This report continues the discussion of unitary error bases and quantum codes begun in "Non-binary Unitary Error Bases and Quantum Codes". Nice error bases are characterized in terms of the existence of certain characters in a group. A general construction for error bases which are non-abelian over the center is given. The method for obtaining codes due to Calderbank et al. is generalized and expressed purely in representation theoretic terms. The significance of the inertia subgroup both for constructing codes and obtaining the set of transversally implementable operations is demonstrated.
A general theory of quantum error avoiding codes is established, and new light is shed on the relation between quantum error avoiding and correcting codes. Quantum error avoiding codes are found to be a special type of highly degenerate quantum error correcting codes. A combination of the ideas of correcting and avoiding quantum errors may yield better codes. We give a practical example.
The essential insight of quantum error correction was that quantum information can be protected by suitably encoding this quantum information across multiple independently erred quantum systems. Recently it was realized that, since the most general method for encoding quantum information is to encode it into a subsystem, there exists a novel form of quantum error correction beyond the traditional quantum error correcting subspace codes. These new quantum error correcting subsystem codes differ from subspace codes in that their quantum correcting routines can be considerably simpler than relate…
In this paper, we introduce a unified framework to construct entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes, including additive and nonadditive codes, based on the codeword stabilized framework on subsystems. The codeword stabilized (CWS) framework is a scheme to construct quantum error-correcting codes (QECCs) including both additive and nonadditive codes, and gives a method to construct a QECC from a classical error-correcting code in standard form. Entangled pairs of qubits (ebits) can be used to improve capacity of quantum error correction. In addition, it gives a method to overcome …
Codeword stabilized (CWS) codes are a general class of quantum codes that includes stabilizer codes and many families of non-additive codes with good parameters. For such a non-additive code correcting all t-qubit errors, we propose an algorithm that employs a single measurement to test all errors located on a given set of t qubits. Compared with exhaustive error screening, this reduces the total number of measurements required for error recovery by a factor of about 3^t.
We examine the efficiency of pure, nondegenerate quantum-error correction-codes for Pauli channels. Specifically, we investigate if correction of multiple errors in a block is more efficient than using a code that only corrects one error per block. Block coding with multiple-error correction cannot increase the efficiency when the qubit error-probability is below a certain value and the code size fixed. More surprisingly, existing multiple-error correction codes with a code length equal or less than 256 qubits have lower efficiency than the optimal single-error correcting codes for any value o…
This paper provides a new instance of quantum deletion error-correcting codes. This code can correct any single quantum deletion error, while our code is only of length 4. This paper also provides an example of an encoding quantum circuit and decoding quantum circuits. It is also proven that the length of any single deletion error-correcting codes is greater than or equal to 4. In other words, our code is optimal for the code length.
The recently introduced detected-jump correcting quantum codes are capable of stabilizing qubit-systems against spontaneous decay processes arising from couplings to statistically independent reservoirs. These embedded quantum codes exploit classical information about which qubit has emitted spontaneously and correspond to an active error-correcting code embedded in a passive error-correcting code. The construction of a family of one detected jump-error correcting quantum codes is shown and the optimal redundancy, encoding and recovery as well as general properties of detected jump-error corre…
If entanglement is available, the error-correcting ability of quantum codes can be increased. We show how to optimize the minimum distance of an entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting (EAQEC) code, obtained by adding ebits to a standard quantum error-correcting code, over different encoding operators. By this encoding optimization procedure, we found several new EAQEC codes, including a family of [[n, 1, n; n-1]] EAQEC codes for n odd and code parameters [[7, 1, 5; 2]], [[7, 1, 5; 3]], [[9, 1, 7; 4]], [[9, 1, 7; 5]], which saturate the quantum singleton bound for EAQEC codes. A random …
