Software for Quantum Computing: How to (Not) Re-invent the Wheel

Quantum computers are one of the most promising new technologies which are currently investigated. With physical realizations already available to a broader audience and several potential applications on the horizon, this raises the question how to efficiently design corresponding quantum computing solutions. As for classical systems, software is key for that. But can we simply re-use established software from the classical realm? Or do we have to start from scratch for quantum computing? This talk aims to provide answers to these questions. We are trying to make the point that we do not have to re-invent the wheel---but that a 1:1 re-use of classical software also won’t do the trick. The corresponding discussions are exemplified by current developments towards the Munich Quantum Software Stack and with software tools from the Munich Quantum Toolkit (https://www.cda.cit.tum.de/research/quantum/).