Automatically Refining Assertions for Efficient Debugging of Quantum Programs

TL;DR

This paper introduces automated methods for refining assertions in quantum programs to improve debugging efficiency, reducing manual effort and enhancing error localization in complex quantum software.

Contribution

It proposes automatic assertion refinement techniques for quantum programs, enabling better placement and addition of assertions without manual intervention.

Findings

Automated assertion refinement improves debugging efficiency.

Methods help locate errors more precisely.

Open-source tool implementation is provided.

Abstract

As new advancements in the field of quantum computing lead to the development of increasingly complex programs, approaches to validate and debug these programs are becoming more important. To this end, methods employed in classical debugging, such as assertions for testing specific properties of a program's state, have been adapted for quantum programs. However, to efficiently debug quantum programs, it is key to properly place these assertions. This usually requires a deep understanding of the program's underlying mathematical properties, constituting a time-consuming manual task for developers. To address this problem, this work proposes methods for automatically refining assertions in quantum programs by moving them to more favorable positions in the program or by placing new assertions that help to further narrow down potential error locations. This allows developers to take advantage of rich and expressive assertions that greatly improve the debugging experience without requiring them to place these assertions manually in an otherwise tedious manner. An open-source implementation of the proposed methods is available at https://github.com/cdatum/mqt-debugger.