A Black-box Testing Framework for Oracle Quantum Programs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a systematic black-box testing framework for oracle quantum programs, addressing a critical gap in quantum software development by ensuring correctness and reliability.

Contribution

It formally defines oracle quantum programs, establishes foundational testing theory, and provides a prototype tool with experimental validation.

Findings

Framework significantly improves testing effectiveness

Prototype tool aids developers in verifying quantum programs

Experimental results show enhanced reliability of quantum software

Abstract

Oracle quantum programs are a fundamental class of quantum programs that serve as a critical bridge between quantum computing and classical computing. Many important quantum algorithms are built upon oracle quantum programs, making it essential to ensure their correctness during development. Although software testing is a well-established approach for improving program reliability, no systematic method has been developed to test oracle quantum programs. This paper proposes a black-box testing framework designed for general oracle quantum programs. We formally define these programs, establish the foundational theory for their testing, and propose a detailed testing framework. We develop a prototype tool and conduct extensive experimental evaluations to evaluate the effectiveness of the framework. Our results demonstrate that the proposed framework significantly aids developers in testing oracle quantum programs, providing insights to enhance the reliability of quantum software.