We develop a protocol for continuous operation of a quantum error correcting code for protection of coherent evolution due to an encoded Hamiltonian against environmental errors, using the three qubit bit flip code and bit flip errors as a canonical example. To detect errors in real time, we filter the output signals from continuous measurement of the error syndrome operators and use a double thresholding protocol for error diagnosis, while correction of errors is done as in the conventional operation. We optimize our continuous operation protocol for evolution under quantum memory and under quantum annealing, by maximizing the fidelity between the target and actual logical states at a specified final time. In the case of quantum memory we show that our continuous operation protocol yields a logical error rate that is slightly larger than the one obtained from using the optimal Wonham filter for error diagnosis. The advantage of our protocol is that it can be simpler to implement. For quantum annealing, we show that our continuous quantum error correction protocol can significantly reduce the final logical state infidelity when the continuous measurements are sufficiently strong relative to the strength of the time-dependent Hamiltonian, and that it can also significantly reduces the run time relative to that of a classical encoding. These results suggest that a continuous implementation is suitable for quantum error correction in the presence of encoded time-dependent Hamiltonians, opening the possibility of many applications in quantum simulation and quantum annealing.
It is argued that the existing schemes of fault-tolerant quantum computation designed for discrete-time models and based on quantum error correction fail for continuous-time Hamiltonian models even with Markovian noise.
We describe an improved version of the quantum simulation method based on the implementation of a truncated Taylor series of the evolution operator. The idea is to add an extra step to the previously known algorithm which implements an operator that corrects the weightings of the Taylor series. This way, the desired accuracy is achieved with an improvement in the overall complexity of the algorithm. This quantum simulation method is applicable to a wide range of Hamiltonians of interest, including to quantum chemistry problems.
Protecting quantum information from the detrimental effects of decoherence and lack of precise quantum control is a central challenge that must be overcome if a large robust quantum computer is to be constructed. The traditional approach to achieving this is via active quantum error correction using fault-tolerant techniques. An alternative to this approach is to engineer strongly interacting many-body quantum systems that enact the quantum error correction via the natural dynamics of these systems. Here we present a method for achieving this based on the concept of concatenated quantum error …
We describe new implementations of quantum error correction that are continuous in time, and thus described by continuous dynamical maps. We evaluate the performance of such schemes using numerical simulations, and comment on the effectiveness and applicability of continuous error correction for quantum computing.
Reconstructing the Hamiltonian of a quantum system is an essential task for characterizing and certifying quantum processors and simulators. Existing techniques either rely on projective measurements of the system before and after coherent time evolution and do not explicitly reconstruct the full time-dependent Hamiltonian or interrupt evolution for tomography. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that an a priori unknown, time-dependent Hamiltonian can be reconstructed from continuous weak measurements concurrent with coherent time evolution in a system of two superconducting transmons coupled…
Several recent experiments have demonstrated the promise of atomic ensembles for quantum teleportation and quantum memory. In these cases the collective internal state of the atoms is well described by continuous variables $X_1, P_1$ and the interaction with the optical field ($X_2, P_2$) by a quadratic Hamiltonian $X_1X_2$. We show how this interaction can be used optimally to create entanglement and squeezing. We derive conditions for the efficient simulation of quadratic Hamiltonians and the engineering of all Gaussian operations and states.
We propose an error correction coding algorithm for continuous quantum variables. We use this algorithm to construct a highly efficient 5-wavepacket code which can correct arbitrary single wavepacket errors. We show that this class of continuous variable codes is robust against imprecision in the error syndromes. A potential implemetation of the scheme is presented.
We study the conditions under which a subsystem code is correctable in the presence of noise that results from continuous dynamics. We consider the case of Markovian dynamics as well as the general case of Hamiltonian dynamics of the system and the environment, and derive necessary and sufficient conditions on the Lindbladian and system-environment Hamiltonian, respectively. For the case when the encoded information is correctable during an entire time interval, the conditions we obtain can be thought of as generalizations of the previously derived conditions for decoherence-free subsystems to…
We describe a continuous variable error correction protocol that can correct the Gaussian noise induced by linear loss on Gaussian states. The protocol can be implemented using linear optics and photon counting. We explore the theoretical bounds of the protocol as well as the expected performance given current knowledge and technology.
