Classification and transformations of quantum circuit decompositions for permutation operations

Abstract: Efficient decomposition of permutation unitaries is vital as they frequently appear in quantum computing. In this paper, we identify the key properties that impact the decomposition process of permutation unitaries. Then, we classify these decompositions based on the identified properties, establishing a comprehensive framework for analysis. We demonstrate the applicability of the presented framework through the widely used multi-controlled Toffoli gate, revealing that the existing decompositions in the literature belong to only three out of ten of the identified classes. Motivated by this finding, we propose transformations that can adapt a given decomposition into a member of another class, enabling resource reduction.