Higher-order quantum theory is an extension of quantum theory where one introduces transformations whose input and output are transformations, thus generalizing the notion of channels and quantum operations. The generalization then goes recursively, with the construction of a full hierarchy of maps of increasingly higher order. The analysis of special cases already showed that higher-order quantum functions exhibit features that cannot be tracked down to the usual circuits, such as indefinite causal structures, providing provable advantages over circuital maps. The present treatment provides a general framework where this kind of analysis can be carried out in full generality. The hierarchy of higher-order quantum maps is introduced axiomatically with a formulation based on the language of types of transformations. Complete positivity of higher-order maps is derived from the general admissibility conditions instead of being postulated as in previous approaches. The recursive characterization of convex sets of maps of a given type is used to prove equivalence relations between different types. The axioms of the framework do not refer to the specific mathematical structure of quantum theory, and can therefore be exported in the context of any operational probabilistic theory.
Keywords: causal structures; quantum computation; quantum information.