We introduce a family of Hamiltonian systems for measurement-based quantum computation with continuous variables. The Hamiltonians (i) are quadratic, and therefore two body, (ii) are of short range, (iii) are frustration-free, and (iv) possess a constant energy gap proportional to the squared inverse of the squeezing. Their ground states are the celebrated Gaussian graph states, which are universal resources for quantum computation in the limit of infinite squeezing. These Hamiltonians constitute the basic ingredient for the adiabatic preparation of graph states and thus open new venues for th…
A major topic of (classical) ergodic theory is to examine qualitatively how the phase space of dynamical systems is penetrated by the orbits of their dynamics. We consider interacting qubit systems with dynamics according to 4-local Hamiltonians and continuous quantum random walks. For these systems one could use the von Neumann entropy of the time-average to characterize the mixing properties of the corresponding orbits, i.e., what portion of the state space and how uniformly it is filled out by the orbits. We show that the problem of estimating this entropy is PSPACE-hard.
We characterize the set of generalized quantum measurements that can be decomposed into a continuous measurement process using a stream of probe qubits and a tunable interaction Hamilto- nian. Each probe in the stream interacts weakly with the target quantum system, then is measured projectively in a standard basis. This measurement result is used in a closed feedback loop to tune the interaction Hamiltonian for the next probe. The resulting evolution is a stochastic process with the structure of a one-dimensional random walk. To maintain this structure, and require that at long times the meas…
We describe an implementation of quantum error correction that operates continuously in time and requires no active interventions such as measurements or gates. The mechanism for carrying away the entropy introduced by errors is a cooling procedure. We evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme by simulation, and remark on its connections to some recently proposed error prevention procedures.
We describe a protocol for continuously protecting unknown quantum states from decoherence that incorporates design principles from both quantum error correction and quantum feedback control. Our protocol uses continuous measurements and Hamiltonian operations, which are weaker control tools than are typically assumed for quantum error correction. We develop a cost function appropriate for unknown quantum states and use it to optimize our state-estimate feedback. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study our protocol for the three-qubit bit-flip code in detail and demonstrate that it can improve…
After analyzing Dirac's equation, one can suggest that a well-known quantum-mechanical momentum operator is associated with relativistic momentum, rather than with non-relativistic one. Consideration of relativistic energy and momentum expressions allows us to define the non-relativistic, relativistic and pseudo-relativistic (present in Schrödinger equation) kinetic energy operators. Consequences of kinetic energy operator's correction for spectra of basic quantum Hamiltonians are investigated. In some cases this correction can produce remarkable spectra modifications.
We compare two approaches to refine the "linear model" of cavity optomechanics, in order to describe radiation pressure effects that are beyond first order in the coupling constant. We compare corrections derived from (I) a widely used phenomenological Hamiltonian that conserves the photon number and (II) a two-mode truncation of C. K. Law's microscopic model, which we take as the "true" Hamiltonian of the system. While these approaches agree at first order, the latter model does not conserve the photon number, resulting in challenging computations from second order onwards. Our numerics sugge…
Continuous-time quantum error correction (CTQEC) is a technique for protecting quantum information against decoherence, where both the decoherence and error correction processes are considered continuous in time. Given any [[n,k,d]] quantum stabilizer code, we formulate a class of protocols to implement CTQEC, involving weak coherent measurements and weak unitary corrections. Under this formalism, we show that the minimal required size of the ancillary system is n-k+1 qubits, and we propose one scheme that meets this minimal requirement. Furthermore, we compare our method with other known sche…
We demonstrate that continuous-variable quantum error correction based on Gaussian ancilla states and Gaussian operations (for encoding, syndrome extraction, and recovery) can be very useful to suppress the effect of non-Gaussian error channels. For a certain class of stochastic error models, reminiscent of those typically considered in the qubit case, quantum error correction codes designed for single-channel errors may enhance the transfer fidelities even when errors occur in every channel employed for transmitting the encoded state. In fact, in this case, the error-correcting capability of …
We analyze a measurement scheme that allows determination of the Berry curvature and the topological Chern number of a Hamiltonian with parameters exploring a two-dimensional closed manifold. Our method uses continuous monitoring of the gradient of the Hamiltonian with respect to one parameter during a quasi-adiabatic quench of the other. Measurement back-action leads to disturbance of the system dynamics, but we show that this can be compensated by a feedback Hamiltonian. As an example, we analyze the implementation with a superconducting qubit subject to time varying, near resonant microwave…
We propose a new approach to study the evolution of a quantum state that is encoded in a system which is continuously subject to the operations required to implement a quantum error correcting code. In the limit of continuous error correction we introduce a Markovian master equation that includes the effects of: a) Hamiltonian evolution, b) errors caused by the interaction with an environment and c) error-correcting operations. The master equation is formally presented for all stabilizer codes and its solution is analyzed for the simplest such code.
