The conventional circuit paradigm, utilizing a small set of gates to construct arbitrary quantum circuits, is hindered by significant noise. In the quantum Fourier transform, for instance, the standard gate paradigm employs two CNOT gates for the partial CPhase. In contrast, some quantum computers can directly implement such operations using their native interaction, resulting in less noisy gates. Unfortunately, coherent errors degrade the performance of these gates. In Clifford gates such as the CNOT, these errors can be addressed through randomized compiling (RC). However, RC does not apply to the non-Clifford multi-qubit native implementations described above. The present work introduces and experimentally demonstrates a technique called ‘Pseudo Twirling’ (PST) to address coherent errors. We demonstrate experimentally that integrating PST with the ‘Adaptive KIK’ quantum error mitigation method enables the simultaneous mitigation of noise and coherent errors in multi-qubit non-Clifford gates.
The conventional circuit paradigm, utilizing a small set of gates to construct arbitrary quantum circuits, is hindered by significant noise. In the quantum Fourier transform, for instance, the standard gate paradigm employs two CNOT gates for the partial CPhase. In contrast, some quantum computers can directly implement such operations using their native interaction, resulting in less noisy gates. Unfortunately, coherent errors degrade the performance of these gates. In Clifford gates such as the CNOT, these errors can be addressed through randomized compiling (RC). However, RC does not apply to the non-Clifford multi-qubit native implementations described above. The present work introduces and experimentally demonstrates a technique called ‘Pseudo Twirling’ (PST) to address coherent errors. We demonstrate experimentally that integrating PST with the ‘Adaptive KIK’ quantum error mitigation method enables the simultaneous mitigation of noise and coherent errors in multi-qubit non-Clifford gates.
Quantum error mitigation (QEM) schemes have greatly enhanced the performance of quantum computers, mostly by reducing errors caused by interactions with the environment. Nevertheless, the presence of coherence errors, typically arising from miscalibration and interqubit crosstalk, is a significant challenge to the scalability of quantum computing. Such errors are often addressed using a refined Pauli twirling scheme called randomized compiling (RC) that converts the coherent errors into incoherent errors that can then be mitigated by conventional QEM. Unfortunately for multiqubit gates, RC is restricted to Clifford gates such as cnot and cphase. However, it has been demonstrated experimentally that a direct implementation of multiqubit non-Clifford gates, i.e., without using multiqubit Clifford gates, has reduced the depth of the circuit by a factor of four and more. Recently, a framework called pseudotwirling (PST) for treating coherent error in multiqubit non-Clifford gates has been introduced and experimentally demonstrated. We show analytically that a higher-order correction to the existing PST theory yields an over-rotation coherent error generated by the PST protocol itself. This PST effect has no analog in RC. Although the small induced over-rotation can amount to a significant coherent error in deep circuits, we explain why it does not degrade the performance of the gate. Interestingly, we find that a simplified twirling scheme that was introduced and exploited experimentally by Kim et al. also displays an induced over-rotation. We study the conditions under which the two twirling schemes display the same over-rotation behavior.
Abstract Quantum noise limits the reliability of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. Quantum error mitigation (QEM) provides a near-term path to improved accuracy, with randomized compiling (RC) serving as a key technique for transforming arbitrary gate noise into a stochastic Pauli form. However, its sampling complexity grows exponentially with circuit depth, hindering practical use. We introduce twirling scheduling (TS), which groups gate cycles into configurable units twirled collectively. By incorporating pseudo-twirling for non-Clifford gates, TS reduces the sampling-space dimension, mitigating this exponential scaling. Our theoretical analysis provides rigorous error bounds. Numerical simulations on Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm circuits up to 50 layers show that TS reduces estimation error by approximately 62% compared to conventional RC under a very small sampling budget and maintains superior performance when combined with established QEM protocols, including zero-noise extrapolation, Clifford data regression, and virtual distillation. TS thus offers a scalable, practical advance for error-mitigated quantum computation on NISQ hardware.
