Network coding for distributed quantum computation over cluster and butterfly networks

Abstract

To apply network coding for quantum computation, we study the distributed implementation of unitary operations over all separated input and output nodes of quantum networks. We consider a setting of networks where quantum communication between nodes is restricted to sending just a qubit, but classical communication is unrestricted. We analyze which N-qubit unitary operations are implementable over cluster networks by investigating transformations of a given cluster network into quantum circuits. We show that any two-qubit unitary operation is implementable over the butterfly network and the grail network, which are fundamental primitive networks for classical network coding. We also analyze probabilistic implementations of unitary operations over cluster networks.