Computational Capabilities and Compiler Development for Neutral Atom Quantum Processors: Connecting Tool Developers and Hardware Experts

TL;DR

This paper explores the unique capabilities of Neutral Atom Quantum Computing hardware and discusses how to develop software tools that effectively translate algorithms into hardware-executable instructions, emphasizing collaboration between developers and hardware experts.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of NAQC's physical capabilities and their implications on quantum compilation, bridging the gap between hardware features and software development.

Findings

NAQC offers long-range connectivity and native multi-qubit gates.

Compilation constraints are derived from physical properties of NAQC.

Case studies compare capabilities across different hardware setups.

Abstract

Neutral Atom Quantum Computing (NAQC) emerges as a promising hardware platform primarily due to its long coherence times and scalability. Additionally, NAQC offers computational advantages encompassing potential long-range connectivity, native multi-qubit gate support, and the ability to physically rearrange qubits with high fidelity. However, for the successful operation of a NAQC processor, one additionally requires new software tools to translate high-level algorithmic descriptions into a hardware executable representation, taking maximal advantage of the hardware capabilities. Realizing new software tools requires a close connection between tool developers and hardware experts to ensure that the corresponding software tools obey the corresponding physical constraints. This work aims to provide a basis to establish this connection by investigating the broad spectrum of capabilities intrinsic to the NAQC platform and its implications on the compilation process. To this end, we first review the physical background of NAQC and derive how it affects the overall compilation process by formulating suitable constraints and figures of merit. We then provide a summary of the compilation process and discuss currently available software tools in this overview. Finally, we present selected case studies and employ the discussed figures of merit to evaluate the different capabilities of NAQC and compare them between two hardware setups.