English

The Focked-up ZX Calculus: Picturing Continuous-Variable Quantum Computation

Quantum Physics 2024-06-06 v1

Abstract

While the ZX and ZW calculi have been effective as graphical reasoning tools for finite-dimensional quantum computation, the possibilities for continuous-variable quantum computation (CVQC) in infinite-dimensional Hilbert space are only beginning to be explored. In this work, we formulate a graphical language for CVQC. Each diagram is an undirected graph made of two types of spiders: the Z spider from the ZX calculus defined on the reals, and the newly introduced Fock spider defined on the natural numbers. The Z and X spiders represent functions in position and momentum space respectively, while the Fock spider represents functions in the discrete Fock basis. In addition to the Fourier transform between Z and X, and the Hermite transform between Z and Fock, we present exciting new graphical rules capturing heftier CVQC interactions. We ensure this calculus is complete for all of Gaussian CVQC interpreted in infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, by translating the completeness in affine Lagrangian relations by Booth, Carette, and Comfort. Applying our calculus for quantum error correction, we derive graphical representations of the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) code encoder, syndrome measurement, and magic state distillation of Hadamard eigenstates. Finally, we elucidate Gaussian boson sampling by providing a fully graphical proof that its circuit samples submatrix hafnians.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2406.02905,
  title  = {The Focked-up ZX Calculus: Picturing Continuous-Variable Quantum Computation},
  author = {Razin A. Shaikh and Lia Yeh and Stefano Gogioso},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.02905},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

52 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T16:53:54.907Z