Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) codes encode a qubit in displaced phase-space combs of a continuous-variable (CV) quantum system and are useful for correcting a variety of high-weight photonic errors. Here we propose atomic ensemble analogs of the single-mode CV GKP code by using the quantum central limit theorem to pull back the phase-space structure of a CV system to the compact phase space of a quantum spin system. We study the optimal recovery performance of these codes under error channels described by stochastic relaxation and isotropic ballistic dephasing processes using the diversity combining approach for calculating channel fidelity. We find that the spin GKP codes outperform other spin system codes such as cat codes or binomial codes. Our spin GKP codes based on the two-axis countertwisting interaction and superpositions of SU(2) coherent states are direct spin analogs of the finite-energy CV GKP codes, whereas our codes based on one-axis twisting do not yet have well-studied CV analogs. A state preparation scheme for the spin GKP codes is proposed which uses the linear-combination-of-unitaries method, applicable to both the CV and spin GKP settings. Finally, we discuss a fault-tolerant approximate gate set for quantum computing with spin-GKP-encoded qubits, obtained by translating gates from the CV GKP setting using the quantum central limit theorem.
Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) codes encode a qubit in displaced phase-space combs of a continuous-variable (CV) quantum system and are useful for correcting a variety of high-weight photonic errors. Here we propose atomic ensemble analogs of the single-mode CV GKP code by using the quantum central limit theorem to pull back the phase-space structure of a CV system to the compact phase space of a quantum spin system. We study the optimal recovery performance of these codes under error channels described by stochastic relaxation and isotropic ballistic dephasing processes using the diversity combining approach for calculating channel fidelity. We find that the spin GKP codes outperform other spin system codes such as cat codes or binomial codes. Our spin GKP codes based on the two-axis countertwisting interaction and superpositions of SU(2) coherent states are direct spin analogs of the finite-energy CV GKP codes, whereas our codes based on one-axis twisting do not yet have well-studied CV analogs. A state preparation scheme for the spin GKP codes is proposed which uses the linear-combination-of-unitaries method, applicable to both the CV and spin GKP settings. Finally, we discuss a fault-tolerant approximate gate set for quantum computing with spin-GKP-encoded qubits, obtained by translating gates from the CV GKP setting using the quantum central limit theorem.
In order to solve practical problems on a quantum computer, it is necessary to use fault-tolerant quantum error correction schemes to overcome noise: the errors arising from imperfections in physical components. The Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) code aims at achieving this in a hardware efficient manner by encoding finite-dimensional logical subspaces in the Hilbert space of one or more continuous variable modes. In near term implementations, however, it is not feasible to eliminate errors entirely, so it is natural to also employ alternative error mitigation techniques together with error correction. In this work, we study a quantum error mitigation method known as probabilistic error cancellation in the context of the GKP code. We compare Steane-type and teleportation-based GKP error correction, and calculate the sampling overheads associated with the technique for square and hexagonal GKP codes. We employ the stabilizer subsystem decomposition for GKP codes to obtain an effective logical channel for noisy operations that is used to express the ideal one of a target logical unitary. We consider noise from finite squeezing on the data and the two ancilla modes, needed for error correction, and examine the relationship between the sampling overhead and the noise for different decoding methods. Our results are calculated for single- and two-qubit GKP Clifford gates and one round of error correction, and show the nontrivial combination of error correction and mitigation in continuous variable codes.
Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) encoding holds promise for continuous-variable fault-tolerant quantum computing. While an ideal GKP encoding is abstract and impractical due to its nonphysical nature, approximate versions provide viable alternatives. Conventional approximate GKP codewords are superpositions of multiple large-amplitude squeezed coherent states. This feature ensures correctability against single-photon loss and dephasing at short times, but also increases the difficulty of preparing the codewords. To minimize this tradeoff, we utilize a neural network to generate optimal approximate GKP states, allowing effective error correction with just a few squeezed coherent states. We find that such optimized GKP codes outperform the best conventional ones, requiring fewer squeezed coherent states, while maintaining simple and generalized stabilizer operators. Specifically, the former outperform the latter with just one-third of the number of squeezed coherent states at a squeezing level of 9.55 dB. This optimization drastically decreases the complexity of codewords while improving error correctability.
The Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (gkp) quantum error-correcting code attracts much attention in continuous variable (CV) quantum computation and CV quantum communication due to the simplicity of error-correcting routines and the high tolerance against Gaussian errors. Since the gkp code state should be regarded as a limit of physically meaningful approximate ones, various approximations have been developed until today, but explicit relations among them are still unclear. In this paper, we rigorously prove the equivalence of these approximate gkp codes with an explicit correspondence of the parameters. We also propose a standard form of the approximate code states in the position representation, which enables us to derive closed-form expressions for the Wigner function, inner products, and the average photon number in terms of the theta functions. Our results serve as fundamental tools for further analyses of fault-tolerant quantum computation and channel coding using approximate gkp codes.
The Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) encoding of a qubit into a bosonic mode is a promising bosonic code for quantum computation due to its tolerance for noise and all-Gaussian gate set. We present a toolkit for phase-space description and manipulation of GKP encodings that includes Wigner functions for ideal and approximate GKP states, for various types of mixed GKP states, and for GKP-encoded operators. One advantage of a phase-space approach is that Gaussian unitaries, required for computation with GKP codes, correspond to simple transformations on the arguments of Wigner functions. We use this fact and our toolkit to describe GKP error correction, including magic-state preparation, entirely in phase space using operations on Wigner functions. While our focus here is on the square-lattice GKP code, we provide a general framework for GKP codes defined on any lattice.
The continuous-variable (CV) Gaussian no-go theorem fundamentally limits the suppression of Gaussian displacement errors using only Gaussian gates and states. Prior studies have employed Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) states as ancillary qumodes to suppress small Gaussian displacement errors, but when the displacement magnitude becomes large, lattice-crossing events arise beyond the correctable range of the GKP state. To address this issue, we concatenate a Gaussian-noise-suppression circuit with an outer analog Steane code that corrects such occasional lattice-crossing events as well as other abrupt displacement errors. Unlike conventional concatenation, which primarily aims to reduce logical error rates, the Steane-GKP duality in encoding provides complementary protection against both large and small displacement errors, enabling CV error correction within the continuous encoding space and contrasting with earlier approaches that concatenate GKP states with repetition codes for discrete qubit or qudit encodings. Analytical results show that, under infinite squeezing, the concatenated code suppresses the variance of Gaussian displacement errors across all qumodes by up to 50 percent while enabling unbiased correction of lattice-crossing events, with a success probability determined by the ratio between the residual Gaussian error standard deviation and the lattice-crossing magnitude. Even with finite squeezing, the proposed architecture continues to provide Gaussian-error suppression together with lattice-crossing correction, and the presence of the outer analog Steane code relaxes the squeezing requirement of the inner GKP states, indicating near-term experimental feasibility. This work establishes a viable route toward fault-tolerant continuous-variable quantum computation and provides new insight into the design of concatenated CV error-correcting architectures.
GKP states, introduced by Gottesman, Kitaev, and Preskill, are continuous variable logical qubits that can be corrected for errors caused by phase space displacements. Their experimental realization is challenging, in particular, using propagating fields, where quantum information is encoded in the quadratures of the electromagnetic field. However, traveling photons are essential in many applications of GKP codes involving the long-distance transmission of quantum information. We introduce a new method for encoding GKP states in propagating fields using single photons, each occupying a distinct auxiliary mode given by the propagation direction. The GKP states are defined as highly correlated states described by collective continuous modes, as time and frequency. We analyze how the error detection and correction protocol scales with the total photon number and the spectral width. We show that the obtained code can be corrected for displacements in time-frequency phase space, which correspond to dephasing, or rotations, in the quadrature phase space and to photon losses. Most importantly, we show that generating two-photon GKP states is relatively simple, and that such states are currently produced and manipulated in several photonic platforms where frequency and time-bin biphoton entangled states can be engineered.