Quantum Assertion Testing Without Mid-Circuit Measurement - Strategies and Lower Bounds

Learn about quantum assertion testing strategies that don't rely on mid-circuit measurements in this 20-minute conference presentation from PLanQC 2026. Explore the time-space trade-offs for testing quantum assertions in practical hardware settings where mid-circuit measurement capabilities are limited. Discover how researchers Shengyuan Yang and Charles Yuan from the University of Wisconsin-Madison formalize the FirstFail problem, which involves identifying the first failing assertion among multiple program assertions. Examine their single-run strategy that uses O(log n) ancilla qubits and understand the matching lower bound proof demonstrating that any strategy must satisfy T × S = Ω(log n), where T represents the number of runs and S represents the number of ancilla qubits used per run. Gain insights into how this approach asymptotically improves over naive baselines that achieve O(n) products, and understand why mid-circuit measurement provides only O(log n) advantage rather than O(n) advantage over strategies that don't rely on mid-circuit measurements. Understand the implications for developing more robust quantum program debugging methods that work within current hardware constraints.