A Metamodel‐Based Approach for Describing Quantum Gates
Dae‐Kyoo Kim · Software Practice and Experience · 2025
ABSTRACT Quantum computing presents significant challenges for software engineers transitioning from classical to quantum paradigms. Traditional software engineering focuses on Boolean logic and procedural programming, while quantum computing requires understanding complex quantum mechanical principles such as quantum operations, superposition, and entanglement. This paper presents a metamodel‐based approach for formalizing the core principles of quantum gates, providing an accessible abstraction for software engineers. The metamodel captures two fundamental principles in quantum operations: The Euler decomposition principle for single‐qubit gates and the universality principle of multi‐qubit gates. It also represents quantum operation properties such as unitarity, linearity, reversibility, normality, and inner product preservation. The metamodel is validated through its instance models and their implementations in Qiskit, demonstrating both theoretical correctness and practical applicability. The evaluation focuses on the application of quantum gate principles through instance models of the metamodel for critical and complex gates like the Hadamard gate and the Toffoli gate, showing how they can be decomposed based on the Euler decomposition and universality principles while preserving quantum operation properties. This work provides a foundation for systematic quantum software development tools that bridge the gap between classical software engineering practices and quantum computing principles.