Qadence: a differentiable interface for digital-analog programs
This work addresses a software gap for researchers and developers in quantum computing, particularly those working with digital-analog paradigms, though it is incremental as it builds on existing concepts without introducing a new computational method.
The authors tackled the lack of open-source software for digital-analog quantum computing by developing Qadence, a high-level programming interface that enables building, differentiating, and executing complex digital-analog quantum programs, specifically targeting variational quantum algorithms for platforms like Rydberg atom arrays.
Digital-analog quantum computing (DAQC) is an alternative paradigm for universal quantum computation combining digital single-qubit gates with global analog operations acting on a register of interacting qubits. Currently, no available open-source software is tailored to express, differentiate, and execute programs within the DAQC paradigm. In this work, we address this shortfall by presenting Qadence, a high-level programming interface for building complex digital-analog quantum programs developed at Pasqal. Thanks to its flexible interface, native differentiability, and focus on real-device execution, Qadence aims at advancing research on variational quantum algorithms built for native DAQC platforms such as Rydberg atom arrays.