Efficient LLM-Generated Shuttling Compilers for Complex Trapped-Ion Architectures

2026-07-27

AI Summary

This work addresses the prolonged development cycle and limited adaptability of ion-transport compilers in complex trapped-ion quantum computing architectures. To overcome these challenges, the authors propose an automated compiler generation method leveraging large language models (Claude Opus 4.7 and Fable 5). Through prompt engineering and a progressive seed-code migration strategy, the approach autonomously generates and iteratively optimizes high-performance compilers tailored to diverse hardware topologies—including linear traps, junctioned arrays, and arbitrary connected graphs—using only textual specifications and without manual algorithmic intervention. Experimental results demonstrate that this methodology reduces compiler development time from months to days, achieves up to a 76% reduction in ion transport steps across multiple architectures, and delivers order-of-magnitude performance improvements in highly connected trap configurations.

Abstract

Trapped-ion quantum computers rely on shuttling compilers, which cast an input algorithm into a sequence of ion-qubit movements within a given architecture. We present the first study in which a single frontier large language model (LLM), Claude Opus 4.7, generates and iteratively refines the full Python code of shuttling compilers from written specifications. We start with a compiler for (i) a linear segmented trap, extend it to (ii) a trap with junctions, and finally achieve efficient compilation for (iii) a broad class of connected trap graphs. The compilers for the more general cases are seeded with code from the previous ones. We benchmark the LLM-generated compilers against state-of-the-art hand-crafted ones using a common suite of quantum circuits. The number of shuttling timesteps is reduced by up to 76% for (i) and up to 39% for (ii). For the broad case (iii) of freely connected architectures, we find large variations in the required number of shuttling timesteps, depending on the connectivity. A densely connected, junction-rich architecture yields an order-of-magnitude reduction in shuttling timesteps compared to a corridor-like one. Repeating the complete generation and evaluation with a second frontier LLM, Claude Fable 5, reproduces these findings, with the Fable 5 compilers surpassing the hand-crafted ones more often on the largest circuits. Our results show that an unmodified frontier LLM can produce working, correct, and competitive shuttling compilers without additional manual algorithmic engineering, thus reducing the development time for new architectures from several months to a few days.

Problem

• trapped-ion quantum computing
• shuttling compiler
• quantum circuit compilation
• ion-qubit movement
• compiler generation

Innovation

• LLM-generated compilers
• trapped-ion quantum computing
• qubit shuttling
• compiler automation
• quantum architecture optimization