From portfolios to quantum circuits at YQuantum

My team placed third in the Capgemini and The Hartford challenge track at Yale University’s YQuantum 2026 hackathon. Our project explored investment portfolio optimization using the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA).

YQuantum participants and organizers at the Investment Portfolio Challenge awards, with Popeyes listed in third place — The Investment Portfolio Challenge awards, where our team, Popeyes, placed third.

From a classical model to a quantum circuit

We started with a classical Markowitz portfolio formulation, mapped it into a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem, and implemented the corresponding quantum circuit.

My contribution focused on the formulation and circuit-construction work, including the mapping from the portfolio objective to an Ising Hamiltonian for the QAOA workflow.

Project workflow from a Markowitz portfolio model to QUBO, an Ising Hamiltonian, and a QAOA circuit — The project workflow: portfolio model → QUBO → Ising Hamiltonian → QAOA circuit.

Tanish Singh Rajpal and team members presenting their portfolio-optimization project to judges at YQuantum — Presenting our portfolio-optimization approach to the challenge judges.

Classroom chalkboards filled with portfolio optimization, QUBO, Ising-model, and noise-model calculations — Working through the portfolio, Ising-model, and noise-model formulation.

Testing under more realistic conditions

Beyond the theoretical implementation, we explored how performance changes under more realistic conditions. By introducing noise and testing different system sizes, we observed how sensitive these approaches are to constraints like limited qubits. Seeing firsthand the gap between theoretical models and practical quantum systems was one of the most rewarding and insightful parts of the weekend.

Explore the project

The project repository contains our work on optimizing premium investment portfolios.

View the project on GitHub ↗

The people behind the project

A huge thank you to our mentors Nadine van Son, Mike K., and Luisa Baldino for their guidance, with special thanks to Mike for the 3 a.m. pizza and constant moral support, and to Capgemini and The Hartford for sponsoring the challenge.

I am incredibly grateful to have collaborated with İlayda Dilek, Harmandeep Kaur, Hiram Zúñiga, and Edward Chang.

The Popeyes team standing beside a YQuantum 2026 display at Yale University — Team Popeyes at YQuantum 2026.

YQuantum 2026 certificate awarding third place to Popeyes in the Investment Portfolio Challenge — Our third-place certificate for the Investment Portfolio Challenge. Select it to view the full-size image.