Bugs in Quantum computing platforms: an empirical study
summary
Study inspects 223 real-world bugs from 18 open-source quantum platforms and finds 39.9% quantum-specific defects, concentrated in optimization and IR and quantum-abstraction components. Bugs manifest mostly as 92 crashes and 77 incorrect-output cases where probabilistic distributions matter; ten new quantum-specific patterns appear (wrong qubit counts, qubit order, MSB/LSB mismatches). Many fixes are small — often one- or two-line fixes — and the curated dataset and taxonomy aim to guide targeted testing and repair tools.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (16)
- 0:00Quantum computing bug study intro
- 1:23Quantum computing platforms focus
- 2:07Quantum programming workflow
- 4:13Research questions and methods
- 5:38Platform selection and bugs
- 6:41Quantum-specific bug identification
- 9:07Bug location and taxonomy
- 12:38Bug symptoms and effects
- 14:27Bug patterns in platforms
- 17:15Complexity of bug fixes
- 18:40Study implications and future work
- 20:04Summary and dataset
- 20:40Q&A: Bit encoding confusion
- 21:46Q&A: Quantum abstraction issues
- 24:18Q&A: Simulator vs hardware bugs
- 26:05Q&A: Quantum bug distribution
related talks
20mThe Value of Quantum Benchmarking
19mShaking Up Quantum Simulators with Fuzzing and Rigour
42mQuantum program analysis: Verification and Testing
18mStatistical Testing of Quantum Programs via Fixed-Point Amplitude Amplification
16mProjection-Based Runtime Assertions for Testing and Debugging Quantum Programs
47mHunting Heisenbugs
32mTheory, Design, and Implementation of Projection-based Assertions for Quantum Debugging
39mA Common Taxonomy Of Bugs And How To Squash Them