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Quantum Software Testability Formalized | Avner Bensoussan posted on the topic | LinkedIn
๐ Excited to share that our paperย ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐-๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ย received aย ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ 2026! Software testability has been a foundational concept in software engineering for decades, shaping how we reason about fault detection, debugging, and software quality. Yet, despite rapid advances in quantum computing, there has been no formal notion ofย testabilityย for quantum software. In this work, we take a first step toward closing that gap by introducing theย ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ. Building on classical software engineering and quantum information theory, we defineย ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โan information-theoretic measure that captures how much information about a fault is lost as it propagates through a quantum program. The key idea is simple: if faults are masked before they reach observable outcomes, the software becomes harder to test. Quantum Squeeziness quantifies this phenomenon, providing a rigorous foundation for reasoning about fault propagation, observability, and test effectiveness in quantum systems. Across 50,000+ mutants, we show that higher squeeziness strongly predicts lower fault detectability, while our optimizedย ๐ญ๐๐๐๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ย technique achieves a 16.9ร speedup with 95% accuracy. Beyond testing and debugging, we believe this opens new research directions at the intersection ofย software engineering, quantum information theory, and quantum reliability, with potential applications in ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง-๐๐จ๐ซ-๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐. Very proud of this contribution and grateful to my co-authors and collaborators throughout the journey. See you in Munich for ASE 2026! ๐ฉ๐ช
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๐ Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the first edition of the QSE PhD School โ hopefully the first of many! ๐ค It was fantastic to connect with such a vibrant, young, and rapidlyโฆ | Avner Bensoussan
๐ Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the first edition of the QSE PhD School โ hopefully the first of many! ๐ค It was fantastic to connect with such a vibrant, young, and rapidly growing community. For the first time, I felt fully โin the right roomโ research-wise โ Iโm usually either the only software person at quantum events or the only quantum person at software events. Seeing a community emerge exactly at this intersection makes me even more motivated to help it grow, and I feel honoured to be part of it. ๐ฌ I especially enjoyed the discussions around layers of abstraction, software testing challenges, and how we can conceptualise software natively for the challenges brought by quantum and hybrid architectures. Usually, it is a very good sign when talks naturally turn into 45-minute discussions between speakers and audience instead of going to coffee breaks! ๐ I also had the opportunity to present two posters on Hybrid Faults Taxonomy and Quantum Testability using Quantum Squeeziness, which sparked many interesting exchanges and perspectives. โฐ๏ธ And of course, the epic walk was absolutely worth it โ yes, even the 500 m of elevation gain! ๐ Looking forward to staying connected with all of you, and many thanks to the organisers for making this happen. https://lnkd.in/eV79rw2V
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Quantum Noise Characterisation for Reliable Software | Avner Bensoussan posted on the topic | LinkedIn
๐ Our paper has been accepted at the 19th IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST 2026). ๐ย ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ย https://lnkd.in/ehw2Mskw Noise remains a fundamental obstacle to reliable quantum software โ yet current models are often static, coarse, and misaligned with real system behaviour. In this work, we introduceย ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, a lightweight and empirical approach to characterising noisy quantum systems. Our key idea: โ leverageย ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ย to build compact, updatable fingerprints of noise โ enableย efficient comparison of quantum states and platformsย (e.g., Qiskit vs Cirq) โ support practical workflows forย ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, and ๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ We implement this vision inย SIMSHADOW, showing that fingerprints: โข capture structured, interpretable noise patterns โข reveal systematic cross-platform discrepancies โข correlate with observable divergences in program outputs More broadly, this work bridgesย ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ย andย ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, moving toward more reliable and portable quantum software systems.
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Avner Bensoussan | Avner Bensoussan
โ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ ๐ Our workย โA Taxonomy of Real Faults in Hybrid Quantum-Classical Architecturesโย has been accepted to the FSE 2026 Journal First track ๐ The initial short version was rejected ~1.5 years agoโbut that turned out to be ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ. It gave me the chance to go much deeper, gather valuable feedback from multiple presentations, and develop a more mature version of the work. That journey led to a full paper in TOSEM, and now to presenting this stronger version at FSE. ๐ Paper:ย https://lnkd.in/enDPsETa ๐ Read more about my work:ย https://lnkd.in/efQGE6J6 Looking forward to sharing it with the communityโsee you in Montreal!
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A Taxonomy of Real Faults for Hybrid Quantum-Classical Software Architectures | ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology | Avner Bensoussan
๐ Excited to share that my first journal paper has been accepted atย ACM TOSEM! ๐ฑ This paper is more than a publicationโit reflects how much Iโve learned about research and communication along the way. Good research is more than results When I started this projectโthe first of my PhDโI thought success meant getting the methods right and producing solid results. That alone took about a year. What I didnโt anticipate was that learningย how to explain why those results matteredย would take just as long. I presented this work in very different contexts: in Oxford to quantum physicists and chemists, in Copenhagen to non-quantum software researchers, and in Montpellier to quantum algorithms experts. In each community, a few people with very different backgrounds paused to bridge their perspective with this work. That led to rich discussions. The most fascinating part wasย aligning our vocabularies and finding shared ground. After each conference, I reshaped the paper with these new perspectives in mind. ๐ญ At one conference, I met a professor I deeply admire. We jumped straight into a technical discussion. She assumed I had a similar backgroundโand I didnโt pause to explain that while our areas are related, we approach problems differently. She eventually walked away saying my work felt neither theoretical nor practical. That moment stuck with me. It was frustrating, unsettling, and honestly quite disorienting, but it now guides how I explain results. Quantum software research is about communication The same challenge appeared during the review process. No reviewer questioned the methodology or results. Instead, feedback focused onย framing, context, and narrative. Comparing the first version with the current oneโshaped by reviews and discussionsโthe difference is massive. ๐ I realized this isnโt a secondary skill. In interdisciplinary fields like quantum computing, communicationย is part of the research itself. This is especially true for quantum software research: still underexplored, yet crucial for moving from lab-scale demonstrations to industrial pipelines and real-world use cases. Building that bridge isnโt just about better hardware or algorithmsโitโs aboutย elegant software that smartly connects the two, layers of abstraction, fault understanding, and, above all, a shared language across communities. Interdisciplinary collaboration drives innovation Working across quantum physics, chemistry, and software engineering taught me that breakthroughs often happen at the intersections. When experts from different fields try to connect perspectives, new questions arise, assumptions are challenged, and insights emerge that wouldnโt have been possible within a single discipline. Each discussion shaped the paper and, more importantly, shapedย how I think as a researcher. ๐ Grateful to my supervisors and co-authors for their support. Excitedโand a bit wiserโto enter my final PhD year. Thereโs a lot coming! https://lnkd.in/enDPsETa