In this paper we show how the fault--tolerant error correction scheme recently proposed by DiVincenzo and Shor may be improved. Our scheme, unlike the earlier one, can also deal with a single error that might occur {\em during} the gate operations that are required for the implementation of the error correction and not only in--between the gates and hence presents an improvement towards enabling error correction and with it the practical possibility of some more involved quantum computations, such as e.g. factorization of large numbers.
Fault-tolerant quantum error correction requires the measurement of error syndromes in a way that minimizes correlated errors on the quantum data. Steane and Shor ancilla are two well-known methods for fault-tolerant syndrome extraction. In this paper, we find a unifying construction that generates a family of ancilla blocks that interpolate between Shor and Steane. This family increases the complexity of ancilla construction in exchange for reducing the rounds of measurement required to fault-tolerantly measure the error. We then apply this construction to the toric code of size $L\times L$ a…
In quantum error correction, information is encoded in a high-dimensional system to protect it from the environment. A crucial step is to use natural, low-weight operations with an ancilla to extract information about errors without causing backaction on the encoded system. Essentially, ancilla errors must not propagate to the encoded system and induce errors beyond those which can be corrected. The current schemes for achieving this fault-tolerance to ancilla errors come at the cost of increased overhead requirements. An efficient way to extract error syndromes in a fault-tolerant manner is b…
We suggest a technique for constructing lower (existence) bounds for the fault-tolerant threshold to scalable quantum computation applicable to degenerate quantum codes with sublinear distance scaling. We give explicit analytic expressions combining probabilities of erasures, depolarizing errors, and phenomenological syndrome measurement errors for quantum LDPC codes with logarithmic or larger distances. These threshold estimates are parametrically better than the existing analytical bound based on percolation.
Steane's seven-qubit quantum code is a natural choice for fault-tolerance experiments because it is small and just two extra qubits are enough to correct errors. However, the two-qubit error-correction technique, known as "flagged" syndrome extraction, works slowly, measuring only one syndrome at a time. This is a disadvantage in experiments with high qubit rest error rates. We extend the technique to extract multiple syndromes at once, without needing more qubits. Qubits for different syndromes can flag errors in each other. This gives equally fast and more qubit-efficient alternatives to Ste…
In the framework quotient algebra partition, a general methodology is introduced to construct fault tolerant encodes for an arbitrary action in an error-correcting code.
We consider performance of a simple quantum convolutional code in a fault-tolerant regime using several syndrome measurement/decoding strategies and three different error models, including the circuit model.
Quantum error correction (QEC) entails the encoding of quantum information into a QEC code space, measuring error syndromes to properly locate and identify errors, and, if necessary, applying a proper recovery operation. Here we compare three syndrome measurement protocols for the [[7,1,3]] QEC code: Shor states, Steane states, and one ancilla qubit by simulating the implementation of 50 logical gates with the syndrome measurements interspersed between the gates at different intervals. We then compare the fidelities for the different syndrome measurement types. Our simulations show that the op…
We present a quantum circuit synthesis algorithm for implementing universal fault-tolerant quantum computing based on concatenated codes. To realize fault-tolerant quantum computing, the fault-tolerant quantum protocols should be transformed into executable quantum circuits based on the nearest-neighbor interaction. Unlike topological codes that are defined based on local operations fundamentally, for the concatenated codes, it is possible to obtain the circuits composed of the local operations by applying the quantum circuit synthesis. However, by the existing quantum circuit synthesis develo…
IonQ Inc.（IonQ公司）；QuICS, NIST/University of Maryland（量子信息与计算科学研究所，美国国家标准与技术研究院/马里兰大学）；UMIACS, University of Maryland（统一信息管理与计算系统研究所，马里兰大学）；Quantum Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute（量子研究中心，技术创新研究所）；Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore（量子技术中心，新加坡国立大学）；Nanyang Quantum Hub, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University（南洋量子枢纽，物理与数学科学学院，南洋理工大学）
We present a fault-tolerant semi-global control strategy for universal quantum computers. We show that N-dimensional array of qubits where only (N-1)-dimensional addressing resolution is available is compatible with fault-tolerant universal quantum computation. What is more, we show that measurements and individual control of qubits are required only at the boundaries of the fault-tolerant computer, i.e. holographic fault-tolerant quantum computation. Our model alleviates the heavy physical conditions on current qubit candidates imposed by addressability requirements and represents an option t…
We describe a method to execute globally controlled quantum information processing which admits a fault tolerant quantum error correction scheme. Our scheme nominally uses three species of addressable two-level systems which are arranged in a one dimensional array in a specific periodic arrangement. We show that the scheme possesses a fault tolerant error threshold.
