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arXiv:1004.0081 · Physical Review A

Limitations of quantum computing with Gaussian cluster states

Matthias Ohliger, Konrad Kieling, Jens Eisert

Published Oct 28, 2010• 93 citations
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Abstract

We discuss the potential and limitations of Gaussian cluster states for measurement-based quantum computing. Using a framework of Gaussian-projected entangled pair states, we show that no matter what Gaussian local measurements are performed on systems distributed on a general graph, transport and processing of quantum information are not possible beyond a certain influence region, except for exponentially suppressed corrections. We also demonstrate that even under arbitrary non-Gaussian local measurements, slabs of Gaussian cluster states of a finite width cannot carry logical quantum information, even if sophisticated encodings of qubits in continuous-variable systems are allowed for. This is proven by suitably contracting tensor networks representing infinite-dimensional quantum systems. The result can be seen as sharpening the requirements for quantum error correction and fault tolerance for Gaussian cluster states and points toward the necessity of non-Gaussian resource states for measurement-based quantum computing. The results can equally be viewed as referring to Gaussian quantum repeater networks.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.82.042336

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We discuss the potential and limitations of Gaussian cluster states for measurement-based quantum computing. Using a framework of Gaussian-projected entangled pair states, we show that no matter what Gaussian local measurements are performed on systems distributed on a general graph, transport and processing of quantum information are not possible beyond a certain influence region, except for exponentially suppressed corrections. We also demonstrate that even under arbitrary non-Gaussian local measurements, slabs of Gaussian cluster states of a finite width cannot carry logical quantum information, even if sophisticated encodings of qubits in continuous-variable systems are allowed for. This is proven by suitably contracting tensor networks representing infinite-dimensional quantum systems. The result can be seen as sharpening the requirements for quantum error correction and fault tolerance for Gaussian cluster states and points toward the necessity of non-Gaussian resource states for measurement-based quantum computing. The results can equally be viewed as referring to Gaussian quantum repeater networks.
We present strictly efficient schemes for scalable measurement-based quantum computing using continuous-variable systems: These schemes are based on suitable non-Gaussian resource states, ones that can be prepared using interactions of light with matter systems or even purely optically. Merely Gaussian measurements such as optical homodyning as well as photon counting measurements are required, on individual sites. These schemes overcome limitations posed by Gaussian cluster states, which are known not to be universal for quantum computations of unbounded length, unless one is willing to scale the degree of squeezing with the total system size. We establish a framework derived from tensor networks and matrix product states with infinite physical dimension and finite auxiliary dimension general enough to provide a framework for such schemes. Since in the discussed schemes the logical encoding is finite dimensional, tools of error correction are applicable. We also identify some further limitations for any continuous-variable computing scheme from which one can argue that no substantially easier ways of continuous-variable measurement-based computing than the presented one can exist.
Measurement-based quantum computation with continuous variables, which realizes computation by performing measurement and feedforward of measurement results on a large scale Gaussian cluster state, provides a feasible way to implement quantum computation. Quantum error correction is an essential procedure to protect quantum information in quantum computation and quantum communication. In this review, we briefly introduce the progress of measurement-based quantum computation and quantum error correction with continuous variables based on Gaussian cluster states. We also discuss the challenges in the fault-tolerant measurement-based quantum computation with continuous variables.
Fault-tolerant measurement-based quantum computing (MBQC) provides a compelling framework for fault-tolerant quantum computation, in which quantum information is processed through single-qubit measurements on a three-dimensional entangled resource known as cluster state. To date, this resource has been predominantly studied on Euclidean lattices, most notably in the Raussendorf-Harrington-Goyal (RHG) construction, which underlies topological fault tolerance in MBQC. In this work, we introduce the hyperbolic cluster state, a generalization of the three-dimensional cluster state to negatively curved geometries, obtained via the foliation of periodic hyperbolic lattices. We present an explicit construction of hyperbolic cluster states and investigate their fault-tolerant properties under a realistic circuit-level depolarizing noise model. Using large-scale numerical simulations, we perform memory experiments to characterize their logical error rates and decoding performance. Our results demonstrate that hyperbolic cluster states exhibit a fault-tolerance threshold comparable to that of the Euclidean RHG cluster state, while simultaneously supporting a constant encoding rate in the thermodynamic limit. This represents a substantial improvement in qubit overhead relative to conventional cluster-state constructions. These findings establish hyperbolic geometry as a powerful and experimentally relevant resource for scalable, fault-tolerant MBQC and open new avenues for leveraging negative curvature in quantum information processing.
A long-standing open question about Gaussian continuous-variable cluster states is whether they enable fault-tolerant measurement-based quantum computation. The answer is yes. Initial squeezing in the cluster above a threshold value of 20.5 dB ensures that errors from finite squeezing acting on encoded qubits are below the fault-tolerance threshold of known qubit-based error-correcting codes. By concatenating with one of these codes and using ancilla-based error correction, fault-tolerant measurement-based quantum computation of theoretically indefinite length is possible with finitely squeezed cluster states.
A study of the entanglement properties of Gaussian cluster states, proposed as a universal resource for continuous variable (CV) quantum computing is presented in this paper. The central aim is to compare mathematically idealized cluster states defined using quadrature eigenstates, which have infinite squeezing and cannot exist in nature, with Gaussian approximations that are experimentally accessible. Adopting widely used definitions, we first review the key concepts, by analysing a process of teleportation along a CV quantum wire in the language of matrix product states. Next we consider the bipartite entanglement properties of the wire, providing analytic results. We proceed to grid cluster states, which are universal for the qubit case. To extend our analysis of the bipartite entanglement, we adopt the entropic-entanglement width, a specialized entanglement measure introduced recently by Van den Nest et al (2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 150504), adapting their definition to the CV context. Finally, we consider the effects of photonic loss, extending our arguments to mixed states. Cumulatively our results point to key differences in the properties of idealized and Gaussian cluster states. Even modest loss rates are found to strongly limit the amount of entanglement. We discuss the implications for the potential of CV analogues for measurement-based quantum computation.
Continuous-variable (CV) cluster states are a universal quantum computing platform that has experimentally out-scaled qubit platforms by orders of magnitude. The implementation of CV cluster states uses multimode squeezed Gaussian states and fault tolerance thresholds for CV quantum computing have been predicted for realistic squeezing. An outstanding question has been whether any Gaussian state can be expressed as a cluster state. We show here that Gaussian states can present hidden entanglement, which is not captured by the corresponding cluster state graph and therefore invalidates this graph. Hidden entanglement vanishes in the infinite squeezing limit, which should therefore be used with extreme caution. We derive a general procedure to detect hidden entanglement in an arbitrary Gaussian state and validate it as a CV cluster state. These results are relevant to all experimental implementations of CV cluster states to date.