Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2505.20261

Hardware-tailored logical Clifford circuits for stabilizer codes

Eric J. Kuehnke, Kyano Levi, Joschka Roffe, Jens Eisert, Miller, Daniel

Published May 26, 2025• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum error correction is the art of protecting fragile quantum information through suitable encoding and active interventions. After encoding $k$ logical qubits into $n>k$ physical qubits using a stabilizer code, this amounts to measuring stabilizers, decoding syndromes, and applying an appropriate correction. Although quantum information can be protected in this way, it is notoriously difficult to manipulate encoded quantum data without introducing uncorrectable errors. Here, we introduce a mathematical framework for constructing hardware-tailored quantum circuits that implement any desired Clifford unitary on the logical level of any given stabilizer code. Our main contribution is the formulation of this task as a discrete optimization problem. We can explicitly integrate arbitrary hardware connectivity constraints. As a key feature, our framework naturally incorporates an optimization over all Clifford gauges (differing only in their action outside the code space) of a desired logical circuit. In this way, we find, for example, fault-tolerant and teleportation-free logical Hadamard circuits for the $[[8,3,2]]$ code. From a broader perspective, we turn away from the standard generator decomposition approach and instead focus on the holistic compilation of entire logical circuits, leading to significant savings in practice. Our work introduces both the necessary mathematics and open-source software to compile hardware-tailored logical Clifford circuits for stabilizer codes.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2505.20261

Related papers

Stabilizers for Compiling Logical Circuits under Hardware Constraints

Jack Weinberg, Narayanan Rengaswamy

To implement quantum algorithms on a quantum computer, we must overcome the twin problems of fault-tolerance -- how can we realize a relatively noiseless computation by cleverly combining noisy components? -- and compilation -- how can we realize an arbitrary quantum algorithm given the basic operations available on the quantum device at hand? We show how treating the former problem via error-correcting codes enables greater flexibility in resolving the latter. Specifically, we explicitly leverage the fact that error-correcting codes introduce redundancy which renders physically distinct operators logically indistinguishable. In terms of computation, it suffices to implement any operator logically equivalent to some target, yet from a compilation perspective, certain choices may be preferable to others. Our novel contribution is making this intuition precise in the general setting of the special unitary group. In particular, we describe how to reduce the problem of making a compilation-ideal choice to a least squares problem and provide a closed form solution thereof. Using our framework, it is possible to circumvent inserting costly swaps to adhere to hardware connectivity; instead, we could realize the logical target through a distinct physical Hamiltonian that is natively accessible. We elucidate our approach using the $[[4,2,2]]$ code. We discuss connections to compressed sensing that may pave the way to efficient compilation leveraging physical degrees of freedom.

quant-pharXiv:2604.25042•Apr 29, 2026•0 citations

From Syndromes to Computation: A General Framework for Logical Operations in Quantum Error-Correcting Codes

Hunter Nelson, Arshag Danageozian, ChunJun Cao +2 more

Fault-tolerant quantum computation requires error-correcting codes that not only protect quantum information but also support useful logical operations with practical physical realizations. Here we develop a general framework in which the stabilizer syndromes of commuting Pauli rotations directly organize logical-gate design. We derive an exact codespace-preservation condition valid at arbitrary rotation angles, providing a common stabilizer-level description for CSS and non-CSS codes and for both Clifford and non-Clifford operations. A particularly useful equal-syndrome specialization reduces Clifford gate design to stabilizer factorization, yields a general generator weight bound of $\lceil d/2\rceil$ for distance-$d$ codes, and systematically extends to logical rotations higher in the Clifford hierarchy. Applied to bivariate-bicycle (BB) and non-CSS Mirror qLDPC codes, the framework gives explicit low-weight Clifford and controlled-phase gates. Our implementations yield new low-weight gates, including an addressed $T$ gate on the $[[16,4,4]]$ BB code, $T$-type rotations on the $[[64,8,8]]$ BB code, and CCZ-, CS-, and $T$-type operations on the $[[36,6,6]]$ Mirror code. We also develop analytic constructions using Clifford algebra bases, which turn the syndrome constraints into explicit algebraic relations and provide a systematic route to logical addressability. We use this approach to analytically construct addressed CNOT, SWAP, controlled, and CCZ-type gates on recursive hypercube codes. An independent construction on middle quantum Reed--Muller codes yields C${}^r$Z gates that saturate the equal-syndrome weight bound. These results establish stabilizer syndromes as a constructive link between the stabilizer structure of a quantum code, the logical computations it can directly support, and the fault-tolerance properties of their physical realizations.

