Hardware or simulator? Label the experiment before comparing results

Simulator results and quantum-hardware results are different kinds of evidence. Record which produced a result before making a performance claim.

Amazon Braket exposes simulators and quantum processing units (QPUs). Its documented task flow includes device selection and, depending on availability, a queue before execution.

What to record

Keep the execution target, service and software identifiers, configuration, workload, run date, and result location. Preserve the provider's device identifier where available.

Use a plain-language “simulation” or “hardware execution” label. A provider logo is not a meaningful resource description.

Keep comparisons fair

Name the comparison method and result-quality requirement. State whether time includes preparation, queueing, execution, repetition, and analysis.

These are our proposed reporting boundaries, not assertions about what any particular published benchmark counted.

Avoid a common inference

Successful simulation does not demonstrate that a selected QPU will produce the same operational result. Hardware execution alone also does not establish an advantage over a classical alternative.

Do not compare physical-qubit counts and logical-qubit projections as though they represent identical capability. Ask what operations and error assumptions the workload requires.

Before sharing results

Have another reader check whether a chart makes sense without verbal explanations filling its gaps. If the execution target, baseline, or time boundary is unclear, revise it before it supports a purchasing or architecture decision.

A minimum result label

A concise result note can name the provider service, the hardware or simulator target, run date, workload version, result-quality measure, and time boundary. For example, “simulator result, run on [date], compared with [named baseline], time excludes queueing” is more useful than a chart labeled only “quantum result.”

This template does not certify the result. It helps a reader see which questions remain before a result is used in a decision memo.