PF research library · 5 min read

Quantum protocol and component benchmarks

r34 documentation · quantum-benchmarks.md · Formatted reading copy

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Command equivalents
Model profiles
Reading the evidence
Targets and failure interpretation
Scope of comparison
Complete-state protocol interface (r20)

Open the Research Workbench with the existing desktop launcher and choose Quantum benchmarks. Select all profiles or one of the nine component/protocol presets, edit its complete configuration, validate it, and run. The Results view contains calculated curves, tables and the separate narrative report. No command line is required. The exact workflow label and steps are in GUI_GUIDE.md.

The models in this workflow are controlled component/protocol benchmarks. They do not implicitly import a satellite scenario, apply a PF boost, or replace the mission simulation's channel. Use the existing simulation and comparison workflows for orbital histories, SR/GR photon timing and mission-level QKD. In r20, those mission workflows also expose explicit Quantum experiments; see MISSION_QUANTUM_GUIDE.md. A standalone run remains independent unless the mission experiment interface is selected.

Command equivalents

run_quantum_benchmarks_python38.bat --profile all --config config_quantum_benchmarks.json --output results_quantum
run_quantum_benchmarks_python38.bat --profile hom --config config_quantum_hom.json --output results_hom

Cross-platform: python run_quantum_benchmarks.py with the same options. Use a fresh output directory for each run. --no-plots skips standalone figure files but retains the narrative PDF, numerical data and plotted report pages. --write-default-config my_config.json exports defaults without running.

Model profiles

Profile	Executed calculation	Main outputs
`bell`	Two-qubit density matrix and measurement Born probabilities	Fidelity, purity, negativity, chosen-settings and optimized CHSH
`teleportation`	Three-qubit Bell measurement and outcome-dependent corrections	Conditional output states, six-state average fidelity, branch success
`swapping`	Four-qubit Bell measurement and endpoint correction	Conditional entanglement and heralding probability
`purification`	Bilateral recurrence operations, accepted branches and optional twirl	Output quality, success, yield and input-pair cost
`memory`	Local T1/T2 Kraus maps and separate retrieval erasure	Density matrices, coherence, fidelity/purity and retrieval probability
`repeater`	Seeded link attempts, cutoff/restart events, memory evolution and actual swap operations	Delivery rate, sampling uncertainty, waits, consumed attempts and conditional quality
`hom`	Normalized Gaussian wavepacket overlap and independent quadrature	Coincidence probabilities and detected coincidence rate
`qkd_sweep`	Declared Poisson/threshold optical counts through both existing security engines	QBER, finite/asymptotic key forecasts and mode-normalized PLOB reference
`channel_tomography`	Qiskit channel evolution on informationally complete probes	PTM, Choi, process/average fidelity and optional simulated measurement counts

The full mathematical assumptions and every setting are documented in manual Chapter 25. Defaults illustrate model behavior; they are not calibrated device parameters or mandatory industry settings.

Reading the evidence

quantum_benchmark_suite.json combines all selected profile reports. Individual profile JSON files contain the same final result objects. *_series.csv exports the full computed series (nested quantities remain JSON strings in CSV cells). resolved_config.json preserves inputs. quantum_benchmark_report.pdf contains narrative interpretation, assumptions, metrics, numerical checks and figures. The same-stem files in figures/ are PNG previews and vector PDF versions of the same graph. They do not contain additional narrative.

quantum_benchmark_manifest.json records Python/dependency versions, source hashes, configuration and artifact hashes. Hashes establish content identity, not physical truth or an authenticated laboratory measurement.

Run the optional read-only check without modifying the saved run:

python validate_quantum_benchmarks.py results_quantum
python validate_quantum_benchmarks.py results_quantum --check-current-source

The second form additionally tests whether the current installation has the same source bytes as the run. A later intentional software revision can differ while the original saved artifacts remain intact.

Bell sampling records the signed CHSH sum and its magnitude separately. signed_chsh_sampling_standard_deviation describes the signed estimator from independent shots per setting. It is not the exact uncertainty of the absolute value near zero or a Bell-violation confidence statement.

Targets and failure interpretation

Each report separates numerical PASS/FAIL, engineering criteria and empirical validation. The new workflow has no experimental observations, so empirical validation remains NOT_ASSESSED. Existing published-data workflows retain their own evidence categories.

You can add predeclared targets in the top-level requirements array. For example:

{
  "id": "minimum-memory-fidelity",
  "profile": "memory",
  "metric": "conditional_fidelity",
  "aggregation": "minimum",
  "operator": ">=",
  "value": 0.9
}

The metric names are exact scalar series fields. Aggregation can be minimum, maximum or mean; the operator is >= or <=. Every selected row counts. Unavailable values produce NOT_ASSESSED, with no silent dropping of failed events. Unknown metric names are input errors. No targets are enabled by default.

With --require-engineering-pass, a failed or unavailable configured target, or an empty requirements list, returns exit status 3 after preserving results. The suite reports engineering status separately as PASS, FAIL or NOT_ASSESSED; no requirements and unavailable metrics remain NOT_ASSESSED. Numerical failure returns 2. Ordinary completion returns 0 even though empirical validation is unassessed. Input/parser errors are also nonzero; inspect the explicit diagnostic.

A valid zero key, no delivered pair, nonviolating CHSH value or fidelity below a design target is not automatically a broken model. Investigate the recorded cause and test a defensible apparatus/operating change in a new run. Do not relax security, edit reference data or redefine the requirement to manufacture a PASS. Recommendations do not guarantee performance.

Scope of comparison

COMPETITIVE_BENCHMARK_SOURCES.md and benchmark_data/competitive/sources.json map public industry capabilities to published references. These are independent implementations. General network routing, network-scale resource contention, hardware orchestration, device- specific calibration and advanced QKD families are not implied by elementary protocol coverage. There is no vendor runtime superiority, full feature parity or standards certification claim.

Complete-state protocol interface (r20)

The legacy standalone fidelity sweeps retain their declared depolarized-resource assumptions. The mission interface uses a different, explicit state API:

from pf_benchmarks.protocols import run_state_protocol
result = run_state_protocol(name, rho, config=None, second_state=None)

rho accepts a complex 4 x 4 matrix or a JSON object with real, imag, basis_order and num_qubits. The basis is Qiskit little endian, |q1 q0>; q0 is Alice and q1 is Bob. second_state is mandatory for swapping and purification; tensoring the pairs declares their independence. The API validates states without silently repairing, normalizing, twirling or fitting them from fidelity. Purification twirling is available only as an explicit operation.

The API executes Bell, teleportation, swapping or one-round purification on the provided matrices. Its success probability is conditional on the input resources being available; the mission layer accounts for physical availability separately. A teleportation input_density_matrix can specify an input qubit, otherwise the runner evaluates the six Pauli probe states. Partial Bell measurements can have input-dependent acceptance, so the heralding convention accompanies fidelity. The result retains actual input/output matrices and records state_reconstruction_from_fidelity: false in its provenance.

Do not pass fidelity_values or link_b_fidelity into this full-state API. Those belong to the standalone source-model sweeps, not to received mission states.