We propose an IR for quantum computing that directly exposes quantum and classical data dependencies for the purpose of optimization. The Quantum Intermediate Representation for Optimization (QIRO) consists of two dialects, one input dialect and one that is specifically tailored to enable quantum-classical co-optimization. While the first employs a perhaps more intuitive memory-semantics (quantum operations act on qubits via side-effects), the latter uses value-semantics (operations consume and produce states) to integrate quantum dataflow in the IR’s Static Single Assignment (SSA) graph. Crucially, this allows for a host of optimizations that leverage dataflow analysis. We discuss how to map existing quantum programming languages to the input dialect and how to lower the resulting IR to the optimization dialect. We present a prototype implementation based on MLIR that includes several quantum-specific optimization passes. Our benchmarks show that significant improvements in resource requirements are possible even through static optimization. In contrast to circuit optimization at run time, this is achieved while incurring only a small constant overhead in compilation time, making this a compelling approach for quantum program optimization at application scale.

An important branch in quantum computing involves accurate resource estimation to assess the cost of running a quantum algorithm on future quantum hardware. A comprehensive and self-contained workflow with the quantum program in its center allows programmers to build comprehensible and reproducible resource estimation projects. We show how to systematically create such workflows using the quantum programming language Q#. Our approach uses simulators for verification, debugging, and resource estimation, as well as rewrite steps for optimization.

We present an algorithm, along with its implementation that finds T-optimal approximations of single-qubit Z-rotations using quantum circuits consisting of Clifford and T gates. Our algorithm is capable of handling errors in approximation down to size 10-15, resulting in the optimal single-qubit circuit designs required for implementation of scalable quantum algorithms. Our implementation along with the experimental results are available in the public domain.