The theory of quantum error correction was established more than a decade ago as the primary tool for fighting decoherence in quantum information processing. Although great progress has already been made in this field, limited methods are available in constructing new quantum error correction codes from old codes. Here we exhibit a simple and general method to construct new quantum error correction codes by nesting certain quantum codes together. The problem of finding long quantum error correction codes is reduced to that of searching several short length quantum codes with certain properties…
In the shallow sub-threshold regime, fault-tolerant quantum computation requires a tremendous amount of qubits. In this paper, we study the error correction in the deep sub-threshold regime. We estimate the physical error rate for achieving the logical error rates of $10^{-6} - 10^{-15}$ using few-qubit codes, i.e. short repetition codes, small surface codes and the Steane code. Error correction circuits that are efficient for biased error channels are identified. Using the Steane code, when error channels are biased with a ratio of $10^{-3}$, the logical error rate of $10^{-15}$ can be achiev…
In this work we prove that the 5-qubit quantum error correcting code does not fix qubit independent errors, even assuming that the correction circuit does not introduce new errors. We say that a quantum code does not fix a quantum computing error if its application does not reduce the variance of the error. We also prove for qubit independent errors that if the correction circuit of the 5-qubit quantum code detects an error, the corrected state has central symmetry and, as a consequence, its variance is maximum. We have been able to obtain these results thanks to the high symmetry of the 5-qub…
An error avoiding quantum code is presented which is capable of stabilizing Grover's quantum search algorithm against a particular class of coherent errors. This error avoiding code consists of states only which are factorizable in the computational basis. Furthermore, its redundancy is smaller than the one which is achievable with a general error correcting quantum code saturating the quantum Hamming bound. The fact that this code consists of factorizable states only may offer advantages for the implementation of quantum gates in the error free subspace.
We report the first nonadditive quantum error-correcting code, namely, a $((9,12,3))$ code which is a 12-dimensional subspace within a 9-qubit Hilbert space, that outperforms the optimal stabilizer code of the same length by encoding more levels while correcting arbitrary single-qubit errors.
In their comment, de Almedia and Palazzo \cite{comment} discovered an error in my earlier paper concerning the construction of quantum convolutional codes (quant-ph/9712029). This error can be repaired by modifying the method of code construction.
Quantum error-correcting codes so far proposed have not worked in the presence of noise which introduces more than one bit of entropy per qubit sent through a quantum channel, nor can any code which identifies the complete error syndrome. We describe a code which does not find the complete error syndrome and can be used for reliable transmission of quantum information through channels which add more than one bit of entropy per transmitted bit. In the case of the depolarizing channel our code can be used in a channel of fidelity .8096. The best existing code worked only down to .8107.
Error operator bases for systems of any dimension are defined and natural generalizations of the bit/sign flip error basis for qubits are given. These bases allow generalizing the construction of quantum codes based on eigenspaces of Abelian groups. As a consequence, quantum codes can be constructed from linear codes over $\ints_n$ for any $n$. The generalization of the punctured code construction leads to many codes which permit transversal (i.e. fault tolerant) implementations of certain operations compatible with the error basis.
Surface code is an error-correcting method that can be applied to the implementation of a usable quantum computer. At present, a promising candidate for a usable quantum computer is based on superconductor-specifically transmon. Because errors in transmon-based quantum computers appear biasedly as Z type errors, tailored surface and XZZX codes have been developed to deal with the type errors. Even though these surface codes have been suggested for lattice structures, since transmons-based quantum computers, developed by IBM, have a heavy-hexagon structure, it is natural to ask how tailored sur…
We generalize the construction of quantum error-correcting codes from GF(4)-linear codes by Calderbank et al. to p^m-state systems. Then we show how to determine the error from a syndrome. Finally we discuss a systematic construction of quantum codes with efficient decoding algorithms.