quant-pharXiv:2610.17612•Oct 14, 2026•0 citations

Synthesis of Logical Clifford Operators via Symplectic Geometry

Narayanan Rengaswamy, Robert Calderbank, Henry D. Pfister +1 more

Quantum error-correcting codes can be used to protect qubits involved in quantum computation. This requires that logical operators acting on protected qubits be translated to physical operators (circuits) acting on physical quantum states. We propose a mathematical framework for synthesizing physical circuits that implement logical Clifford operators for stabilizer codes. Circuit synthesis is enabled by representing the desired physical Clifford operator in CN×Nas a 2m×2m binary sym-plectic matrix, where N=2m. We show that for an [[ m, m-k ]] stabilizer code every logical Clifford operator has 2k(k+1)/2symplectic solutions, and we enumerate them efficiently using symplectic transvections. The desired circuits are then obtained by writing each of the solutions as a product of elementary symplectic matrices. For a given operator, our assembly of all of its physical realizations enables optimization over them with respect to a suitable metric. Our method of circuit synthesis can be applied to any stabilizer code, and this paper provides a proof of concept synthesis of universal Clifford gates for the well-known [[ 6,4,2 ]] code. Programs implementing our algorithms can be found at https://github.com/nrenga/symplectic-arxiv18a.

arXiv:1803.06987•IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT)•Jun 1, 2018•22 citations

A Simple Method for Compiling Quantum Stabilizer Circuits

Brendan Reid

Stabilizer circuits play an important role in quantum error correction protocols, and will be vital for ensuring fault tolerance in future quantum hardware. While stabilizer circuits are defined on the Clifford generating set,$\{H, S, CX\}$, not all of these gates are native to quantum hardware. As such they must be compiled into the native gateset, with the key difference across hardware archetypes being the native two-qubit gate. Here we introduce an intuitive and accessible method for Clifford gate compilation. While multiple open source solutions exist for quantum circuit compilation, these operate on arbitrary quantum gates. By restricting ourselves to Clifford gates, the compilation process becomes almost trivial and even large circuits can be compiled manually. The core idea is well known: if two Clifford circuits conjugate Paulis identically, they are equivalent. Compilation is then reduced to ensuring that the instantaneous Pauli conjugation is correct for each qubit at every timestep. This is Tableaux Manipulation, so called as we directly interrogate stabilizer tableaux to ensure correct Pauli conjugation. We provide a brief explanation of the process along with a worked example to build intuition; we finally show some comparisons for compiling large circuits to open source software, and highlight that this method ensures a minimal number of quantum gates are employed.

arXiv:2404.19408•IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE)•Sep 15, 2024•0 citations

Quantum Compiler Design for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing

Chenghong Zhu, Jiahan Chen, Keming He +9 more

Scalable quantum computation is expected to rely on fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC), in which quantum error correction (QEC) suppresses physical errors sufficiently to support reliable logical operations. This requires quantum compilation to move beyond general-purpose circuit optimization toward encoding-aware and protocol-structured compilation across the full stack of fault-tolerant quantum computers. Beyond circuit synthesis and hardware mapping, an FTQC compiler must lower algorithm-level operations into the logical gate set supported by the chosen code, coordinate encoded data and ancilla resources, realize logical operations together with repeated syndrome extraction under hardware constraints, and provide the resulting measurement stream to real-time decoding. This survey presents a full-stack view of compiler design for QEC-protected quantum computation. We organize existing work into three interacting layers: logical-level QEC compilation, physical-level QEC realization, and decoder runtime integration. At the logical level, we review surface-code lattice-surgery compilers, beyond-surface-code code-surgery frameworks including emerging qLDPC approaches, and compilation support for non-Clifford operations such as magic-state distillation and code switching. At the physical level, we survey hardware-aware QEC realization on superconducting, trapped-ion, and neutral-atom platforms. We further examine decoder models, real-time decoding systems, and frame-management mechanisms that close the feedback loop during fault-tolerant execution. Finally, we identify open challenges in cross-layer optimization, qLDPC compilation, compiler-decoder co-design, runtime adaptivity, and the development of integrated and benchmarkable FTQC compilation stacks. An actively maintained paper list is available at: github.com/chenghongz/QEC-compiler-design.