Canonical discrete quantum error correction (DQEC) schemes use projective von Neumann measurements on stabilizers to discretize the error syndromes into a finite set, and fast unitary gates are applied to recover the corrupted information. Quantum error correction (QEC) based on continuous measurement, known as continuous quantum error correction (CQEC), in principle, can be executed faster than DQEC and can also be resource efficient. However, CQEC requires meticulous filtering of noisy continuous measurement data to reliably extract error syndromes on the basis of which errors could be detec…
We present an efficient approach to continuous-time quantum error correction that extends the low-dimensional quantum filtering methodology developed by van Handel and Mabuchi [quant-ph/0511221 (2005)] to include error recovery operations in the form of real-time quantum feedback. We expect this paradigm to be useful for systems in which error recovery operations cannot be applied instantaneously. While we could not find an exact low-dimensional filter that combined both continuous syndrome measurement and a feedback Hamiltonian appropriate for error recovery, we developed an approximate reduc…
We study the effect of continuous quantum error correction in the case where each qubit in a codeword is subject to a general Hamiltonian interaction with an independent bath. We first consider the scheme in the case of a trivial single-qubit code, which provides useful insights into the workings of continuous error correction and the difference between Markovian and non-Markovian decoherence. We then study the model of a bit-flip code with each qubit coupled to an independent bath qubit and subject to continuous correction, and find its solution. We show that for sufficiently large error-corr…
The efficient validation of quantum devices is critical for emerging technological applications. In a wide class of use-cases the precise engineering of a Hamiltonian is required both for the implementation of gate-based quantum information processing as well as for reliable quantum memories. Inferring the experimentally realized Hamiltonian through a scalable number of measurements constitutes the challenging task of Hamiltonian learning. In particular, assessing the quality of the implementation of topological codes is essential for quantum error correction. Here, we introduce a neural net b…
The Hamiltonian model of quantum error correction code in the literature is often constructed with the help of its stabilizer formalism. But there have been many known examples of nonadditive codes which are beyond the standard quantum error correction theory using the stabilizer formalism. In this paper, we suggest the other type of Hamiltonian formalism for quantum error correction code without involving the stabilizer formalism, and explain it by studying the Shor nine-qubit code and its generalization. In this Hamiltonian formulation, the unitary evolution operator at a specific time is a …
In two-component BEC, the one-axis twisting Hamiltonian leads to spin squeezing with the limitation that scales with the number of atoms as $N^{-\frac{2}{3}}$. We propose a scheme to transform the one-axis twisting Hamiltonian into a two-axis twisting Hamiltonian, resulting in enhanced spin squeezing $\propto N^{-1}$ approaching the Heisenberg limit. Instead of pulse sequences, only one continuous driving field is required to realizing such transforming, thus the scheme is promising for experiment realizations, to an one-axis twisting Hamiltonian. Quantum information processing and quantum met…
Continuous Variable Hamiltonian Learning at Heisenberg Limit via Displacement-Random Unitary Transformation
School of Stomatology, Peking University（北京大学口腔医学院）；Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校化学与生物化学系）；Department of Physics, Tsinghua University（清华大学物理系）；Institute of Advanced Study, Tsinghua University（清华大学高等研究院）
The storage and processing of quantum information are susceptible to external noise, resulting in computational errors that are inherently continuous A powerful method to suppress these effects is to use quantum error correction. Typically, quantum error correction is executed in discrete rounds where errors are digitized and detected by projective multi-qubit parity measurements. These stabilizer measurements are traditionally realized with entangling gates and projective measurement on ancillary qubits to complete a round of error correction. However, their gate structure makes them vulnerab…
