SBIR Phase I: Optimizing Quantum Circuit Compiler for Quantum Software and Hardware Developers

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is as follows. Quantum computers as an enabling technology are expected to one day reshape the entire industry landscape, ranging from investment portfolio management and drug discovery to solar energy. In this project the company is proposing to develop an optimizing compiler for quantum computers that will help turn this vision into reality by expanding the quantum computer user base and supporting quantum code contributors for important, real-world applications. The proposed compiler technology will significantly lower the barrier to entry, simplifying the use of quantum computers and maximizing their performance across a range of diverse applications. By optimizing quantum code for specific quantum computing hardware, the compiler will enable faster and more accurate quantum computation. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project, if successful, will deliver a software toolchain to map quantum algorithms into leading-edge NISQ (Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum) computing hardware and upcoming fault-tolerant hardware with full technology awareness and effective optimizations. Specifically, quantum computational latency reductions by one or two orders of magnitude for quantum computers with 10 to 10,000 qubits with physical gate infidelity of 0.01 to 0.000001 are targeted. Techniques for verification, testing, and performance evaluation of quantum circuits, and also for debugging failed tests, will be developed as part of the project. Conclusive success metrics will be applied to several types of benchmarks and mappings onto various quantum computers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.