In order to use quantum error-correcting codes to actually improve the performance of a quantum computer, it is necessary to be able to perform operations fault-tolerantly on encoded states. I present a general theory of fault-tolerant operations based on symmetries of the code stabilizer. This allows a straightforward determination of which operations can be performed fault-tolerantly on a given code. I demonstrate that fault-tolerant universal computation is possible for any stabilizer code. I discuss a number of examples in more detail, including the five-qubit code.
Quantum walks are expected to serve important modelling and algorithmic applications in many areas of science and mathematics. Although quantum walks have been successfully implemented physically in recent times, no major efforts have been made to combat the error associated with these physical implementations in a fault-tolerant manner. In this paper, we propose a systematic method to implement fault-tolerant quantum walks in discrete time on arbitrarily complex graphs, using quantum states encoded with the Steane code and a set of universal fault tolerant matrix operations.
The schemes for fault-tolerant postselected quantum computation given in [Knill, Fault-Tolerant Postselected Quantum Computation: Schemes, http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0402171] are analyzed to determine their error-tolerance. The analysis is based on computer-assisted heuristics. It indicates that if classical and quantum communication delays are negligible, then scalable qubit-based quantum computation is possible with errors above 1% per elementary quantum gate.
We show that a category of one-dimensional XY-type models may enable high-fidelity quantum state transmissions, regardless of details of coupling configurations. This observation leads to a fault- tolerant design of a state transmission setup. The setup is fault-tolerant, with specified thresholds, against engineering failures of coupling configurations, fabrication imperfections or defects, and even time-dependent noises. We propose the implementation of the fault-tolerant scheme using hard-core bosons in one-dimensional optical lattices.
To perform achieve fault-tolerant quantum computation, one can use flagged syndrome extraction with fewer ancilla qubits. However, it suffers from long circuit depth if one stabilizer is measured at a time. Previously, Reichardt showed that it is possible to measure multiple stabilizers with at most one shared flag qubit for certain small quantum codes. In this paper, we propose a procedure for general Calderbank-Shor-Steane codes of distance three so that multiple $Z$-stabilizers ($X$-stabilizers) can be fault-tolerantly measured in parallel with one shared flag qubit. We simulate the memory …
Steane's 7-qubit quantum error-correcting code admits a set of fault-tolerant gates that generate the Clifford group, which in itself is not universal for quantum computation. The 15-qubit Reed-Muller code also does not admit a universal fault-tolerant gate set but possesses fault-tolerant T and control-control-Z gates. Combined with the Clifford group, either of these two gates generate a universal set. Here, we combine these two features by demonstrating how to fault-tolerantly convert between these two codes, providing a new method to realize universal fault-tolerant quantum computation. On…
I will give an overview of what I see as some of the most important future directions in the theory of fault-tolerant quantum computation. In particular, I will give a brief summary of the major problems that need to be solved in fault tolerance based on low-density parity check codes and in hardware-specific fault tolerance. I will then conclude with a discussion of a possible new paradigm for designing fault-tolerant protocols based on a space-time picture of quantum circuits.
As far as we know, a useful quantum computer will require fault-tolerant gates, and existing schemes demand a prohibitively large space and time overhead. We argue that a first generation quantum computer will be very valuable to design, test, and optimize fault-tolerant protocols tailored to the noise processes of the hardware. Our argument is essentially a critical analysis of the current methods envisioned to optimize fault-tolerant schemes, which rely on hardware characterization, noise modelling, and numerical simulations. We show that, even within a very restricted set of noise models, e…
We present a simple method for constructing optimal fault-tolerant approximations of arbitrary unitary gates using an arbitrary discrete universal gate set. The method presented is numerical and scales exponentially with the number of gates used in the approximation. However, for the specific case of arbitrary single-qubit gates and the fault-tolerant gates permitted by the concatenated 7-qubit Steane code, we find gate sequences sufficiently long and accurate to permit the fault-tolerant factoring of numbers thousands of bits long. A general scaling law of how rapidly these fault-tolerant app…
CSS codes are a subfamily of stabilizer codes especially appropriate for fault-tolerant quantum computations. A very simple method is proposed to encode a general qudit when a Calderbank-Shor-Steane quantum code, defined over a q-ary alphabet, is used.
