Stabilizer codes lie at the heart of modern quantum-error-correcting codes (QECCs). Of particular importance is a class called Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes, which includes many important examples such as toric codes, color codes, and fractons. Recent studies have revealed that the decoding transition for these QECCs could be intrinsically captured by calculating information-theoretic quantities from the mixed state. Here we perform a simple analytic calculation of the coherent information for general CSS codes under local incoherent Pauli errors via diagonalization of the density matrices and mapping to classical statistical mechanical (SM) models. Our result establishes a rigorous connection between the decoding transition of the quantum code and the phase transition in the random classical SM model. It is also directly confirmed for CSS codes that exact error correction is possible if and only if the maximum-likelihood decoder always succeeds in the thermodynamic limit. Thus, the fundamental threshold is saturated by the optimal decoder.
Stabilizer codes lie at the heart of modern quantum-error-correcting codes (QECCs). Of particular importance is a class called Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes, which includes many important examples such as toric codes, color codes, and fractons. Recent studies have revealed that the decoding transition for these QECCs could be intrinsically captured by calculating information-theoretic quantities from the mixed state. Here we perform a simple analytic calculation of the coherent information for general CSS codes under local incoherent Pauli errors via diagonalization of the density matrices and mapping to classical statistical mechanical (SM) models. Our result establishes a rigorous connection between the decoding transition of the quantum code and the phase transition in the random classical SM model. It is also directly confirmed for CSS codes that exact error correction is possible if and only if the maximum-likelihood decoder always succeeds in the thermodynamic limit. Thus, the fundamental threshold is saturated by the optimal decoder.
We consider the problem of a generic stabilizer Hamiltonian under local, incoherent Pauli errors. Using two different approaches -- (i) Haah's polynomial formalism arXiv:1204.1063 and (ii) the homological perspective on CSS codes -- we construct a mapping from the nth moment of the decohered ground state density matrix to a classical statistical mechanics model. We demonstrate that various measures of information capacity -- (i) quantum relative entropy, (ii) coherent information, and (iii) entanglement negativity -- map to thermodynamic quantities in the statistical mechanics model and can be used to characterize the decoding phase transition. As examples, we analyze the 3D toric code and X-cube model, deriving bounds on their optimal decoding thresholds and gaining insight into their information properties under decoherence. Additionally, we demonstrate that the SM mapping acts an an "ungauging" map; the classical models that describe a given code under decoherence also can be gauged to obtain the same code. Finally, we comment on correlated errors and non-CSS stabilizer codes.
Among various classes of quantum error correcting codes (QECCs), non-stabilizer codes have rich properties and are of theoretical and practical interest. Decoding non-stabilizer codes is, however, a highly non-trivial task. In this paper, we show that a decoding circuit for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes can be straightforwardly extended to handle general QECCs. The key to the extension lies in the use of a pair of classical-quantum (CQ) codes associated with the QECC to be decoded. The decoding error of the proposed decoding circuit depends on the classical decoding errors of the CQ codes and their degree of complementarity. We demonstrate the power of the decoding circuit in a toy model of the black hole information paradox, improving decoding errors compared to previous results. In addition, we reveal that black hole dynamics may optimally encode quantum information but poorly encode classical information.
Abstract Quantum error correction (QEC) is the core mechanism enabling scalable and fault-tolerant quantum computation. Among various QEC schemes, Calderbank–Shor–Steane (CSS) codes play a central role. Efficiently verifying whether a quantum state remains within the target CSS code subspace is therefore essential both for understanding the theoretical performance of these codes and for assessing the error-correcting capability of practical quantum platforms. In this work, we develop an efficient framework for verifying whether a quantum system remains within the encoded subspace of a CSS code. We first show that the stabilizer structure of any CSS code can be mapped to a two-colorable graph, enabling the design of a hybrid verification strategy based solely on local Pauli measurements. We further analytically optimize the measurement probabilities and derive the resulting sample complexities for representative CSS codes. Specifically, for the Toric code, the efficiency of our hybrid strategy increases with lattice size and asymptotically approaches near-optimal performance. These results establish a unified and scalable approach to CSS code subspace verification, providing a foundation for certifiable and fault-tolerant quantum information processing.
Quantum error correction (QEC) codes protect quantum information from errors due to decoherence. Many of them also serve as prototypical models for exotic topological quantum matters. Investigating the behavior of the QEC codes under decoherence sheds light on not only the codes' robustness against errors but also new out-of-equilibrium quantum phases driven by decoherence. The phase transitions, including the error threshold, of the decohered QEC codes can be probed by the systems' R\'enyi entropies SR with different R\'enyi indices R. In this paper, we study the general construction of the statistical models that characterize the R\'enyi entropies of QEC codes decohered by Pauli noise. We show that these statistical models can be organized into a ``tapestry'' woven by rich duality relations among them. For Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes with bit-flip and phase-flip errors, we show that each R\'enyi entropy is captured by a pair of dual statistical models with randomness. For $R=2,3,\ensuremath{\infty}$, there are additional dualities that map between the two error types, relating the critical bit-flip and phase-flip error rates of the decoherence-induced phase transitions in the CSS codes. For CSS codes with an ``em symmetry'' between the X-type and the Z-type stabilizers, the dualities with $R=2,3,\ensuremath{\infty}$ become self-dualities with super-universal self-dual error rates. These self-dualities strongly constrain the phase transitions of the code signaled by ${S}_{R=2,3,\ensuremath{\infty}}$. For general stabilizer codes decohered by generic Pauli noise, we also construct the statistical models that characterize the systems' entropies and obtain general duality relations between Pauli noise with different error rates.
The toric code is a canonical example of a topological error-correcting code. Two logical qubits stored within the toric code are robust against local decoherence, ensuring that these qubits can be faithfully retrieved as long as the error rate remains below a certain threshold. Recent studies have explored such a threshold behavior as an intrinsic information-theoretic transition, independent of the decoding protocol. These studies have shown that information-theoretic metrics, calculated using the Renyi (replica) approximation, demonstrate sharp transitions at a specific error rate. However, an exact analytic expression that avoids using the replica trick has not been shown, and the connection between the transition in information-theoretic capacity and the random bond Ising model (RBIM) has only been indirectly established. In this Letter, we present the first analytic expression for the coherent information of a decohered toric code, thereby establishing a rigorous connection between the fundamental error threshold and the criticality of the RBIM.
The goal of quantum metrology is to estimate an unknown parameter with better-than-classical precision and, ideally, to attain Heisenberg scaling. In realistic settings, however, noise can substantially reduce this advantage and, in many cases, restore standard-quantum-limit-like performance. Preserving the quantum enhancement therefore requires noise-robust strategies, which can be implemented using quantum error correction. In this work, we develop and analyze a quantum-metrology protocol based on Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes. The main result is that, for noise perpendicular to the sensing Hamiltonian, discrete-time error correction preserves Heisenberg-like temporal scaling over a finite interrogation-time window whose duration depends on the correction frequency. It is further shown that recovery applied only after the sensing evolution provides no metrological advantage over the corresponding uncorrected noisy protocol in the setup considered here. An analytical framework is developed for arbitrary CSS codes and applied to the Steane and Shor codes, for which the discrete-time corrected dynamics, the Heisenberg-like-to-SQL-like crossover, and the optimal interrogation time are determined and numerically analysed.