We derive an explicit formula for the intrinsic MacWilliams transform for permutation-invariant qudit codes. Such codes naturally live in symmetric power representations, where the relevant error sectors are determined by the irreducible decomposition of the conjugation action on the associated operator space. Using the multiplicity-free structure of this decomposition and the corresponding intertwiner algebra, we identify the intrinsic MacWilliams matrix with a finite Racah transform. The entries are given by a terminating hypergeometric series, and the rows of the matrix are Racah orthogonal polynomials with parameters determined explicitly by the block length and local dimension. Computing the spectrum of the degree-one twirl reveals that this spectrum lies on an affine quadratic lattice. Then we derive a tridiagonal multiplication rule from the representation theory of the adjoint sector. As consequences, we obtain closed-form orthogonality, detailed-balance, and involutivity identities for the transform. The resulting formula supplies an explicit MacWilliams matrix for computing linear programming bounds on permutation-invariant qudit codes.
We derive an explicit formula for the intrinsic MacWilliams transform for permutation-invariant qudit codes. Such codes naturally live in symmetric power representations, where the relevant error sectors are determined by the irreducible decomposition of the conjugation action on the associated operator space. Using the multiplicity-free structure of this decomposition and the corresponding intertwiner algebra, we identify the intrinsic MacWilliams matrix with a finite Racah transform. The entries are given by a terminating hypergeometric series, and the rows of the matrix are Racah orthogonal polynomials with parameters determined explicitly by the block length and local dimension. Computing the spectrum of the degree-one twirl reveals that this spectrum lies on an affine quadratic lattice. Then we derive a tridiagonal multiplication rule from the representation theory of the adjoint sector. As consequences, we obtain closed-form orthogonality, detailed-balance, and involutivity identities for the transform. The resulting formula supplies an explicit MacWilliams matrix for computing linear programming bounds on permutation-invariant qudit codes.
This paper develops a MacWilliams-type enumerator theory and semidefinite programming bounds for intrinsic quantum codes. An intrinsic code is a subspace C⊂V of a finite-dimensional unitary representation V of a group G, with errors organized into the isotypic components of L(V) under conjugation. The Knill-Laflamme conditions persist under every G-equivariant realization of V, aallowing intrinsic bounds to apply across diverse physical encodings. Without a group action, we first construct projector and twirl quadratic enumerators for an arbitrary orthogonal decomposition of L(V), analogous respectively to the A and B enumerators of Shor-Laflamme theory. These enumerators satisfy positivity, normalization, and Knill-Laflamme inequalities, but the two superoperator families need not span the same space and therefore admit no canonical duality. A group action places their generalized versions in the same equivariant intertwiner algebra, and the change of basis between them defines the intrinsic MacWilliams transform. When the conjugation representation has multiplicities, this algebra is noncommutative and the enumerators are matrix-valued; positivity and detection are encoded by Loewner-order constraints, making the natural programming bound a semidefinite program. The multiplicity-free specialization recovers the known scalar MacWilliams transform and linear-programming framework. For symmetric powers, intrinsic depth equals ordinary qudit distance, yielding extremality certificates for permutation-invariant qudit codes. Finally, for the 27-dimensional SU(3) representation V=(2,2), an exact dual certificate proves the sharp bound K≤5 for codes detecting the full adjoint isotypic component. An explicit 5-dimensional code attains the bound and, under the canonical embedding, gives a four-qutrit distance-2 code.
We study permutation-invariant quantum codes in the symmetric subspace $\mathrm{Sym}^n(\mathbb{C}^q) $ of n qudits of local dimension q. For every integer q≥2, we construct a permutation-invariant code with parameters ((4,q,2))q. Thus four physical qudits suffice to encode one logical qudit with distance two in the symmetric sector for every local dimension. We also show, using linear-programming constraints for permutation-invariant quantum codes, that no permutation-invariant code of dimension q and distance at least 2 exists in Symn(Cq) for n≤3. Hence four qudits are necessary and sufficient.
The construction has a simple representation-theoretic and combinatorial description. In the irreducible SU(q)-module Sym4(Cq), the distance-two Knill-Laflamme conditions split into root and Cartan parts. By restricting supports to the even-entry occupation layer, all root-error conditions vanish automatically. The remaining Cartan conditions reduce to linear balancing constraints on packets of occupation vectors. These packets admit a natural graph-theoretic interpretation in terms of the vertices and edges of the complete graph Kq: for odd q, they are organized by the midpoint rule, while for even q, they are organized by a decomposition of Kq into perfect matchings. In this way, the existence of minimal ((4,q,2))q permutation-invariant codes is reduced to a parity-dependent edge-coloring problem on Kq.
