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arXiv:1904.04371

A HoTT Quantum Equational Theory (Extended Version)

Jennifer Paykin, Steve Zdancewic

Published Apr 8, 2019• 1 citation
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Abstract

This paper presents an equational theory for the QRAM model of quantum computation, formulated as an embedded language inside of homotopy type theory. The embedded language approach is highly expressive, and reflects the style of state-of-the art quantum languages like Quipper and QWIRE. The embedding takes advantage of features of homotopy type theory to encode unitary transformations as higher inductive paths, simplifying the presentation of an equational theory. We prove that this equational theory is sound and complete with respect to established models of quantum computation.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1904.04371

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This paper presents an equational theory for the QRAM model of quantum computation, formulated as an embedded language inside of homotopy type theory. The embedded language approach is highly expressive, and reflects the style of state-of-the art quantum languages like Quipper and QWIRE. The embedding takes advantage of features of homotopy type theory to encode unitary transformations as higher inductive paths, simplifying the presentation of an equational theory. We prove that this equational theory is sound and complete with respect to established models of quantum computation.
This paper introduces QWIRE (``choir''), a language for defining quantum circuits and an interface for manipulating them inside of an arbitrary classical host language. QWIRE is minimal---it contains only a few primitives---and sound with respect to the physical properties entailed by quantum mechanics. At the same time, QWIRE is expressive and highly modular due to its relationship with the host language, mirroring the QRAM model of computation that places a quantum computer (controlled by circuits) alongside a classical computer (controlled by the host language). We present QWIRE along with its type system and operational semantics, which we prove is safe and strongly normalizing whenever the host language is. We give circuits a denotational semantics in terms of density matrices. Throughout, we investigate examples that demonstrate the expressive power of QWIRE, including extensions to the host language that (1) expose a general analysis framework for circuits, and (2) provide dependent types.
Quantum computing offers advantages over classical computation, yet the precise features that set the two apart remain unclear. In the standard quantum circuit model, adding a 1-qubit basis-changing gate—commonly chosen to be the Hadamard gate—to a universal set of classical reversible gates yields computationally universal quantum computation. However, the computational behaviours enabled by this addition are not fully characterised. We give such a characterisation by introducing a small quantum programming language extending the universal classical reversible programming language Π with a single primitive corresponding to the Hadamard gate. The language comes equipped with a sound and complete categorical semantics that is specified by a purely equational theory. Completeness is shown by means of a novel finite presentation, and a corresponding synthesis algorithm, for the groups of orthogonal matrices with entries in the ring z [ 1 2 ] .
High-dimensional quantum computation needs a native circuit-level equational theory for qudits. We give the first finite schematic equational theory that is sound and complete for exact unitary qudit circuits in every finite dimension at least two. Circuits are built from local gates, sequential and parallel composition, and value-controls; equality is derivable exactly when the standard unitary denotations agree. For each dimension, a finite list of local bounded-arity axiom schemata presents the theory, and the diagrammatic shapes do not depend on d. Primitive value-control makes control on a chosen basis value part of the language, so local rules generate the internal algebra of controlled operations within the circuit PROP. This gives a finite, dimension-uniform basis for exact equational reasoning about qudit circuits.
This paper introduces QWIRE (``choir''), a language for defining quantum circuits and an interface for manipulating them inside of an arbitrary classical host language. QWIRE is minimal---it contains only a few primitives---and sound with respect to the physical properties entailed by quantum mechanics. At the same time, QWIRE is expressive and highly modular due to its relationship with the host language, mirroring the QRAM model of computation that places a quantum computer (controlled by circuits) alongside a classical computer (controlled by the host language).
We introduce the first complete equational theory for quantum circuits. More precisely, we introduce a set of circuit equations that we prove to be sound and complete: two circuits represent the same unitary map if and only if they can be transformed one into the other using the equations. The proof is based on the properties of multi-controlled gates – that are defined using elementary gates – together with an encoding of quantum circuits into linear optical circuits, which have been proved to have a complete axiomatisation.
Models of quantum computation and quantum programming languages The goal of the presented paper is to provide an introduction to the basic computational models used in quantum information theory. We review various models of quantum Turing machine, quantum circuits and quantum random access machine (QRAM) along with their classical counterparts. We also provide an introduction to quantum programming languages, which are developed using the QRAM model. We review the syntax of several existing quantum programming languages and discuss their features and limitations.