Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1311.3599 · International Journal of Quantum Information

Decomposition of quantum gates

Chi-Kwong Li, Diane Christine Pelejo

Published Feb 1, 2014• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A recurrence scheme is presented to decompose an n-qubit unitary gate to the product of no more than N(N - 1)/2 single qubit gates with small number of controls, where N = 2n. Detailed description of the recurrence steps and formulas for the number of k-controlled single qubit gates in the decomposition are given. Comparison of the result to a previous scheme is presented, and future research directions are discussed.

DOI
10.1142/s0219749914500026

Related papers

DECOMPOSITION OF UNITARY MATRICES AND QUANTUM GATES

Chi-Kwong Li, Rebecca Roberts, Xiaoyan Yin

A general scheme is presented to decompose a d-by-d unitary matrix as the product of two-level unitary matrices with additional structure and prescribed determinants. In particular, the decomposition can be done by using two-level matrices in d - 1 classes, where each class is isomorphic to the group of 2 × 2 unitary matrices. The proposed scheme is easy to apply, and useful in treating problems with the additional structural restrictions. A Matlab program is written to implement the scheme, and the result is used to deduce the fact that every quantum gate acting on n-qubit registers can be expressed as no more than 2n-1(2n-1) fully controlled single-qubit gates chosen from 2n-1 classes, where the quantum gates in each class share the same n - 1 control qubits. Moreover, it is shown that one can easily adjust the proposed decomposition scheme to take advantage of additional structure evolving in the process.

arXiv:1210.7366•International Journal of Quantum Information•Feb 1, 2013•52 citations

Quantum-state preparation with universal gate decompositions

Martin Plesch, Časlav Brukner

In quantum computation every unitary operation can be decomposed into quantum circuits---a series of single-qubit rotations and a single type entangling two-qubit gates, such as controlled-not(cnot) gates. Two measures are important when judging the complexity of the circuit: the total number of cnot gates needed to implement it and the depth of the circuit, measured by the minimal number of computation steps needed to perform it. Here we give an explicit and simple quantum circuit scheme for preparation of arbitrary quantum states, which can directly utilize any decomposition scheme for arbitrary full quantum gates, thus connecting the two problems. Our circuit reduces the depth of the best currently known circuit by a factor of $2$. It also reduces the total number of cnot gates from ${2}^{n}$ to $\frac{23}{24}{2}^{n}$ in the leading order for even number of qubits. Specifically, the scheme allows us to decrease the upper bound from $11$ cnot gates to $9$ and the depth from $11$ to $5$ steps for four qubits. Our results are expected to help in designing and building small-scale quantum circuits using present technologies.

arXiv:1003.5760•Physical Review A•Mar 3, 2011•335 citations

Decomposition of Multi-controlled Special Unitary Single-Qubit Gates

Rafaella F. Vale, Thiago Melo D. Azevedo, Ismael C. S. Araújo +2 more

Multi-controlled unitary gates have been a subject of interest in quantum computing since its inception, and are widely used in quantum algorithms. The current state-of-the-art approach to implementing n-qubit multi-controlled gates involves the use of a quadratic number of single-qubit and CNOT gates. However, linear solutions are possible for the case where the controlled gate is a special unitary SU(2). The most widely-used decomposition of an n-qubit multi-controlled SU(2) gate requires a circuit with a number of CNOT gates proportional to 28n. In this work, we present a new decomposition of n-qubit multi-controlled SU(2) gates that requires a circuit with a number of CNOT gates proportional to 20n, and proportional to 16n if the SU(2) gate has at least one real-valued diagonal. This new approach significantly improves the existing algorithm by reducing the number of CNOT gates and the overall circuit depth. As an application, we show the use of this decomposition for sparse quantum state preparation. Our results are further validated by demonstrating a proof of principle on a quantum device accessed through quantum cloud services.

arXiv:2302.06377•Feb 13, 2023•4 citations

Beyond quantum Shannon decomposition: Circuit construction for n -qubit gates based on block- Z X Z decomposition