Gaussian noise induced by loss on Gaussian states may be corrected by distributing EPR entanglement through the loss channel, purifying the entanglement using a noiseless linear amplifier (NLA) and then using it for continuous-variable teleportation of the input state. Linear optical implementations of the NLA unavoidably introduce small amounts of excess noise and detection and source efficiency will be limited in current implementations. In this paper, we analyze the error-correction protocol with non-unit efficiency sources and detectors and show the excess noise may be partially compensate…
It was shown by Ahn, Wiseman, and Milburn [PRA {\bf 67}, 052310 (2003)] that feedback control could be used as a quantum error correction process for errors induced by weak continuous measurement, given one perfectly measured error channel per qubit. Here we point out that this method can be easily extended to an arbitrary number of error channels per qubit. We show that the feedback protocols generated by our method encode $n-2$ logical qubits in $n$ physical qubits, thus requiring just one more physical qubit than in the previous case.
A generalization of the stabilizer code construction presented by Gottesman is described, which allows for the construction of quantum error-correcting codes for continuous-variable systems. This formalism describes all continuous-variable codes presented to date, and can be used to construct new codes based on discrete-variable codes or classical codes. We use it to describe the nine-mode code given by Lloyd and Slotine, and a five-mode code described by Braunstein. In addition, we construct a new continuous-variable code based an code of Gottesman which encodes three logical modes of informa…
We give an explicit stochastic Hamiltonian model of discontinuous unitary evolution for quantum spontaneous jumps like in a system of atoms in quantum optics, or in a system of quantum particles that interacts singularly with "bubbles" which admit a continual counting observation. This model allows to watch a quantum trajectory in a photodetector or in a cloud chamber by spontaneous localisations of the momentums of the scattered photons or bubbles. Thus, the continuous reduction and spontaneous localization theory is obtained from a Hamiltonian singular interaction as a result of quantum filt…
Rigorous Time-dependent Hamiltonian Learning via Continuous Weak Measurements
ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology（光子科学研究所，巴塞罗那科学技术研究院）；ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats（加泰罗尼亚高级研究学院）
The capacity for solving eigenstates with a quantum computer is key for ultimately simulating physical systems. Here we propose inverse iteration quantum eigensolvers, which exploit the power of quantum computing for the classical inverse power iteration method. A key ingredient is constructing an inverse Hamiltonian as a linear combination of coherent Hamiltonian evolution. We first consider a continuous-variable quantum mode (qumode) for realizing such a linear combination as an integral, with weights being encoded into a qumode resource state. We demonstrate the quantum algorithm with numer…
We consider quantum metrology in noisy environments, where the effect of noise and decoherence limits the achievable gain in precision by quantum entanglement. We show that by using tools from quantum error-correction this limitation can be overcome. This is demonstrated in two scenarios, including a many-body Hamiltonian with single-qubit dephasing or depolarizing noise, and a single-body Hamiltonian with transversal noise. In both cases we show that Heisenberg scaling, and hence a quadratic improvement over the classical case, can be retained. Moreover, for the case of frequency estimation w…
Quantum error-correction routines are developed for continuous quantum variables such as position and momentum. The result of such analog quantum error correction is the construction of composite continuous quantum variables that are largely immune to the effects of noise and decoherence.
