A Framework for the Efficient Evaluation of Runtime Assertions on Quantum Computers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a framework that enables efficient evaluation of runtime assertions on quantum computers, addressing challenges like limited state access, noise, and high execution costs to improve debugging of quantum programs.

Contribution

It presents a novel framework that translates assertions into measurements, reduces overhead, and evaluates results post-execution, facilitating assertion-driven debugging on real quantum hardware.

Findings

Framework effectively evaluates assertions on noisy quantum hardware.

Reduces measurement and execution overhead.

Supports debugging of large quantum programs.

Abstract

The continuous growth of quantum computing and the increasingly complex quantum programs resulting from it lead to unprecedented obstacles in ensuring program correctness. Runtime assertions are, therefore, becoming a crucial tool in the development of quantum programs. They assist developers in the debugging process and help to test and verify the program. However, while assertions can be implemented in a straightforward manner on classical computers, physical limitations of quantum computers pose considerable challenges for the evaluation of quantum assertions. Access to the quantum state of a program is limited, execution time is expensive and noise can significantly distort measurement outcomes. To address these problems, this work proposes a framework that assists developers in the evaluation of runtime assertions on real quantum computers. It translates a variety of assertions into sets of measurements, reduces execution overhead where possible and evaluates the measurement results after the execution even in the presence of noise. This approach substantially aids developers in the debugging process, enabling efficient assertion-driven debugging even in large programs. The proposed framework is available as an open-source implementation at https://github.com/munich-quantum-toolkit/debugger