Boolean satisfiability in quantum compilation

Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2020 Feb 7;378(2164):20190161. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2019.0161. Epub 2019 Dec 23.

Abstract

Quantum compilation is the task of translating a quantum algorithm implemented in a high-level quantum programming language into a technology-dependent instructions flow for a physical quantum computer. To tackle the large gap between the quantum program and the low-level instructions, quantum compilation is split into a multi-stage flow consisting of several layers of abstraction. Several different individual tasks have been proposed for the layers in the flow, many of them are NP-hard. In this article, we will describe the flow and we will propose algorithms based on Boolean satisfiability, which is a good match to tackle such computationally complex problems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Harmonizing energy-autonomous computing and intelligence'.

Keywords: Boolean satisfiability; logic synthesis; quantum compilation; quantum computing; quantum programming languages.