quant-pharXiv:2609.17465•Sep 16, 2026•0 citations

Fault-Tolerant Logical Clifford Gates from Code Automorphisms

Hasan Sayginel, Stergios Koutsioumpas, Mark Webster +2 more

We study the implementation of fault-tolerant logical Clifford gates on stabilizer quantum error-correcting codes based on their symmetries. Our approach is to map the stabilizer code to a binary linear code, compute its automorphism group, and impose constraints based on the Clifford operators permitted. We provide a rigorous formulation of the method for finding automorphisms of stabilizer codes and generalize the Z X dualities previously introduced for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes to non-CSS codes. We provide a package implementing our algorithms that uses the computational-algebra software system for certain subroutines. Our algorithms map automorphism-group generators to physical circuits, calculate Pauli corrections based on the destabilizers of the code, and determine their logical action. We discuss the fault tolerance of the circuits and include examples of gates through automorphisms for the [ [ 4 , 2 , 2 ] ] and perfect [ [ 5 , 1 , 3 ] ] codes, bivariate bicycle codes, and the best-known distance codes.

arXiv:2409.18175•PRX Quantum•Jul 14, 2025•8 citations
Quantum error correction is the art of protecting fragile quantum information through suitable encoding and active interventions. After encoding kkk logical qubits into n>kn>kn>k physical qubits using a stabilizer code, this amounts to measuring stabilizers, decoding syndromes, and applying an appropriate correction. Although quantum information can be protected in this way, it is notoriously difficult to manipulate encoded quantum data without introducing uncorrectable errors. Here, we introduce a mathematical framework for constructing hardware-tailored quantum circuits that implement any desired Clifford unitary on the logical level of any given stabilizer code. Our main contribution is the formulation of this task as a discrete optimization problem. We can explicitly integrate arbitrary hardware connectivity constraints. As a key feature, our framework naturally incorporates an optimization over all Clifford gauges (differing only in their action outside the code space) of a desired logical circuit. In this way, we find, for example, fault-tolerant and teleportation-free logical Hadamard circuits for the [[8,3,2]][[8,3,2]][[8,3,2]] code. From a broader perspective, we turn away from the standard generator decomposition approach and instead focus on the holistic compilation of entire logical circuits, leading to significant savings in practice. Our work introduces both the necessary mathematics and open-source software to compile hardware-tailored logical Clifford circuits for stabilizer codes.
To implement quantum algorithms on a quantum computer, we must overcome the twin problems of fault-tolerance -- how can we realize a relatively noiseless computation by cleverly combining noisy components? -- and compilation -- how can we realize an arbitrary quantum algorithm given the basic operations available on the quantum device at hand? We show how treating the former problem via error-correcting codes enables greater flexibility in resolving the latter. Specifically, we explicitly leverage the fact that error-correcting codes introduce redundancy which renders physically distinct operators logically indistinguishable. In terms of computation, it suffices to implement any operator logically equivalent to some target, yet from a compilation perspective, certain choices may be preferable to others. Our novel contribution is making this intuition precise in the general setting of the special unitary group. In particular, we describe how to reduce the problem of making a compilation-ideal choice to a least squares problem and provide a closed form solution thereof. Using our framework, it is possible to circumvent inserting costly swaps to adhere to hardware connectivity; instead, we could realize the logical target through a distinct physical Hamiltonian that is natively accessible. We elucidate our approach using the [[4,2,2]][[4,2,2]][[4,2,2]] code. We discuss connections to compressed sensing that may pave the way to efficient compilation leveraging physical degrees of freedom.
Fault-tolerant quantum computation requires error-correcting codes that not only protect quantum information but also support useful logical operations with practical physical realizations. Here we develop a general framework in which the stabilizer syndromes of commuting Pauli rotations directly organize logical-gate design. We derive an exact codespace-preservation condition valid at arbitrary rotation angles, providing a common stabilizer-level description for CSS and non-CSS codes and for both Clifford and non-Clifford operations. A particularly useful equal-syndrome specialization reduces Clifford gate design to stabilizer factorization, yields a general generator weight bound of ⌈d/2⌉\lceil d/2\rceil⌈d/2⌉ for distance-ddd codes, and systematically extends to logical rotations higher in the Clifford hierarchy. Applied to bivariate-bicycle (BB) and non-CSS Mirror qLDPC codes, the framework gives explicit low-weight Clifford and controlled-phase gates. Our implementations yield new low-weight gates, including an addressed TTT gate on the [[16,4,4]][[16,4,4]][[16,4,4]] BB code, TTT-type rotations on the [[64,8,8]][[64,8,8]][[64,8,8]] BB code, and CCZ-, CS-, and TTT-type operations on the [[36,6,6]][[36,6,6]][[36,6,6]] Mirror code. We also develop analytic constructions using Clifford algebra bases, which turn the syndrome constraints into explicit algebraic relations and provide a systematic route to logical addressability. We use this approach to analytically construct addressed CNOT, SWAP, controlled, and CCZ-type gates on recursive hypercube codes. An independent construction on middle quantum Reed--Muller codes yields Cr{}^rrZ gates that saturate the equal-syndrome weight bound. These results establish stabilizer syndromes as a constructive link between the stabilizer structure of a quantum code, the logical computations it can directly support, and the fault-tolerance properties of their physical realizations.