Anna M. Krol, Zaid Al-Ars

This paper proposes an optimized quantum block-$ZXZ$ decomposition method that results in more optimal quantum circuits than the quantum Shannon decomposition, which was presented in 2005 by M. M\"ott\"onen, and J. J. Vartiainen [in Trends in quantum computing research, edited by S. Shannon (Nova Science Publishers, 2006) Chap. 7, p. 149, arXiv:quant-ph/0504100]. The decomposition is applied recursively to generic quantum gates, and can take advantage of existing and future small-circuit optimizations. Because our method uses only single-qubit gates and uniformly controlled rotation-Z gates, it can easily be adapted to use other types of multi-qubit gates. With the proposed decomposition, a general three-qubit gate can be decomposed using 19 cnot gates (rather than 20). For general $n$-qubit gates, the proposed decomposition generates circuits that have $\frac{22}{48}{4}^{n}\ensuremath{-}\frac{3}{2}{2}^{n}+\frac{5}{3}$ cnot gates, which is less than the best-known exact decomposition algorithm by $({4}^{n\ensuremath{-}2}\ensuremath{-}1)/3$ cnot gates.

Physical Review Applied•Sep 9, 2024•4 citations

Efficient Decomposition of Quantum Gates

Juha J. Vartiainen, Mikko Möttönen, Martti M. Salomaa

Optimal implementation of quantum gates is crucial for designing a quantum computer. We consider the matrix representation of an arbitrary multiqubit gate. By ordering the basis vectors using the Gray code, we construct the quantum circuit which is optimal in the sense of fully controlled single-qubit gates and yet is equivalent with the multiqubit gate. In the second step of the optimization, superfluous control bits are eliminated, which eventually results in a smaller total number of the elementary gates. In our scheme the number of controlled NOT gates is O(4(n)) which coincides with the theoretical lower bound.

arXiv:quant-ph/0312218•Physical Review Letters•Apr 29, 2004•241 citations

Quantum circuits for isometries

Raban Iten, Roger Colbeck, Ivan Kukuljan +2 more

We consider the decomposition of arbitrary isometries into a sequence of single-qubit and controlled-not (cnot) gates. In many experimental architectures, the cnot gate is relatively costly and hence we aim to keep the number of these as low as possible. We derive a theoretical lower bound on the number of cnot gates required to decompose an arbitrary isometry from $m$ to $n$ qubits and give three explicit gate decompositions that achieve this bound up to a factor of about 2 in the leading order. We also perform some further optimizations for certain cases where $m$ and $n$ are small. In addition, we show how to apply our result for isometries to give a decomposition scheme for an arbitrary quantum operation via Stinespring's theorem and derive a lower bound on the number of cnot gates in this case too. These results will have an impact on experimental efforts to build a quantum computer, enabling them to go further with the same resources.

