Exposing the Hidden Layers and Interplay in the Quantum Software Stack

Current and near-future quantum computers face resource limitations due to noise and low qubit counts. Despite this, effective quantum advantage can still be achieved due to the exponential nature of bit-to-qubit conversion. However, optimizing the software architecture of these systems is essential to utilize available resources efficiently. Unfortunately, the focus on user-friendly quantum computers has obscured critical steps in the software stack, leading to ripple effects into the stack's upper layer induced by limitations in current qubit implementations. This paper unveils the hidden interplay among layers of the quantum software stack.