A Graphical Language for Computer-aided Design and Synthesis of Quantum Algorithms

Both the tasks of quantum algorithm design and that of digital logic circuit design are constrained optimization problems. In both, the level of complexity can quickly become overwhelming. Tackling this complexity problem can be purely text-based, as is done with Hardware Description Languages (Verilog, VHDL), but graphical interfaces are highly effective in empowering developers, introducing intuition by abstraction. A graphical approach can be flexible enough to present different levels of detail as needed by the designer and expressive enough for a succinct description of all pertinent features.

In this work, we present an interface for the graphical automated design of quantum algorithms inspired by Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, which have been the workhorse of digital logic design for decades. 

The graphical language and interface we introduce are integrated with Classiq’s quantum circuit synthesis engine [1,2], thus fully automating the design process. Using this tool, we demonstrate the synthesis of a Shor’s algorithm circuit involving 22 qubits and composed of more than 10^4 individual gate operations. 

While built on modern web technologies, the tool draws inspiration from and extends traditional methods. The laws of quantum mechanics prohibit some classical EDA techniques. For example, the no-cloning theorem prohibits an element from being connected to multiple output elements (an operation known as fan-out in digital logic design). The system respects these limitations and, in addition, supports idiosyncratic patterns that appear specifically in quantum circuits. This system is extensible and is planned to support hybrid modes of execution in future releases.   

[1] US-11294797-B1  Debugger for quantum computers Naveh; Amir et al.2022-04-05288

[2] US-11288589-B1  Quantum circuit modeling Naveh; Yehuda et al.2022-03-2914