Design Automation for Quantum Computing

Context and Motivation

Currently, we are at the dawn of a new computing age in which quantum computers find their way into practical applications. However, despite the impressive accomplishments in the physical realization of quantum computers, the development of software tools and automated methods that provide assistance in the design and realization of applications for those devices is still at the beginning - leaving a situation where we might have powerful quantum computers but hardly any proper means to actually use them. This project aims at developing methods that will help in avoiding such a situation. The focus is on the development of efficient methods and software for tasks such as simulation, compilation, verification, etc.

Goals and Expected Results

In this project, the challenges of realizing quantum computing applications are considered from different angles (application-wise, conceptual, methodical, implementation-wise, theoretical, etc.). More precisely, the following aspects are investigated:

Quantum computing in general

• Quantum algorithms and corresponding quantum applications
• Quantum programming languages
• Simulation of quantum algorithms/quantum circuits
• Compilers for quantum computing (scheduling, mapping, transpilation, etc.)
• Verification of quantum computing (logic verification, quantum verification, physical verification, etc.)
• Error correction for quantum circuits
• Models and data-structures for quantum computing
• Quantum tools (IBM Qiskit, Atos QLM, Google Circ, Microsoft QDK, Rigetti Forest, etc.)

Design automation and/or software development

• Design automation and/or software development in general
• Efficient algorithms and data structures
• Reasoning engines (SAT/SMT solvers, ILP, etc.)
• Decision diagrams
• Compilation, synthesis, optimization
• Verification and test
• High performance computing
• Parallelization

Project Partner

• Johannes Kepler University Linz
• Technical University Munich
• Software Competence Center Hagenberg

Funding Body

This project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 101001318).

Project Duration

60 months (1 July 2021 - 30 June 2026)