Impact of qubit connectivity on quantum algorithm performance

Quantum computing hardware is undergoing rapid development from proof-of-principle devices to scalable machines that could eventually challenge classical supercomputers on specific tasks. On platforms with local connectivity, the transition from one- to two-dimensional arrays of qubits is seen as a natural technological step to increase the density of computing power and to reduce the routing cost of limited connectivity. Here we map and schedule representative algorithmic workloads—the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) relevant to factoring, the Grover diffusion operator relevant to quantum search, and Jordan–Wigner parity rotations relevant to simulations of quantum chemistry and materials science—to qubit arrays with varying connectivity. In particular we investigate the impact of restricting the ideal all-to-all connectivity to a square grid, a ladder and a linear array of qubits. Our schedule for the QFT on a ladder results in running time close to that of a system with all-to-all connectivity. Our results suggest that some common quantum algorithm primitives can be optimized to have execution times on systems with limited connectivities, such as a ladder and linear array, that are competitive with systems that have all-to-all connectivity.