Many quantum technologies are now reaching a high level of maturity and control, and it is likely that the first demonstrations of suppression of naturally occurring quantum noise using small topological error correcting codes will soon be possible. In doing this it will be necessary to define clear achievable metrics to measure and compare the performance of real codes. Here we consider the smallest examples of several families of topological codes: surface codes, color codes, and the gauge color code, and determine the minimum requirements to demonstrate error suppression. We use an exact de…
We study the performance of common quantum stabilizer codes in the presence of asymmetric and correlated errors. Specifically, we consider the depolarizing noisy quantum memory channel and perform quantum error correction via the five and seven-qubit stabilizer codes. We characterize these codes by means of the entanglement fidelity as function of the error probability and the degree of memory. We show that their performances are lowered by the presence of correlations and we compute the error probability threshold values for codes effectiveness. Furthermore, we uncover that the asymmetry in t…
We present a universal framework for quantum error-correcting codes, i.e., the one that applies for the most general quantum error-correcting codes. This framework is established on the group algebra, an algebraic notation for the nice error bases of quantum systems. The nicest thing about this framework is that we can characterize the properties of quantum codes by the properties of the group algebra. We show how it characterizes the properties of quantum codes as well as generates some new results about quantum codes.
Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) quantum error-correcting codes are based on pairs of classical codes which are mutually dual containing. Explicit constructions of such codes for large blocklengths and with good error correcting properties are not easy to find. In this paper we propose a construction of CSS codes which combines a classical code with a two-universal hash function. We show, using the results of Renner and Koenig, that the communication rates of such codes approach the hashing bound on tensor powers of Pauli channels in the limit of large block-length. While the bit-flip errors can b…
In this paper, we investigate the optimal nonadditive quantum error-detecting codes with distance two. The the numerical simulation shows that, with n being can be 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12, such the n-qubit quantum error-detecting codes with maximal number of codewords can be found. Therein, except the n=7 case, the n-vertex loop graphs help find the optimal quantum codes.
We report new construction of nine-qubit error-correcting code, which introduces two new nine-qubit codes and one new three-qubit code. Because both the new two nine-qubit codes have the normal logical operators, as opposed to the nine-qubit Shor code, it results in different performance when the three codes are applied in concatenated quantum error-correction. On the other hand, one of the two nine-qubit codes has the same stabilizer generators as the nine-qubit Shor code, they are more suitable for the high-wight bit-flip noise, and the other code has the different stabilizer generators, whi…
We discuss a method to adapt the codeword stabilized (CWS) quantum code framework to the problem of finding asymmetric quantum codes. We focus on the corresponding Pauli error models for amplitude damping noise and phase damping noise. In particular, we look at codes for Pauli error models that correct one or two amplitude damping errors. Applying local Clifford operations on graph states, we are able to exhaustively search for all possible codes up to length $9$. With a similar method, we also look at codes for the Pauli error model that detect a single amplitude error and detect multiple pha…
Controlling operational errors and decoherence is one of the major challenges facing the field of quantum computation and other attempts to create specified many-particle entangled states. The field of quantum error correction has developed to meet this challenge. A group-theoretical structure and associated subclass of quantum codes, the stabilizer codes, has proved particularly fruitful in producing codes and in understanding the structure of both specific codes and classes of codes. I will give an overview of the field of quantum error correction and the formalism of stabilizer codes. In th…
We establish a symmetry-operator framework for designing quantum error correcting~(QEC) codes based on fundamental properties of the underlying system dynamics. Based on this framework, we propose three hardware-efficient bosonic QEC codes that are suitable for $χ^{(2)}$-interaction based quantum computation: the $χ^{(2)}$ parity-check code, the $χ^{(2)}$ embedded error-correcting code, and the $χ^{(2)}$ binomial code, all of which detect photon-loss or photon-gain errors by means of photon-number parity measurements and then correct them via $χ^{(2)}$ Hamiltonian evolutions and linear-optics …
One of the main problems in quantum information systems is the presence of errors due to noise, and for this reason quantum error-correcting codes (QECCs) play a key role. While most of the known codes are designed for correcting generic errors, i.e., errors represented by arbitrary combinations of Pauli X , Y and Z operators, in this paper we investigate the design of stabilizer QECC able to correct a given number eg of generic Pauli errors, plus eZ Pauli errors of a specified type, e.g., Z errors. These codes can be of interest when the quantum channel is asymmetric in that some types of err…
We study the performance of simple error correcting and error avoiding quantum codes together with their concatenation for correlated noise models. Specifically, we consider two error models: i) a bit-flip (phase-flip) noisy Markovian memory channel (model I); ii) a memory channel defined as a memory degree dependent linear combination of memoryless channels with Kraus decompositions expressed solely in terms of tensor products of X-Pauli (Z-Pauli) operators (model II). The performance of both the three-qubit bit flip (phase flip) and the error avoiding codes suitable for the considered error …
From the set of operators for errors and its correction code, we introduce the so-called complete unitary transformation. It can be used for encoding while the inverse of it can be applied for correcting the errors of the encoded qubit. We show that this unitary protocol can be applied for any code which satisfies the quantum error correction condition.
