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Quantum Programming Languages (Dagstuhl Seminar 18381)

Authors: Michele Mosca, Martin Roetteler, and Peter Selinger

Published in: Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 8, Issue 9 (2019)

Abstract

This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 18381 "Quantum Programming Languages", which brought together researchers from quantum computing and classical programming languages.

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Michele Mosca, Martin Roetteler, and Peter Selinger. Quantum Programming Languages (Dagstuhl Seminar 18381). In Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 8, Issue 9, pp. 112-132, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@Article{mosca_et_al:DagRep.8.9.112,
  author =	{Mosca, Michele and Roetteler, Martin and Selinger, Peter},
  title =	{{Quantum Programming Languages (Dagstuhl Seminar 18381)}},
  pages =	{112--132},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Reports},
  ISSN =	{2192-5283},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{8},
  number =	{9},
  editor =	{Mosca, Michele and Roetteler, Martin and Selinger, Peter},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DagRep.8.9.112},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-103291},
  doi =		{10.4230/DagRep.8.9.112},
  annote =	{Keywords: compilers, functional programming, quantum computing, reversible computing, verification}
}

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Invited Talk

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2018.3

Challenges in Quantum Programming Languages (Invited Talk)

Authors: Peter Selinger

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 108, 3rd International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2018)

Abstract

In this talk, I will give an overview of some recent progress and current challenges in the design of quantum programming languages. Unlike classical programs, which can in principle be debugged by stopping the program at critical moments and examining the contents of variables, quantum programs are not amenable to traditional debugging because the state of a quantum system cannot usually be examined in a meaningful way. Therefore, we need other methods for ensuring the correctness of quantum programs, such as formal verification. For this reason, I advocate the use of strongly typed, functional programming languages for quantum computing. As far as functional quantum programming languages are concerned, there is currently a relatively wide gap between theory and practice. On the one hand, we have languages with strong theoretical foundations, such as the quantum lambda calculus, which operate at a relatively low level of abstraction and lack many features that would be useful to practical quantum programmers. On the other hand, we have practical functional quantum programming languages such as Quipper, which is implemented as an embedded language in Haskell, has many high-level features, and has been used in large-scale projects, but lacks a theoretical basis and a strong type system [Green et al., 2013; Green et al., 2013; Green et al., 2013; Smith et al., 2014]. We have recently attempted to narrow this gap through a family of languages called Proto-Quipper, which are designed to offer Quipper-like features while having sound theoretical foundations [Ross, 2015; Rios and Selinger, 2018]. I will give an overview of Quipper and its most useful features, report on the progress we made with formalizing fragments of Quipper, and outline several of the still remaining challenges.

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Peter Selinger. Challenges in Quantum Programming Languages (Invited Talk). In 3rd International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 108, pp. 3:1-3:2, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)

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@InProceedings{selinger:LIPIcs.FSCD.2018.3,
  author =	{Selinger, Peter},
  title =	{{Challenges in Quantum Programming Languages}},
  booktitle =	{3rd International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2018)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:2},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-077-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{108},
  editor =	{Kirchner, H\'{e}l\`{e}ne},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2018.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-91730},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2018.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum programming languages}
}

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Documents authored by Selinger, Peter

Quantum Programming Languages (Dagstuhl Seminar 18381)

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Challenges in Quantum Programming Languages (Invited Talk)

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