Reversible Lifetime Semantics for Quantum Programs
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866914395559297024 |
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| author | Faro, Simone Marino, Francesco Pio Messina, Gabriele |
| author_facet | Faro, Simone Marino, Francesco Pio Messina, Gabriele |
| contents | Reversible computation requires that intermediate data be explicitly undone rather than discarded. In quantum programming, this principle appears as uncomputation, usually treated as a technical cleanup mechanism. We instead present uncomputation as a semantic foundation. In the Qutes language, we introduce a formal model of \emph{Scope-Bounded Liveness-Guided Uncomputation}, where lexical scope bounds variable lifetime and static liveness and entanglement analysis determine the earliest safe reclamation point. We define semantic lifetime and a Restoration Invariant ensuring that temporary quantum information disappears once it becomes semantically irrelevant. We prove compositional correctness under nested scopes and show that early reclamation can reduce circuit depth by avoiding critical-path overhead and can bound peak live qubits through disciplined ancilla reuse. Finally, we show that parameter passing semantics emerges from the same lifetime discipline, with pass-by-value and pass-by-reference corresponding to different lifetime boundaries, and we characterize the constraints (irreversibility, persistent entanglement, and aliasing) under which automatic uncomputation must be restricted. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_14538 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Reversible Lifetime Semantics for Quantum Programs Faro, Simone Marino, Francesco Pio Messina, Gabriele Quantum Physics Programming Languages Reversible computation requires that intermediate data be explicitly undone rather than discarded. In quantum programming, this principle appears as uncomputation, usually treated as a technical cleanup mechanism. We instead present uncomputation as a semantic foundation. In the Qutes language, we introduce a formal model of \emph{Scope-Bounded Liveness-Guided Uncomputation}, where lexical scope bounds variable lifetime and static liveness and entanglement analysis determine the earliest safe reclamation point. We define semantic lifetime and a Restoration Invariant ensuring that temporary quantum information disappears once it becomes semantically irrelevant. We prove compositional correctness under nested scopes and show that early reclamation can reduce circuit depth by avoiding critical-path overhead and can bound peak live qubits through disciplined ancilla reuse. Finally, we show that parameter passing semantics emerges from the same lifetime discipline, with pass-by-value and pass-by-reference corresponding to different lifetime boundaries, and we characterize the constraints (irreversibility, persistent entanglement, and aliasing) under which automatic uncomputation must be restricted. |
| title | Reversible Lifetime Semantics for Quantum Programs |
| topic | Quantum Physics Programming Languages |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.14538 |