Efficient formal verification of quantum error correcting programs

Q Huang, L Zhou, W Fang, M Zhao, M Ying - Proceedings of the ACM on …, 2025 - dl.acm.org
Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages, 2025dl.acm.org
Quantum error correction (QEC) is fundamental for suppressing noise in quantum hardware
and enabling fault-tolerant quantum computation. In this paper, we propose an efficient
verification framework for QEC programs. We define an assertion logic and a program logic
specifically crafted for QEC programs and establish a sound proof system. We then develop
an efficient method for handling verification conditions (VCs) of QEC programs: for Pauli
errors, the VCs are reduced to classical assertions that can be solved by SMT solvers, and …
Quantum error correction (QEC) is fundamental for suppressing noise in quantum hardware and enabling fault-tolerant quantum computation. In this paper, we propose an efficient verification framework for QEC programs. We define an assertion logic and a program logic specifically crafted for QEC programs and establish a sound proof system. We then develop an efficient method for handling verification conditions (VCs) of QEC programs: for Pauli errors, the VCs are reduced to classical assertions that can be solved by SMT solvers, and for non-Pauli errors, we provide a heuristic algorithm. We formalize the proposed program logic in Coq proof assistant, making it a verified QEC verifier. Additionally, we implement an automated QEC verifier, Veri-QEC, for verifying various fault-tolerant scenarios. We demonstrate the efficiency and broad functionality of the framework by performing different verification tasks across various scenarios. Finally, we present a benchmark of 14 verified stabilizer codes.
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