We construct a computationally universal quantum programming language Quantum Π from two copies of Π , the internal language of rig groupoids. The first step constructs a pure (measurement-free) term language by interpreting each copy of Π in a generalisation of the category Unitary in which every morphism is “rotated” by a particular angle, and the two copies are amalgamated using a free categorical construction expressed as a computational effect. The amalgamated language only exhibits quantum behaviour for specific values of the rotation angles, a property which is enforced by imposing a small number of equations on the resulting category. The second step in the construction introduces measurements by layering an additional computational effect.

Rig groupoids provide a semantic model of Π , a universal classical reversible programming language over finite types. We prove that extending rig groupoids with just two maps and three equations about them results in a model of quantum computing that is computationally universal and equationally sound and complete for a variety of gate sets. The first map corresponds to an 8th root of the identity morphism on the unit 1. The second map corresponds to a square root of the symmetry on 1 + 1 . As square roots are generally not unique and can sometimes even be trivial, the maps are constrained to satisfy a nondegeneracy axiom, which we relate to the Euler decomposition of the Hadamard gate. The semantic construction is turned into an extension of Π , called Π , that is a computationally universal quantum programming language equipped with an equational theory that is sound and complete with respect to the Clifford gate set, the standard gate set of Clifford+T restricted to ≤ 2 qubits, and the computationally universal Gaussian Clifford+T gate set.