We exhibit a simple, systematic procedure for detecting and correcting errors using any of the recently reported quantum error-correcting codes. The procedure is shown explicitly for a code in which one qubit is mapped into five. The quantum networks obtained are fault tolerant, that is, they can function successfully even if errors occur during the error correction. Our construction is derived using a recently introduced group-theoretic framework for unifying all known quantum codes.
Foliated quantum codes are a resource for fault-tolerant measurement-based quantum error correction for quantum repeaters and for quantum computation. They represent a general approach to integrating a range of possible quantum error correcting codes into larger fault-tolerant networks. Here we present an efficient heuristic decoding scheme for foliated quantum codes, based on message passing between primal and dual code 'sheets'. We test this decoder on two different families of sparse quantum error correcting code: turbo codes and bicycle codes, and show reasonably high numerical performance…
Good quantum codes, such as quantum MDS codes, are typically nondegenerate, meaning that errors of small weight require active error-correction, which is--paradoxically--itself prone to errors. Decoherence free subspaces, on the other hand, do not require active error correction, but perform poorly in terms of minimum distance. In this paper, examples of degenerate quantum codes are constructed that have better minimum distance than decoherence free subspaces and allow some errors of small weight that do not require active error correction. In particular, two new families of [[n,1,>= sqrt(n)]]…
We study the performance of simple quantum error correcting codes with respect to correlated noise errors characterized by a finite correlation strength. Specifically, we consider bit flip (phase flip) noisy quantum memory channels and use repetition and noiseless quantum codes. We characterize the performance of the codes by means of the entanglement fidelity as function of the error probability and degree of memory. Finally, comparing the entanglement fidelities of repetition and noiseless quantum codes, we find a threshold for the correlation strength that allows to select the code with bet…
Conventional fault-tolerant quantum error-correction schemes require a number of extra qubits that grows linearly with the code's maximum stabilizer generator weight. For some common distance-three codes, the recent "flag paradigm" uses just two extra qubits. Chamberland and Beverland (2018) provide a framework for flag error correction of arbitrary-distance codes. However, their construction requires conditions that only some code families are known to satisfy. We give a flag error-correction scheme that works for any stabilizer code, unconditionally. With fast qubit measurement and reset, it…
Due to the fragility of quantum mechanical effects, real quantum computers are plagued by frequent noise effects that cause errors during computations. Quantum error-correcting codes address this problem by providing means to identify and correct corresponding errors. However, most of the research on quantum error correction is theoretical or has been evaluated for specific hardware models only. Moreover, the development of corresponding codes and the evaluation of whether they indeed solve the problem for a particular hardware model, still often rests on tedious trial-and-error thus far. In t…
The scheme of entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting (EAQEC) codes assumes that the ebits of the receiver are error-free. In practical situations, errors on these ebits are unavoidable, which diminishes the error-correcting ability of these codes. We consider two different versions of this problem. We first show that any (nondegenerate) standard stabilizer code can be transformed into an EAQEC code that can correct errors on the qubits of both sender and receiver. These EAQEC codes are equivalent to standard stabilizer codes, and hence the decoding techniques of standard stabilizer cod…
I report two general methods to construct quantum convolutional codes for $N$-state quantum systems. Using these general methods, I construct a quantum convolutional code of rate 1/4, which can correct one quantum error for every eight consecutive quantum registers.
A family of high rate quantum error correcting codes adapted to the amplitude damping channel is presented. These codes are nonadditive and exploit self-complementarity structure to correct all first-order errors. Their rates can be higher than 1/2. The recovery operations of these codes can be generated by a simple algorithm and have a projection nature, which makes them potentially easy to implement.