Quantum error-correcting codes can be used to protect qubits involved in quantum computation. This requires that logical operators acting on protected qubits be translated to physical operators (circuits) acting on physical quantum states. We propose a mathematical framework for synthesizing physical circuits that implement logical Clifford operators for stabilizer codes. Circuit synthesis is enabled by representing the desired physical Clifford operator in CN×Nas a 2m×2m binary sym-plectic matrix, where N=2m. We show that for an [[ m, m-k ]] stabilizer code every logical Clifford operator has 2k(k+1)/2symplectic solutions, and we enumerate them efficiently using symplectic transvections. The desired circuits are then obtained by writing each of the solutions as a product of elementary symplectic matrices. For a given operator, our assembly of all of its physical realizations enables optimization over them with respect to a suitable metric. Our method of circuit synthesis can be applied to any stabilizer code, and this paper provides a proof of concept synthesis of universal Clifford gates for the well-known [[ 6,4,2 ]] code. Programs implementing our algorithms can be found at https://github.com/nrenga/symplectic-arxiv18a.
Stabilizer circuits play an important role in quantum error correction protocols, and will be vital for ensuring fault tolerance in future quantum hardware. While stabilizer circuits are defined on the Clifford generating set,{H,S,CX}\{H, S, CX\}{H,S,CX}, not all of these gates are native to quantum hardware. As such they must be compiled into the native gateset, with the key difference across hardware archetypes being the native two-qubit gate. Here we introduce an intuitive and accessible method for Clifford gate compilation. While multiple open source solutions exist for quantum circuit compilation, these operate on arbitrary quantum gates. By restricting ourselves to Clifford gates, the compilation process becomes almost trivial and even large circuits can be compiled manually. The core idea is well known: if two Clifford circuits conjugate Paulis identically, they are equivalent. Compilation is then reduced to ensuring that the instantaneous Pauli conjugation is correct for each qubit at every timestep. This is Tableaux Manipulation, so called as we directly interrogate stabilizer tableaux to ensure correct Pauli conjugation. We provide a brief explanation of the process along with a worked example to build intuition; we finally show some comparisons for compiling large circuits to open source software, and highlight that this method ensures a minimal number of quantum gates are employed.
Scalable quantum computation is expected to rely on fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC), in which quantum error correction (QEC) suppresses physical errors sufficiently to support reliable logical operations. This requires quantum compilation to move beyond general-purpose circuit optimization toward encoding-aware and protocol-structured compilation across the full stack of fault-tolerant quantum computers. Beyond circuit synthesis and hardware mapping, an FTQC compiler must lower algorithm-level operations into the logical gate set supported by the chosen code, coordinate encoded data and ancilla resources, realize logical operations together with repeated syndrome extraction under hardware constraints, and provide the resulting measurement stream to real-time decoding. This survey presents a full-stack view of compiler design for QEC-protected quantum computation. We organize existing work into three interacting layers: logical-level QEC compilation, physical-level QEC realization, and decoder runtime integration. At the logical level, we review surface-code lattice-surgery compilers, beyond-surface-code code-surgery frameworks including emerging qLDPC approaches, and compilation support for non-Clifford operations such as magic-state distillation and code switching. At the physical level, we survey hardware-aware QEC realization on superconducting, trapped-ion, and neutral-atom platforms. We further examine decoder models, real-time decoding systems, and frame-management mechanisms that close the feedback loop during fault-tolerant execution. Finally, we identify open challenges in cross-layer optimization, qLDPC compilation, compiler-decoder co-design, runtime adaptivity, and the development of integrated and benchmarkable FTQC compilation stacks. An actively maintained paper list is available at: github.com/chenghongz/QEC-compiler-design.
We study the implementation of fault-tolerant logical Clifford gates on stabilizer quantum error-correcting codes based on their symmetries. Our approach is to map the stabilizer code to a binary linear code, compute its automorphism group, and impose constraints based on the Clifford operators permitted. We provide a rigorous formulation of the method for finding automorphisms of stabilizer codes and generalize the Z X dualities previously introduced for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes to non-CSS codes. We provide a package implementing our algorithms that uses the computational-algebra software system for certain subroutines. Our algorithms map automorphism-group generators to physical circuits, calculate Pauli corrections based on the destabilizers of the code, and determine their logical action. We discuss the fault tolerance of the circuits and include examples of gates through automorphisms for the [ [ 4 , 2 , 2 ] ] and perfect [ [ 5 , 1 , 3 ] ] codes, bivariate bicycle codes, and the best-known distance codes.