We discuss quantum two-block codes, a large class of CSS codes constructed from two commuting square matrices. Interesting families of such codes are generalized-bicycle (GB) codes and two-block group-algebra (2BGA) codes, where a cyclic group is replaced with an arbitrary finite group, generally non-abelian. We present code construction and give several expressions for code dimension, applicable depending on whether the constituent group is cyclic, abelian, or non-abelian. This gives a simple criterion for an essentially non-abelian 2BGA code guaranteed not to be permutation-equivalent to such a code based on an abelian group. We also give a lower bound on the distance which, in particular, applies to the case when a 2BGA code reduces to a hypergraph-product code constructed from a pair of classical group codes.
We discuss quantum two-block codes, a large class of CSS codes constructed from two commuting square matrices. Interesting families of such codes are generalized-bicycle (GB) codes and two-block group-algebra (2BGA) codes, where a cyclic group is replaced with an arbitrary finite group, generally non-abelian. We present code construction and give several expressions for code dimension, applicable depending on whether the constituent group is cyclic, abelian, or non-abelian. This gives a simple criterion for an essentially non-abelian 2BGA code guaranteed not to be permutation-equivalent to such a code based on an abelian group. We also give a lower bound on the distance which, in particular, applies to the case when a 2BGA code reduces to a hypergraph-product code constructed from a pair of classical group codes.
We consider quantum two-block group algebra (2BGA) codes, a family of smallest lifted-product (LP) codes. These codes are related to generalized-bicycle codes, except a cyclic group is replaced with an arbitrary finite group, generally non-Abelian. As special cases, 2BGA codes include a subset of square-matrix LP codes over Abelian groups, including quasicyclic codes, and all square-matrix hypergraph-product codes constructed from a pair of classical group codes. We establish criteria for permutation equivalence of 2BGA codes and give bounds for their parameters, both explicit and in relation to other quantum and classical codes. We also enumerate the optimal parameters of all inequivalent binary connected 2BGA codes with stabilizer generator weights $W\ensuremath{\le}8$, of length $n\ensuremath{\le}100$ for Abelian groups, and $n\ensuremath{\le}200$ for non-Abelian groups.
Generalizing the construction of two-block group algebra (2BGA) codes, we introduce a family of two-block quantum LDPC codes constructed using the action of a group on the cosets of its subgroup. This replaces the regular group actions of the earlier two-block constructions and significantly expands the search space, yielding new quantum LDPC codes outside the 2BGA family. Through a computer search, we identify several new quantum LDPC codes, including weight-6 codes with parameters [[48,8,6]], [[96,8,10]], and [[224,12,16]], as well as weight-8 codes with parameters [[84,16,8]], [[112,16,10]], [[128,16,12]], and [[168,16,15]]. Furthermore, we introduce a maximally packed syndrome extraction schedule of depth w+2, including initialization and measurement steps, for any code with a maximum stabilizer weight of w from our family. Under a standard circuit-level noise model, our codes, when decoded using BP-OSD, perform competitively with BB codes, achieving thresholds of ≈0.65% for the weight-6 family and ≈0.35% for the weight-8 family. Finally, we introduce a group-theoretic framework to generate sequences of graph-based covers of 2BGA codes, recovering and extending recent results on code constructions of this type.
Generalized Bicycle (GB) codes offer a compelling alternative to surface codes for quantum error correction. This paper focuses on (2,2)-Generalized Bicycle codes, constructed from pairs of binary circulant matrices with two non-zero elements per row. Leveraging a lower bound on their minimum distance, we construct three novel infinite families of optimal (2,2)-GB codes with parameters [[2n2, 2,n]], [[4r2, 2, 2r]], and [[(2t+1)2+1, 2, 2t+1]]. These families match the performance of Kitaev’s toric code and the best 2D weight-4 surface codes, reaching known theoretical limits. In particular, the second family breaks a long-held belief by providing optimal even-distance GB codes, previously deemed impossible. All are CSS codes derived from Cayley graphs. Recognizing that standard equivalence relations do not preserve their CSS structure, we introduce a CSS-preserving equivalence relation for rigorous comparison of Cayley graph-based CSS codes. Under this framework, the first two families are inequivalent to all previously known optimal weight-4 2D surface codes, while the third family is equivalent to the best-known odd-distance 2D surface code. Finally, we classify all extremal, non-equivalent (2, 2)-GB codes with length below 200 and present a comparison table with existing notable 2D weight-4 surface codes.
We study a weighted-shift formulation of bivariate bicycle group-algebra (BBGA) codes over finite group algebras. One binary shift acts by right multiplication and the other by left multiplication; associativity ensures that these shifts commute even for a nonabelian seed group. Bivariate polynomials in the shifts, including mixed monomials, therefore define CSS codes. We give explicit sparsity bounds and distinguish nonabelian seed groups from codes that are intrinsically inequivalent to abelian realizations. For D3, a pair of weighted permutation shifts generates a regular C6×C12 action and recovers the known [[144,12,12]] and [[144,14,14]] bivariate bicycle codes. We also present a computer-verified [[144,16,12]] code over A4×C6, with every check of weight eight. This example belongs to the established nonabelian two-block group-algebra family. Exhaustive low-weight enumeration and an intrinsic stabilizer-support invariant certify that it is inequivalent to any ordinary abelian BB or two-block group-algebra realization, even under qubit permutations combined with local Clifford operations. Finally, a nonuniform weighted-shift construction over F2[C3] yields a [[18,4,3]] code with check weights six and eight. An exact enumeration of its minimum stabilizer supports rules out every ordinary binary 2BGA realization at that length, under the same equivalence. This establishes that the unrestricted weighted-shift formulation extends beyond the ordinary 2BGA class, even with an abelian seed group.
Code surgery measures a logical operator of a quantum LDPC code with O(d) rounds of syndrome extraction. Lifted surgery amortises this cost on Abelian group-algebra codes by measuring an orbit of logical operators under a translation symmetry in one merged code. We extend it to two-block group-algebra codes over non-Abelian groups and ask whether non-commutativity lets one merged code measure more operators than any Abelian group of its symmetries. We classify the block-affine automorphisms of these codes and find that, measured against this full group, most apparent non-Abelian gains disappear. We prove that the gain is at most the index of a largest Abelian subgroup. We find codes with exact distance up to 13 where the gain is two, including codes in which one merged code reads out every logical qubit, and codes over products of A4, S4 and SL(2,3) with gain three for a best logical, up to [[336,26,12]]. A merged-distance lemma gives a simple condition for the gadget to preserve the code distance. In circuit-level simulations with Relay-BP decoding, at the error rates we can resolve, the non-Abelian gadget is as reliable as, or more reliable than, the Abelian gadgets it replaces within statistical error, while using two to three times fewer rounds.
Extending the classical theory of two-dimensional cyclic codes, we develop an algebraic approach to bivariate bicycle codes. Using Frobenius-orbit idempotents, formulas for logical dimensions are derived and lower bounds on minimum distances are established. A systematic theory of code symmetries is formulated to construct a structured block-monomial subgroup of coordinate permutations. Several explicit examples show how to generate these codes from first principles without relying on numerical searches. An appendix extends the analysis to BCH-based product constructions.