Error correction is a significant step in postprocessing of continuous-variable quantum key distribution system, which is used to make two distant legitimate parties share identical corrected keys. We propose an experiment demonstration of high speed error correction with multi-edge type low-density parity check (MET-LDPC) codes based on graphic processing unit (GPU). GPU supports to calculate the messages of MET-LDPC codes simultaneously and decode multiple codewords in parallel. We optimize the memory structure of parity check matrix and the belief propagation decoding algorithm to reduce co…
Continuous quantum error correction has been found to have certain advantages over discrete quantum error correction, such as a reduction in hardware resources and the elimination of error mechanisms introduced by having entangling gates and ancilla qubits. We propose a machine learning algorithm for continuous quantum error correction that is based on the use of a recurrent neural network to identify bit-flip errors from continuous noisy syndrome measurements. The algorithm is designed to operate on measurement signals deviating from the ideal behavior in which the mean value corresponds to a…
Thermodynamics of Ahn--Doherty--Landahl Continuous Quantum Error Correction
University of Southern California（南加州大学）；National University of Singapore（新加坡国立大学）；Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室）；PUC-Rio（天主教里约热内卢 Pontifical 大学）
Quantum information protocols are inevitably affected by decoherence which is associated with the leakage of quantum information into an environment. In this paper we address the possibility of recovering the quantum information from an environmental measurement. We investigate continuous variable quantum information, and we propose a simple environmental measurement that under certain circumstances fully restores the quantum information of the signal state although the state is not reconstructed with unit fidelity. We implement the protocol for which information is encoded into conjugate quad…
The quantum mechanical motion of the atomic nuclei is considered over a single- or a multi-dimensional subspace of electronic states which is separated by a gap from the rest of the electronic spectrum over the relevant range of nuclear configurations. The electron-nucleus Hamiltonian is block-diagonalized up to $\mathcal{O}(\varepsilon^{n+1})$ through a unitary transformation of the electronic subspace and the corresponding $n$th-order effective Hamiltonian is derived for the quantum nuclear motion. Explicit but general formulae are given for the second- and the third-order corrections. As a …
We characterize a close connection between the continuous-time quantum-walk model and a discrete-time quantum-walk version, based on the staggered model with Hamiltonians in a class of Cayley graphs, which can be considered as a discretization of continuous-time quantum walks. This connection provides examples of perfect state transfer and instantaneous uniform mixing in the staggered model. On the other hand, we provide some more examples of perfect state transfer and instantaneous uniform mixing in the staggered model that cannot be reproduced by the continuous-time model.
The maximum operational range of continuous variable quantum key distribution protocols has shown to be improved by employing high-efficiency forward error correction codes. Typically, the secret key rate model for such protocols is modified to account for the non-zero word error rate of such codes. In this paper, we demonstrate that this model is incorrect: Firstly, we show by example that fixed-rate error correction codes, as currently defined, can exhibit efficiencies greater than unity. Secondly, we show that using this secret key model combined with greater than unity efficiency codes, im…
We present a novel discussion of the continuous-time quantum error correction introduced by Paz and Zurek in 1998 [Paz and Zurek, Proc. R. Soc. A 454, 355 (1998)]. We study the general Lindbladian which describes the effects of both noise and error correction in the weak-noise (or strong-correction) regime through a perturbative expansion. We use this tool to derive quantitative aspects of the continuous-time dynamics both in general and through two illustrative examples: the 3-qubit and the 5-qubit stabilizer codes, which can be independently solved by analytical and numerical methods and the…
Resolutions of identity for certain non-Hermitian Hamiltonians constructed from biorthogonal sets of their eigen- and associated functions are given for the spectral problem defined on entire axis. Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians under consideration possess the continuous spectrum and the following peculiarities are investigated: (1) the case when there is an exceptional point of arbitrary multiplicity situated on a boundary of continuous spectrum; (2) the case when there is an exceptional point situated inside of continuous spectrum. The reductions of the derived resolutions of identity under narr…
