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Quantum circuit for a direct sum of two-dimensional unitary operators

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

Published Oct 9, 2004• 5 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this article we study n-qubit quantum gates which may be represented as direct sums of two-dimensional unitary operators. We call this class of gates uniformly controlled one-qubit gates. We present a quantum circuit which implements any gate of this type using 2^{n-1} - 1 controlled-NOT gates, 2^{n-1} one-qubit gates and a single n-qubit diagonal gate. The construction is based on a modified version of the so-called quantum multiplexor circuit. We illustrate the versatility of the uniformly controlled gates by applying them to the decomposition of a general n-qubit gate and an n-qubit state-preparation procedure. Moreover, we study the implementation of these circuits using only nearest-neighbor gates and give the worst-case one-qubit and CNOT gate counts for all of the aforementioned applications. In all four cases, the proposed method either improves or achieves the previously reported upper bounds for the gate counts.

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Uniformly controlled one-qubit gates are quantum gates which can be represented as direct sums of two-dimensional unitary operators acting on a single qubit. We present a quantum gate array which implements any $n$-qubit gate of this type using at most ${2}^{n\ensuremath{-}1}\ensuremath{-}1$ controlled-NOT gates, ${2}^{n\ensuremath{-}1}$ one-qubit gates, and a single diagonal $n$-qubit gate. To illustrate the versatility of these gates we then apply them to the decomposition of a general $n$-qubit gate and a state preparation procedure. Moreover, we study their implementation using only nearest-neighbor gates. We give upper bounds for the one-qubit and controlled-NOT gate counts for all the aforementioned applications. In all four cases, the proposed circuit topologies either improve on or achieve the previously reported upper bounds for the gate counts. Thus, they provide the most efficient method for general gate decompositions currently known.

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Efficient High-Dimensional Quantum Circuit Synthesis: From Multi-Controlled Gates to Isometries and Quantum Channels

Gui-Long Jiang

Circuit synthesis of multi-controlled gates is crucial for qudit ($d$-level) quantum computing. This paper presents efficient synthesis schemes that reduce the elementary gate count for multi-controlled single-qudit gates. For synthesizing general $(n-1)$-controlled unitaries on $n$ qudits, we reduce the controlled-increment (CINC) and generalized controlled-$X$ (GCX) gate counts to $O(n^2)$, improving upon existing $O(n^{2+\log_2 d})$ CINC and $O(n^3)$ GCX bounds. For $(n-1)$-controlled special unitaries, this complexity is further reduced to $O(n)$. Furthermore, we present a method for approximately synthesizing multi-controlled unitary gates with a linear complexity in the number of control qudits. By utilizing the proposed circuit, we present qudit-based circuit constructions for isometries and quantum channels from $n$ to $m$ qudits. Moreover, for the first time, we present a circuit synthesis scheme for single-controlled gates using SUM gates and single-qudit gates when $d$ is prime. This enables all CINC-based circuits for various quantum operations to be converted into SUM-gate circuits while preserving the same asymptotic complexity. Finally, we establish a theoretical lower bound on the number of SUM and CINC gates required to synthesize general $n$-qudit unitaries.

quant-pharXiv:2607.08200•Jul 10, 2026•0 citations
In this article we study n-qubit quantum gates which may be represented as direct sums of two-dimensional unitary operators. We call this class of gates uniformly controlled one-qubit gates. We present a quantum circuit which implements any gate of this type using 2^{n-1} - 1 controlled-NOT gates, 2^{n-1} one-qubit gates and a single n-qubit diagonal gate. The construction is based on a modified version of the so-called quantum multiplexor circuit. We illustrate the versatility of the uniformly controlled gates by applying them to the decomposition of a general n-qubit gate and an n-qubit state-preparation procedure. Moreover, we study the implementation of these circuits using only nearest-neighbor gates and give the worst-case one-qubit and CNOT gate counts for all of the aforementioned applications. In all four cases, the proposed method either improves or achieves the previously reported upper bounds for the gate counts.
Uniformly controlled one-qubit gates are quantum gates which can be represented as direct sums of two-dimensional unitary operators acting on a single qubit. We present a quantum gate array which implements any nnn-qubit gate of this type using at most ${2}^{n\ensuremath{-}1}\ensuremath{-}1$ controlled-NOT gates, ${2}^{n\ensuremath{-}1}$ one-qubit gates, and a single diagonal nnn-qubit gate. To illustrate the versatility of these gates we then apply them to the decomposition of a general nnn-qubit gate and a state preparation procedure. Moreover, we study their implementation using only nearest-neighbor gates. We give upper bounds for the one-qubit and controlled-NOT gate counts for all the aforementioned applications. In all four cases, the proposed circuit topologies either improve on or achieve the previously reported upper bounds for the gate counts. Thus, they provide the most efficient method for general gate decompositions currently known.
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.
We address the problem of constructing quantum circuits to implement an arbitrary two-qubit quantum computation. We pursue circuits without ancilla qubits and as small a number of elementary quantum gates as possible. Our lower bound for worst-case optimal two-qubit circuits calls for at least 171717 gates: 151515 one-qubit rotations and 222 controlled-NOT (CNOT) gates. We also constructively prove a worst-case upper bound of 232323 elementary gates, of which at most four (CNOT gates) entail multiqubit interactions. Our analysis shows that synthesis algorithms suggested in previous work, although more general, entail larger quantum circuits than ours in the special case of two qubits. One such algorithm has a worst case of 616161 gates, of which 181818 may be CNOT gates.
We provide an analytic way to implement any arbitrary two-qubit unitary operation, given an entangling two-qubit gate together with local gates. This is shown to provide explicit construction of a universal quantum circuit that exactly simulates arbitrary two-qubit operations in SU(4). Each block in this circuit is given in a closed form solution. We also provide a uniform upper bound of the applications of the given entangling gates, and find that exactly half of all the controlled-unitary gates satisfy the same upper bound as the CNOT gate. These results allow for the efficient implementation of operations in SU(4) required for both quantum computation and quantum simulation.
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.
Circuit synthesis of multi-controlled gates is crucial for qudit (ddd-level) quantum computing. This paper presents efficient synthesis schemes that reduce the elementary gate count for multi-controlled single-qudit gates. For synthesizing general (n−1)(n-1)(n−1)-controlled unitaries on nnn qudits, we reduce the controlled-increment (CINC) and generalized controlled-XXX (GCX) gate counts to O(n2)O(n^2)O(n2), improving upon existing O(n2+log⁡2d)O(n^{2+\log_2 d})O(n2+log2​d) CINC and O(n3)O(n^3)O(n3) GCX bounds. For (n−1)(n-1)(n−1)-controlled special unitaries, this complexity is further reduced to O(n)O(n)O(n). Furthermore, we present a method for approximately synthesizing multi-controlled unitary gates with a linear complexity in the number of control qudits. By utilizing the proposed circuit, we present qudit-based circuit constructions for isometries and quantum channels from nnn to mmm qudits. Moreover, for the first time, we present a circuit synthesis scheme for single-controlled gates using SUM gates and single-qudit gates when ddd is prime. This enables all CINC-based circuits for various quantum operations to be converted into SUM-gate circuits while preserving the same asymptotic complexity. Finally, we establish a theoretical lower bound on the number of SUM and CINC gates required to synthesize general nnn-qudit unitaries.