arXiv:1501.06911•Physical Review A•Mar 11, 2016•218 citations
A recurrence scheme is presented to decompose an n-qubit unitary gate to the product of no more than N(N - 1)/2 single qubit gates with small number of controls, where N = 2n. Detailed description of the recurrence steps and formulas for the number of k-controlled single qubit gates in the decomposition are given. Comparison of the result to a previous scheme is presented, and future research directions are discussed.
A general scheme is presented to decompose a d-by-d unitary matrix as the product of two-level unitary matrices with additional structure and prescribed determinants. In particular, the decomposition can be done by using two-level matrices in d - 1 classes, where each class is isomorphic to the group of 2 × 2 unitary matrices. The proposed scheme is easy to apply, and useful in treating problems with the additional structural restrictions. A Matlab program is written to implement the scheme, and the result is used to deduce the fact that every quantum gate acting on n-qubit registers can be expressed as no more than 2n-1(2n-1) fully controlled single-qubit gates chosen from 2n-1 classes, where the quantum gates in each class share the same n - 1 control qubits. Moreover, it is shown that one can easily adjust the proposed decomposition scheme to take advantage of additional structure evolving in the process.
In quantum computation every unitary operation can be decomposed into quantum circuits---a series of single-qubit rotations and a single type entangling two-qubit gates, such as controlled-not(cnot) gates. Two measures are important when judging the complexity of the circuit: the total number of cnot gates needed to implement it and the depth of the circuit, measured by the minimal number of computation steps needed to perform it. Here we give an explicit and simple quantum circuit scheme for preparation of arbitrary quantum states, which can directly utilize any decomposition scheme for arbitrary full quantum gates, thus connecting the two problems. Our circuit reduces the depth of the best currently known circuit by a factor of 222. It also reduces the total number of cnot gates from 2n{2}^{n}2n to 23242n\frac{23}{24}{2}^{n}2423​2n in the leading order for even number of qubits. Specifically, the scheme allows us to decrease the upper bound from 111111 cnot gates to 999 and the depth from 111111 to 555 steps for four qubits. Our results are expected to help in designing and building small-scale quantum circuits using present technologies.
Multi-controlled unitary gates have been a subject of interest in quantum computing since its inception, and are widely used in quantum algorithms. The current state-of-the-art approach to implementing n-qubit multi-controlled gates involves the use of a quadratic number of single-qubit and CNOT gates. However, linear solutions are possible for the case where the controlled gate is a special unitary SU(2). The most widely-used decomposition of an n-qubit multi-controlled SU(2) gate requires a circuit with a number of CNOT gates proportional to 28n. In this work, we present a new decomposition of n-qubit multi-controlled SU(2) gates that requires a circuit with a number of CNOT gates proportional to 20n, and proportional to 16n if the SU(2) gate has at least one real-valued diagonal. This new approach significantly improves the existing algorithm by reducing the number of CNOT gates and the overall circuit depth. As an application, we show the use of this decomposition for sparse quantum state preparation. Our results are further validated by demonstrating a proof of principle on a quantum device accessed through quantum cloud services.
This paper proposes an optimized quantum block-ZXZZXZZXZ decomposition method that results in more optimal quantum circuits than the quantum Shannon decomposition, which was presented in 2005 by M. M\"ott\"onen, and J. J. Vartiainen [in Trends in quantum computing research, edited by S. Shannon (Nova Science Publishers, 2006) Chap. 7, p. 149, arXiv:quant-ph/0504100]. The decomposition is applied recursively to generic quantum gates, and can take advantage of existing and future small-circuit optimizations. Because our method uses only single-qubit gates and uniformly controlled rotation-Z gates, it can easily be adapted to use other types of multi-qubit gates. With the proposed decomposition, a general three-qubit gate can be decomposed using 19 cnot gates (rather than 20). For general nnn-qubit gates, the proposed decomposition generates circuits that have $\frac{22}{48}{4}^{n}\ensuremath{-}\frac{3}{2}{2}^{n}+\frac{5}{3}$ cnot gates, which is less than the best-known exact decomposition algorithm by $({4}^{n\ensuremath{-}2}\ensuremath{-}1)/3$ cnot gates.
Optimal implementation of quantum gates is crucial for designing a quantum computer. We consider the matrix representation of an arbitrary multiqubit gate. By ordering the basis vectors using the Gray code, we construct the quantum circuit which is optimal in the sense of fully controlled single-qubit gates and yet is equivalent with the multiqubit gate. In the second step of the optimization, superfluous control bits are eliminated, which eventually results in a smaller total number of the elementary gates. In our scheme the number of controlled NOT gates is O(4(n)) which coincides with the theoretical lower bound.
We consider the decomposition of arbitrary isometries into a sequence of single-qubit and controlled-not (cnot) gates. In many experimental architectures, the cnot gate is relatively costly and hence we aim to keep the number of these as low as possible. We derive a theoretical lower bound on the number of cnot gates required to decompose an arbitrary isometry from mmm to nnn qubits and give three explicit gate decompositions that achieve this bound up to a factor of about 2 in the leading order. We also perform some further optimizations for certain cases where mmm and nnn are small. In addition, we show how to apply our result for isometries to give a decomposition scheme for an arbitrary quantum operation via Stinespring's theorem and derive a lower bound on the number of cnot gates in this case too. These results will have an impact on experimental efforts to build a quantum computer, enabling them to go further with the same resources.