Quantum adders: on the structural link between the ripple-carry and carry-lookahead techniques

Abstract

This paper is motivated by two key observations. First, Toffoli ladders can be implemented in three distinct ways: with linear or polylogarithmic depth using no ancilla, or with logarithmic depth using ancilla qubits. Second, two fundamental structural approaches to designing addition algorithms can be identified in several well-known quantum adders. At their core is the Toffoli ladder, and both provide a clear and simple connection between ripple-carry and carry-lookahead adder designs. Combining these two structures with the three Toffoli ladder implementations yields six quantum adders: four are well-known and two novel. Notably, one of the novel designs is a carry-lookahead adder that outperforms previous approaches.