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.
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 …
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.
Error-correcting codes are usually envisioned to counter errors by operating unitary corrections depending on the projective measurement results of some syndrome observables. We here propose a way to use them in a more integrated way, where the error correction is applied continuously and autonomously by an engineered environment. We focus on a proposal for the repetition code that counters bit-flip errors, and how to scale up the network encoding a logical quantum bit, towards stronger information protection. The challenge has been to devise a network architecture which allows to autonomously…
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…
This is a short introduction to quantum computers, quantum algorithms and quantum error correcting codes. Familiarity with the principles of quantum theory is assumed. Emphasis is put on a concise presentation of the principles avoiding lengthy discussions.
A formulation for evaluating the performance of quantum error correcting codes for a general error model is presented. In this formulation, the correlation between errors is quantified by a Hamiltonian description of the noise process. We classify correlated errors using the system-bath interaction: local versus nonlocal and two-body versus many-body interactions. In particular, we consider Calderbank-Shor-Steane codes and observe a better performance in the presence of correlated errors depending on the timing of the error recovery. We also find this timing to be an important factor in the de…
Collective decoherence is possible if the departure between quantum bits is smaller than the effective wave length of the noise field. Collectivity in the decoherence helps us to devise more efficient quantum codes. We present a class of optimal quantum codes for preventing collective amplitude damping to a reservoir at zero temperature. It is shown that two qubits are enough to protect one bit quantum information, and approximately $L+ 1/2 \log_2((πL)/2)$ qubits are enough to protect $L$ qubit information when $L$ is large. For preventing collective amplitude damping, these codes are much mor…
In this thesis we describe methods for avoiding the detrimental effects of decoherence while at the same time still allowing for computation of the quantum information. The philosophy of the method discussed in the first part of this thesis is to use a symmetry of the decoherence mechanism to find robust encodings of the quantum information. Stability, control, and methods for using decoherence-free information in a quantum computer are presented with a specific emphasis on decoherence due to a collective coupling between the system and its environment. Universal quantum computation on such co…
Any physical quantum device for quantum information processing is subject to errors in implementation. In order to be reliable and efficient, quantum computers will need error correcting or error avoiding methods. Fault-tolerance achieved through quantum error correction will be an integral part of quantum computers. Of the many methods that have been discovered to implement it, a highly successful approach has been to use transversal gates and specific initial states. A critical element for its implementation is the availability of high-fidelity initial states such as |0> and the Magic State.…
Leakage is a particularly damaging error that occurs when a qubit leaves the defined computational subspace. Leakage errors limit the effectiveness of quantum error correcting codes by spreading additional errors to other qubits and corrupting syndrome measurements. The effects of leakage errors on the surface code has been studied in various contexts. However, the effects of a leaked data qubit versus a leaked ancilla qubit can be quite different. Here, we study the effects of data leakage and ancilla leakage separately. We show that data leakage is much less damaging. We show that the surfac…
We study the properties of error correcting codes for noise models in the presence of asymmetries and/or correlations by means of the entanglement fidelity and the code entropy. First, we consider a dephasing Markovian memory channel and characterize the performance of both a repetition code and an error avoiding code in terms of the entanglement fidelity. We also consider the concatenation of such codes and show that it is especially advantageous in the regime of partial correlations. Finally, we characterize the effectiveness of the codes and their concatenation by means of the code entropy …