Workshops Archive

Towards Supporting QIR: Steps for Adopting the Quantum Intermediate Representation

Workshop: The 1st International Workshop for Software Frameworks and Workload Management on Quantum-HPC Ecosystems

Authors: Yannick Stade (Technical University Munich) and Lukas Burgholzer and Robert Wille (Technical University Munich, Munich Quantum Software Company)

Abstract: As quantum computers grow in qubit count and fidelity, translating applications into hardware-specific instructions becomes essential. Intermediate representations (IRs) help optimize this process. One such IR is Microsoft’s Quantum Intermediate Representation (QIR), built on the LLVM compiler framework. This article explores various ways QIR can be integrated into quantum computing workflows. It demonstrates how to convert an existing quantum circuit simulator into a QIR runtime, showing that the transition is straightforward and does not compromise performance. In fact, adopting QIR enables advanced features like classical control flow, which is crucial for testing quantum error correction protocols. The implementation is open-source and available at https://github.com/cda-tum/mqt-core, and the article concludes with future directions for QIR development.

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