We explain how to combine holonomic quantum computation (HQC) with fault tolerant quantum error correction. This establishes the scalability of HQC, putting it on equal footing with other models of computation, while retaining the inherent robustness the method derives from its geometric nature.
We present a three-dimensional generalization of a renormalization group decoding algorithm for topological codes with Abelian anyonic excitations that we previously introduced for two dimensions. This 3D implementation extends our previous 2D algorithm by incorporating a failure probability of the syndrome measurements, i.e., it enables fault-tolerant decoding. We report a fault-tolerant storage threshold of 1.9(4)% for Kitaev's toric code subject to a 3D bit-flip channel (i.e. including imperfect syndrome measurements). This number is to be compared with the 2.9% value obtained via perfect m…
I make a rough estimate of the accuracy threshold for fault tolerant quantum computing with concatenated codes. First I consider only gate errors and use the depolarizing channel error model. I will follow P.Shor (quant-ph/9505011) for fault tolerant error correction (FTEC) and the fault tolerant implementation of elementary operations on states encoded by the 7-qubit code. A simple computer simulation suggests a threshold for gate errors of the order ε\approx 10^{-3} or better. I also give a simple argument that the threshold for memory errors is about 10 times smaller, thus ε\approx 10^{-4}.
In this paper, adapted from the author's PhD thesis, we present otherwise unpublished results relating to global control schemes, culminating in the calculation of a fault-tolerant threshold for one such scheme. As with early fault-tolerant threshold results, the aim is to calculate a positive number, not to optimise it. We also discuss how the results might affect other related schemes, such as those based on cellular automata.
The threshold estimate derived in previous versions of this paper was incorrect; this note explains the flaw. A new proof is discussed in arXiv:0809.5063.
A method for the implementation of a universal set of fault-tolerant logical gates is presented using homological product codes. In particular, it is shown that one can fault-tolerantly map between different encoded representations of a given logical state, enabling the application of different classes of transversal gates belonging to the underlying quantum codes. This allows for the circumvention of no-go results pertaining to universal sets of transversal gates and provides a general scheme for fault-tolerant computation while keeping the stabilizer generators of the code sparse.
We propose a scalable way to construct a 3D cluster state for fault-tolerant topological one-way computation (TOWC) even if the entangling two-qubit gates succeed with a small probability. It is shown that fault-tolerant TOWC can be performed with the success probability of the two-qubit gate such as 0.5 (0.1) provided that the conditional error probability of the two-qubit gate is less than 0.040% (0.016%). Furthermore, the resource usage is considerably suppressed compared to the conventional fault-tolerant schemes with probabilistic two-qubit gates.
We demonstrate an improved concatenated encoded ancilla preparation procedure. Simulations show that this procedure significantly increases the error threshold beneath which arbitrarily long quantum computations are possible.
What is the minimum number of extra qubits needed to perform a large fault-tolerant quantum circuit? Working in a common model of fault-tolerance, I show that in the asymptotic limit of large circuits, the ratio of physical qubits to logical qubits can be a constant. The construction makes use of quantum low-density parity check codes, and the asymptotic overhead of the protocol is equal to that of the family of quantum error-correcting codes underlying the fault-tolerant protocol.
In this paper we demonstrate how data encoded in a five-qubit quantum error correction code can be converted, fault-tolerantly, into a seven-qubit Steane code. This is achieved by progressing through a series of codes, each of which fault-tolerantly corrects at least one error. Throughout the conversion the encoded qubit remains protected. We found, through computational search, that the method used to convert between codes given in this paper is optimal.
