Work

RapunSL: Untangling Quantum Computing with Separation, Linear Combination and Mixing

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Quantum Separation Logic (QSL) has been proposed as an effective tool to improve the scalability of deductive reasoning for quantum programs. In QSL, separation is interpreted as disentanglement , and the frame rule brings a notion of entanglement-local specification (one that only talks about the qubits entangled with those acted upon by the program). In this paper, we identify two notions of locality unique to the quantum domain, and we construct a novel quantum separation logic, RapunSL , which is able to soundly reduce reasoning about superposition states to reasoning about pure states ( basis-locality ), and reasoning about mixed states arising from measurement to reasoning about pure states ( outcome-locality ). To do so, we introduce two connectives, linear combination and mixing, which together with separation provide a dramatic improvement in the scalability of reasoning, as we demonstrate on a series of challenging case studies.

Source: Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages

DOI: 10.1145/3776648

Authors: Yusuke Matsushita, Kengo Hirata, Ryo Wakizaka, Emanuele D'Osualdo

Institutions: Kyoto University, University of Edinburgh, University of Konstanz

Language: English

Topic: Logic, programming, and type systems

Subfield: Artificial Intelligence

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Kyoto University, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Awards: G2206851727, G3636313030, G6076448117