  Inductive datatypes in programming languages allow users to define useful
data structures such as natural numbers, lists, trees, and others. In this
paper we show how inductive datatypes may be added to the quantum programming
language QPL. We construct a sound categorical model for the language and by
doing so we provide the first detailed semantic treatment of user-defined
inductive datatypes in quantum programming. We also show our denotational
interpretation is invariant with respect to big-step reduction, thereby
establishing another novel result for quantum programming. Compared to
classical programming, this property is considerably more difficult to prove
and we demonstrate its usefulness by showing how it immediately implies
computational adequacy at all types. To further cement our results, our
semantics is entirely based on a physically natural model of von Neumann
algebras, which are mathematical structures used by physicists to study quantum
mechanics.
