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arXiv:1101.6028 · Physical Review Letters

Localization of Toric Code Defects

Cyril Stark, Lode Pollet, Ataç İmamoğlu, Renato Renner

Published Jul 14, 2011• 50 citations
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Abstract

We explore the possibility of passive error correction in the toric code model. We first show that even coherent dynamics, stemming from spin interactions or the coupling to an external magnetic field, lead to logical errors. We then argue that Anderson localization of the defects, arising from unavoidable fluctuations of the coupling constants, provides a remedy. This protection is demonstrated by using general analytical arguments that are complemented with numerical results which show that self-correcting memory can in principle be achieved in the limit of a nonzero density of identical defects.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.107.030504

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We explore the possibility of passive error correction in the toric code model. We first show that even coherent dynamics, stemming from spin interactions or the coupling to an external magnetic field, lead to logical errors. We then argue that Anderson localization of the defects, arising from unavoidable fluctuations of the coupling constants, provides a remedy. This protection is demonstrated by using general analytical arguments that are complemented with numerical results which show that self-correcting memory can in principle be achieved in the limit of a nonzero density of identical defects.
A physical realization of self-correcting quantum code would be profoundly useful for constructing a quantum computer. In this theoretical work, we provide a partial solution to major challenges preventing self-correcting quantum code from being engineered in realistic devices. We consider a variant of Kitaev's toric code coupled to propagating bosons, which induce a ranged interaction between anyonic defects. By coupling the primary quantum system to an engineered dissipation source through resonant energy transfer, we demonstrate a ``rate barrier'' which leads to a potentially enormous increase in the system's quantum-state lifetime through purely passive quantum error correction, even when coupled to an infinite-temperature bath. While our mechanism is not scalable to infinitely large systems, the maximum effective size can be very large, and it is fully compatible with active error-correction schemes. Our model uses only on-site and nearest-neighbor interactions and could be implemented in superconducting qubits. We sketch one such implementation at the end of this work.
Alexei Kitaev's toric code is a rich model, that has birthed and stimulated the development of topological quantum computing, error correction, and field theory. It was also the first example of a quantum error correcting code that could resiliently store quantum information in certain types of noisy environments without the need for active error correction. Unfortunately, the toric code loses much of its power as a noise-resilient quantum memory at any finite temperature. Many of the problems with the toric code at finite temperature are likewise shared among its cousin stabilizer codes. These problems can be traced to the proliferation of stringlike ``defects'' in these codes at finite temperature. The aim of this thesis is then twofold.First, I characterize both numerically and theoretically the failure modes of the toric code at finite temperature with fairly modest bath assumptions. I achieve this by numerically sampling the nonequilibrium dynamics of the toric code using a continuous time monte carlo algorithm. From this analysis, I was able to derive an exact expression for the low and high temperature dynamics of the toric code, as well as a regime over which the toric code is ``most'' stable to noise.Secondly, by leveraging the results of this analysis, I construct algorithms that aim to suppress these noise channels. These algorithms are broadly separated into measurement-free and few-measurement protocols. The measurement-free algorithms are reminiscent of dynamical-decoupling pulse sequences, applied in parallel or in serial to a target stabilizer code, and are entirely unitary. I find that measurement-free algorithms can provide a constant factor increase to the lifetime of a large class of stabilizer codes at finite temperature. The few-measurement protocols are more complex, but I provide evidence that they can provide a threshold for the toric code with asymptotically fewer measurements than was previously known to be achievable.
We discuss the existence of stable topological quantum memory at finite temperature. At stake here is the fundamental question of whether it is, in principle, possible to store quantum information for macroscopic times without the intervention from the external world, that is, without error correction. We study the toric code in two dimensions with an additional bosonic field that couples to the defects, in the presence of a generic environment at finite temperature: the toric-boson model. Although the coupling constants for the bare model are not finite in the thermodynamic limit, the model has a finite spectrum. We show that in the topological phase, there is a finite temperature below which open strings are confined and therefore the lifetime of the memory can be made arbitrarily (polynomially) long in system size. The interaction with the bosonic field yields a long-range attractive force between the end points of open strings but leaves closed strings and topological order intact.
Anderson localization emerges in quantum systems when randomized parameters cause the exponential suppression of motion. Here we consider this phenomenon in topological models and establish its usefulness for protecting topologically encoded quantum information. For concreteness we employ the toric code. It is known that in the absence of a magnetic field this can tolerate a finite initial density of anyonic errors, but in the presence of a field anyonic quantum walks are induced and the tolerable density becomes zero. However, if the disorder inherent in the code is taken into account, we demonstrate that the induced localization allows the topological quantum memory to regain a finite critical anyon density and the memory to remain stable for arbitrarily long times. We anticipate that disorder inherent in any physical realization of topological systems will help to strengthen the fault tolerance of quantum memories.
We classify different ways to passively protect classical and quantum information, i.e., we do not allow for syndrome measurements, in the context of local Lindblad models for spin systems. Within this family of models, we suggest that passive error correction is associated with nontrivial phases of matter and propose a definition for dissipative phases based on robust steady-state degeneracy of a Lindbladian in the thermodynamic limit. We study three thermalizing models in this context: the two-dimensional (2D) Ising model, the 2D toric code, and the 4D toric code. In the low-temperature phase, the 2D Ising model hosts a robust classical steady-state degeneracy, while the 4D toric code hosts a robust quantum steady-state degeneracy. We perturb the models with terms that violate detailed balance and observe that qualitative features remain unchanged, suggesting that Z2{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}Z2​ symmetry breaking in a Lindbladian is useful to protect a classical bit while intrinsic topological order protects a qubit.