Remove the qp.qaoa module

.github/workflows/documentation-tests.yml

@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ jobs:
           --ignore=pennylane/pulse
           --ignore=pennylane/io
           --ignore=pennylane/qnn
-          --ignore=pennylane/qaoa
           --ignore=pennylane/data
           --ignore=pennylane/debugging
           --ignore=pennylane/qchem

doc/development/deprecations.rst

@@ -99,6 +99,15 @@ for details on how to port your legacy code to the new system. The following fun
 Completed deprecation cycles
 ----------------------------
 
+* The ``pennylane.qaoa`` module has been removed, including the mixer Hamiltonians
+  (``x_mixer``, ``xy_mixer``, ``bit_flip_mixer``), the cost Hamiltonians (``maxcut``,
+  ``max_independent_set``, ``min_vertex_cover``, ``max_clique``, ``max_weight_cycle``,
+  ``bit_driver``, ``edge_driver``), the ansatz layers (``cost_layer``, ``mixer_layer``)
+  and the ``pennylane.qaoa.cycle`` helpers. :class:`~.QAOAEmbedding` is unaffected.
+
+  - Removed in releases after v0.45
+
+* Maintenance support for the ``tensorflow`` interface has been removed. Future versions of 
 * The ``pennylane.pulse`` module has been removed. This includes ``ParametrizedHamiltonian`` and
   ``ParametrizedEvolution``, as well as the ``stoch_pulse_grad`` and ``pulse_odegen``
   pulse-level gradient transforms.

doc/index.rst

@@ -254,7 +254,6 @@ PennyLane is **free** and **open source**, released under the Apache License, Ve
    code/qp_numpy
    code/qp_ops_op_math
    code/qp_pauli
-   code/qp_qaoa
    code/qp_qchem
    code/qp_qnn
    code/qp_resource

doc/releases/changelog-dev.md

@@ -1050,6 +1050,13 @@
   ```
 
   [(#10209)](https://github.com/PennyLaneAI/pennylane/pull/10209)
+
+* The ``pennylane.qaoa`` module has been removed. This includes the mixer Hamiltonians
+  (``x_mixer``, ``xy_mixer``, ``bit_flip_mixer``), the cost Hamiltonians (``maxcut``,
+  ``max_independent_set``, ``min_vertex_cover``, ``max_clique``, ``max_weight_cycle``,
+  ``bit_driver``, ``edge_driver``), the ansatz layers (``cost_layer``, ``mixer_layer``) and the
+  ``pennylane.qaoa.cycle`` helpers. :class:`~.QAOAEmbedding` is unaffected.
+  [(#10249)](https://github.com/PennyLaneAI/pennylane/pull/10249)
 
 * The ``pennylane.noise`` module has been removed, including ``NoiseModel``,
   ``add_noise``, ``insert``, noise mitigation transforms (``mitigate_with_zne``,

pennylane/__init__.py

@@ -111,7 +111,6 @@
 from pennylane.templates.swapnetworks import *
 from pennylane.templates.state_preparations import *
 from pennylane.templates.subroutines import *
-from pennylane import qaoa
 from pennylane.workflow import QNode, qnode, execute, set_shots, marker
 from pennylane import workflow