Abstractions considered helpful: A tools architecture for quantum annealers

Today's usable quantum computers, variously known as adiabatic quantum computers or quantum annealers and exemplified by the D-Wave 2X™ system, have an instruction set architecture foreign to mainstream classical computers and thus require a new class of programming tools to enable their widespread use. We submit that well-chosen abstractions, each balancing the ability of high- and low-level tools to use it, will play an essential role in fostering a vibrant ecosystem of such new tools. We propose the virtual quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (vQUBO) problem as one such abstraction and describe our experience in implementing and using it. As one step toward an effective quantum computing ecosystem, we invite other tool developers to create complementary tools that map from user problems to the vQUBO form for end-to-end usability and performance.