We investigate Permutation-Invariant (PI) quantum error-correcting codes encoding a logical qudit of dimension dL in PI states using physical qudits of dimension dP. We extend the Knill--Laflamme (KL) conditions for d−1 deletion errors from qubits to qudits and investigate numerically both qubit (dL=dP=2) and qudit (dL>2 or dP>2) PI codes. We analyze the scaling of the block length n in terms of the code distance d, and compare to existing families of PI codes due to Ouyang, Aydin--Alekseyev--Barg (AAB) and Pollatsek--Ruskai (PR). Our three main findings are: (i) We conjecture that qubit PI codes correcting up to d−1 deletion errors have block length n(d)≥(3d2+1)/4, which implies an upper bound d≤12n−3/3 on their code distance, and that PR codes can saturate this bound. (ii) For qudit PI codes encoding a single qudit we numerically observe that increasing dP results in n monotonically decreasing and approaching the quantum Singleton bound n(d)≥2d−1. (iii) We propose a semi-analytic extension of the qubit AAB construction to qudits that finds explicit solutions by solving a linear program. Our results therefore provide key insights into lower bounds on the block length scaling of both qubit and qudit PI codes, and demonstrate the benefit of increased physical local dimension in the context of PI codes.
The MacWilliams extension theorem fails for module alphabets with non-cyclic socle, and the label alphabet of qudit stabilizer codes, $\F_{q^2}$ over $\F_q$, is such an alphabet. Quantum error correction, however, only ever sees \emph{self-orthogonal} additive codes, and whether that rigidity rescues the theorem---equivalently, whether every weight-preserving isomorphism of stabilizer groups is implemented by local Cliffords and a qudit permutation---was asked by Gluesing-Luerssen and Pllaha and answered negatively by Pllaha for particular qubit codes. We develop the negative answer systematically and at the smallest possible scales. For every prime power q we construct a pair of [[q+1,q−1]]q stabilizer codes and a weight-preserving isomorphism between them extending to no monomial transformation; the codespaces are inequivalent even under arbitrary local unitaries combined with permutations, though they share Shor--Laflamme enumerators. Self-orthogonality is automatic here, by two elementary lemmas which also show that Dyshko's threshold-length counterexamples were already self-orthogonal, unremarked. For qubits we prove by exhaustive search that length 3 is minimal and the counterexample essentially unique. Dropping the ``idle qudit'' invariant that detects these, we find the minimal full-support lengths: 4 for a non-extendable isometry, 5 for a weight-isometric pair that is not monomially equivalent, realized by explicit [[5,2]] codes; at length 6 all nontrivial stabilizer elements can have weight ≥4. Whether these codespaces are locally unitarily equivalent is posed as an open problem, connecting the extension problem to the LU--LC circle of questions.
We introduce an intrinsic formulation of quantum error correction based on representation theory, in which error-protection structure is encoded directly in a unitary group representation, rather than being tied to a particular embedding into a larger Hilbert space. In this framework, error models are classified according to the isotypic decomposition of the conjugation action on the operator algebra.
Our main result, the \emph{Schur bootstrap}, shows that if an intrinsic code satisfies the Knill--Laflamme conditions on a given symmetry sector, then the same error-protection relations hold for every extrinsic realization obtained from a group-equivariant isometric embedding into a larger Hilbert space. Thus a single intrinsic verification certifies the corresponding symmetry-resolved error-correction conditions across an entire family of physical realizations.
We further introduce an intrinsic notion of distance, called depth, defined via adjoint order. For standard multi-qudit systems this coincides with conventional code distance, while for more general representations it refines the usual weight-based notion. We also prove an intrinsic Eastin--Knill theorem: any intrinsic code of depth at least two has a discrete logical symmetry group, with the obstruction to continuous covariant gates arising from the representation-theoretic structure of the adjoint action.
We illustrate the framework with several examples, including a minimal SU(2) construction that unifies permutation-invariant qubit codes and bosonic codes, and higher-dimensional constructions exhibiting transversal Clifford symmetries and realizations beyond qubit systems.
As emerging quantum architectures evolve into heterogeneous networks combining different physical substrates, such as qubits for logic and higher-dimensional qudits for robust communication, the traditional scalar metrics of quantum error correction become insufficient. To address this, we introduce a mathematical framework based on dimension multisets to characterize quantum error-correcting codes (QECC) and absolutely maximally entangled (AME) states in mixed-dimensional Hilbert spaces. By replacing scalar weights with multisets, we accurately capture the exact physical composition of error supports across these diverse systems. Our central result is the mixed-dimensional quantum MacWilliams identity, which establishes the formal algebraic relationship between Shor-Laflamme enumerators and unitary weight enumerators. From this foundation, we deduce the mixed-dimensional shadow identity and derive rigorous, generalized constraints on code parameters, explicitly formulating the mixed-dimensional quantum Hamming, Singleton and Scott bounds, and developing a linear program to systematically evaluate code viability. For the Singleton bound, a tighter bound that has no homogeneous analogue is derived for pure mixed-dimensional codes. Finally, we deploy this enumerator machinery to thoroughly analyze AME states, utilizing shadow inequalities to constrain their existence and introducing a combinatorial grid method for the explicit construction of mixed-dimensional tripartite AME states.