We provide a rigorous analysis of fault-tolerant quantum computation in the presence of local leakage faults. We show that one can systematically deal with leakage by using appropriate leakage-reduction units such as quantum teleportation. The leakage noise is described by a Hamiltonian and the noise is treated coherently, similar to general non-Markovian noise analyzed in Refs. quant-ph/0402104 and quant-ph/0504218. We describe ways to limit the use of leakage-reduction units while keeping the quantum circuits fault-tolerant and we also discuss how leakage reduction by teleportation is natura…
We show an equivalence relation between fault-tolerant circuits for a stabilizer code and fault-tolerant adiabatic processes for holonomic quantum computation (HQC), in the case where quantum information is encoded in the degenerated ground space of the system Hamiltonian. By this equivalence, we can systematically construct a fault-tolerant HQC scheme, which can geometrically implement a universal set of encoded quantum gates by adiabatically deforming the system Hamiltonian. During this process, quantum information is protected from low weight thermal excitations by an energy gap that does n…
Imperfect measurement can degrade a quantum error correction scheme. A solution that restores fault tolerance is to add redundancy to the process of syndrome extraction. In this work, we show how to optimize this process for an arbitrary ratio of data qubit error probability to measurement error probability. The key is to design the measurements so that syndromes that correspond to different errors are separated by the maximum distance in the signal space, in close analogy to classical error correction codes. We find that the mathematical theory of 2-designs, appropriately modified, is the rig…
Quantum error correction protects fragile quantum information by encoding it into a larger quantum system. These extra degrees of freedom enable the detection and correction of errors, but also increase the operational complexity of the encoded logical qubit. Fault-tolerant circuits contain the spread of errors while operating the logical qubit, and are essential for realizing error suppression in practice. While fault-tolerant design works in principle, it has not previously been demonstrated in an error-corrected physical system with native noise characteristics. In this work, we experimenta…
This work is concerned with phrasing the concepts of fault-tolerant quantum computation within the framework of disordered systems, Bernoulli site percolation in particular. We show how the so-called "threshold theorems" on the possibility of fault-tolerant quantum computation with constant error rate can be cast as a renormalization (coarse-graining) of the site percolation process describing the occurrence of errors during computation. We also use percolation techniques to derive a trade-off between the complexity overhead of the fault-tolerant circuit and the threshold error rate.
Flag qubits have recently been proposed in syndrome extraction circuits to detect high-weight errors arising from fewer faults. The use of flag qubits allows the construction of fault-tolerant protocols with the fewest number of ancillas known to-date. In this work, we prove some critical properties of CSS codes constructed from classical cyclic codes that enable the construction of a flag fault-tolerant error correction scheme. We then develop fault-tolerant protocols as well as a family of circuits for flag fault-tolerant error correction and operator measurement, requiring only four ancilla…
We develop a scheme for fault-tolerant quantum computation based on asymmetric Bacon-Shor codes, which works effectively against highly biased noise dominated by dephasing. We find the optimal Bacon-Shor block size as a function of the noise strength and the noise bias, and estimate the logical error rate and overhead cost achieved by this optimal code. Our fault-tolerant gadgets, based on gate teleportation, are well suited for hardware platforms with geometrically local gates in two dimensions.
We propose an easy implementable prepare-and-measure protocol for robust quantum key distribution with photon polarization. The protocol is fault tolerant against collective random unitary channel noise. The protocol does not need any collective quantum measurement or quantum memory. A security proof and a specific linear optical realization using spontaneous parametric down conversion are given.
We investigate how to concatenate different decoherence-free subspaces (DFSs) to realize scalable universal fault-tolerant quantum computation. Based on tunable $XXZ$ interactions, we present an architecture for scalable quantum computers which can fault-tolerantly perform universal quantum computation by manipulating only single type of parameter. By using the concept of interaction-free subspaces we eliminate the need to tune the couplings between logical qubits, which further reduces the technical difficulties for implementing quantum computation.
A major challenge in practical quantum computation is the ineludible errors caused by the interaction of quantum systems with their environment. Fault-tolerant schemes, in which logical qubits are encoded by several physical qubits, enable correct output of logical qubits under the presence of errors. However, strict requirements to encode qubits and operators render the implementation of a full fault-tolerant computation challenging even for the achievable noisy intermediate-scale quantum technology. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the existence of the threshold in a special fault-toleran…
An important approach to the fault-tolerant quantum computation is protecting the logical information using the quantum error correction. Usually, the logical information is in the form of logical qubits, which are encoded in physical qubits using quantum error correction codes. Compared with the qubit quantum computation, the fermionic quantum computation has advantages in quantum simulations of fermionic systems, e.g. molecules. In this paper, we show that the fermionic quantum computation can be universal and fault-tolerant if we encode logical Majorana fermions in physical Majorana fermion…
