novelty and profitability are unvalidated.

Next verification action

Design a finite-size/depth/angle-cost comparison with an existing QAOA implementation and classical baseline, preserving all limit orders.

Evidence scope

The catalog statement was individually reviewed. Main-paper abstract passages and available family scope notes were also inspected; paper-level theorem and algorithm details still require deeper review. No independent Lean check was run. Source revision fd4aeeb2ee4fc729c18d98444fed42fd0529eeeb. See source metadata.

Main source

QAOA attains the SK ground-state energy in the thermodynamic-first limit.