The Art of Abstraction in Quantum Software

As the scale and capability of quantum hardware improves, there is a growing need for more expressive languages and frameworks that enable developers to write, optimize, and debug quantum programs beyond low-level quantum circuits. Motivated by ongoing collaborative work [1], this talk will showcase the role of abstraction in quantum software development. The characteristics of “good” abstractions will be described, and their importance highlighted by the examples of building an interactive quantum debugger [2], and optimizing quantum programs at multiple levels. Determining the “right” set of abstractions is a challenging open question that requires further research.