It is shown that the noise process in quantum computation can be described by spatially correlated decoherence and dissipation. We demonstrate that the conventional quantum error correcting codes correcting for single-qubit errors are applicable for reducing spatially correlated noise.
We present sparse graph codes appropriate for use in quantum error-correction. Quantum error-correcting codes based on sparse graphs are of interest for three reasons. First, the best codes currently known for classical channels are based on sparse graphs. Second, sparse graph codes keep the number of quantum interactions associated with the quantum error correction process small: a constant number per quantum bit, independent of the blocklength. Third, sparse graph codes often offer great flexibility with respect to blocklength and rate. We believe some of the codes we present are unsurpassed…
In this paper we introduce a general fault-tolerant quantum error correction protocol using flag circuits for measuring stabilizers of arbitrary distance codes. In addition to extending flag error correction beyond distance-three codes for the first time, our protocol also applies to a broader class of distance-three codes than was previously known. Flag circuits use extra ancilla qubits to signal when errors resulting from $v$ faults in the circuit have weight greater than $v$. The flag error correction protocol is applicable to stabilizer codes of arbitrary distance which satisfy a set of co…
We introduce a purely graph-theoretical object, namely the coding clique, to construct quantum errorcorrecting codes. Almost all quantum codes constructed so far are stabilizer (additive) codes and the construction of nonadditive codes, which are potentially more efficient, is not as well understood as that of stabilizer codes. Our graphical approach provides a unified and classical way to construct both stabilizer and nonadditive codes. In particular we have explicitly constructed the optimal ((10,24,3)) code and a family of 1-error detecting nonadditive codes with the highest encoding rate s…
In many physical systems it is expected that environmental decoherence will exhibit an asymmetry between dephasing and relaxation that may result in qubits experiencing discrete phase errors more frequently than discrete bit errors. In the presence of such an error asymmetry, an appropriately asymmetric quantum code - that is, a code that can correct more phase errors than bit errors - will be more efficient than a traditional, symmetric quantum code. Here we construct fault tolerant circuits to convert between an asymmetric subsystem code and a symmetric subsystem code. We show that, for a mo…
We discuss the so-called mean king's problem, a retrodiction problem among non-commutative observables, in the context of error detection. Describing the king's measurement effectively by a single error operation, we give a solution of the mean king's problem using quantum error-correcting codes. The existence of a quantum error-correcting code from a solution is also presented.
We analyze the four dimensional toric code in a hyperbolic space and show that it has a classical error correction procedure which runs in almost linear time and can be parallelized to almost constant time, giving an example of a quantum LDPC code with linear rate and efficient error correction.
Entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes (EAQECCs) make use of pre-existing entanglement between the sender and receiver to boost the rate of transmission. It is possible to construct an EAQECC from any classical linear code, unlike standard QECCs which can only be constructed from dual-containing codes. Operator quantum error-correcting codes (OQECCs) allow certain errors to be corrected (or prevented) passively, reducing the complexity of the correction procedure. We combine these two extensions of standard quantum error correction into a unified entanglement-assisted quantum err…
Quantum error correcting codes (QECCs) in quantum communi- cation systems has been known to exhibit improved performance with the use of error-free entanglement bits (ebits). In practical situations, ebits inevitably suffer from errors, and as a result, the error-correcting capability of the code is diminished. Prior studies have proposed two different schemes as a solu- tion. One uses only one QECC to correct errors on the receiver's side (i.e., Bob) and on the sender's side (i.e., Alice). The other uses different QECCs on each side. In this paper, we present a method to correct errors on bot…
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…
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 present a general formalism for quantum error-correcting codes that encode both classical and quantum information (the EACQ formalism). This formalism unifies the entanglement-assisted formalism and classical error correction, and includes encoding, error correction, and decoding steps such that the encoded quantum and classical information can be correctly recovered by the receiver. We formally define this kind of quantum code using both stabilizer and symplectic language, and derive the appropriate error-correcting conditions. We give several examples to demonstrate the construction of su…
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.