Group twirling is crucial in quantum information processing, particularly in randomized benchmarking and randomized compiling. While protocols based on Pauli twirling have been effectively crafted to transform arbitrary noise channels into Pauli channels for Clifford gates—thereby facilitating efficient benchmarking and mitigating worst-case errors—the lack of practical twirling groups for multiqubit non-Clifford gates remains a challenge. To address this gap, we study the issue of finding twirling groups for generic quantum gates, focusing on a widely used circuit structure in randomized benchmarking or randomized compiling. Specifically, for multiqubit controlled phase gates, which are essential in quantum algorithms and directly implementable in practice, we determine optimal twirling groups within the realm of classically replaceable unitary operations. Contrasting with the local Pauli twirling group for Clifford gates, the optimal groups for such gates contain nonlocal operations, highlighting the overhead of tailoring noise in global non-Clifford contexts. We design new benchmarking procedures for multiqubit controlled phase gates based on the optimal twirling groups. Our simulation results show that our scheme can improve the precision and accuracy of benchmarking in small-scale systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Quantum Error Mitigation is essential for enhancing the reliability of quantum computing experiments. The adaptive KIK error mitigation method has demonstrated significant advantages, including resilience to temporal noise drifts, applicability to non-Clifford gates, and guaranteed performance bounds. However, its reliance on global noise amplification introduces limitations, such as incompatibility with mid-circuit measurements and dynamic circuits, as well as small residual errors due to unaccounted high-order Magnus noise terms. In this work, we propose a layer-based noise amplification approach that overcomes these challenges without incurring additional overhead or experimental complexity. Since the Layered KIK method is inherently compatible with mid-circuit measurements, it enables seamless integration with quantum error correction codes. This synergy allows error correction to address dominant noise mechanisms, while the Layered KIK suppresses residual errors arising from leakage and correlated noise sources. Similarly, for reducing sampling costs, Layered KIK can be combined with complementary mitigation methods for providing drift resilience and broadening the range of addressable errors.
Quantum Error Mitigation is essential for enhancing the reliability of quantum computing experiments. The adaptive KIK error mitigation method has demonstrated significant advantages, including resilience to temporal noise drifts, applicability to non-Clifford gates, and guaranteed performance bounds. However, its reliance on global noise amplification introduces limitations, such as incompatibility with mid-circuit measurements and dynamic circuits, as well as small residual errors due to unaccounted high-order Magnus noise terms. In this work, we propose a layer-based noise amplification approach that overcomes these challenges without incurring additional overhead or experimental complexity. Since the Layered KIK method is inherently compatible with mid-circuit measurements, it enables seamless integration with quantum error correction codes. This synergy allows error correction to address dominant noise mechanisms, while the Layered KIK suppresses residual errors arising from leakage and correlated noise sources. Similarly, for reducing sampling costs, Layered KIK can be combined with complementary mitigation methods for providing drift resilience and broadening the range of addressable errors.
Crosstalk and several forms of coherent noise are invisible when a qubit or a gate is calibrated or benchmarked in isolation. These are unlocked during the execution of a full quantum circuit applying entangling gates to several qubits simultaneously. Unitary crosstalk noise, such as an unwanted Z-Z coupling, limits the state fidelity during the execution of cross-resonance controlled-not (cnot) gates in superconductor quantum computers. This work presents (1) a method of tracing coherent errors by exploiting their sensitivity to the arrangement of cnot gates in the circuit and (2) a correction scheme that modifies the original circuit by inserting carefully the chosen compensating gates (single- or two-qubit) to possibly undo coherent errors. On two vastly different types of IBMQ processors offering quantum volume 8 to 32, our experimental results show up to 25% reduction in the infidelity of [[7,1,3]] code $|+\ensuremath{\rangle}$ state (Clifford circuits) and five- to 15-qubit W states (non-Clifford circuits). Our experimental circuits aggressively deploy forced commutation of cnot gates to obtain low-noise state-preparation circuits. An encoded state initialized with fewer errors marks an important step towards successful demonstration of fault-tolerant quantum computers.