Quantum error correction will be necessary for preserving coherent states against noise and other unwanted interactions in quantum computation and communication. We develop a general theory of quantum error correction based on encoding states into larger Hilbert spaces subject to known interactions. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the perfect recovery of an encoded state after its degradation by an interaction. The conditions depend only on the behavior of the logical states. We use them to give a recovery-operator-independent definition of error-correcting codes. We relate this definition to four others: the existence of a left inverse of the interaction, an explicit representation of the error syndrome using tensor products, perfect recovery of the completely entangled state, and an information theoretic identity. Two notions of fidelity and error for imperfect recovery are introduced, one for pure and the other for entangled states. The latter is more appropriate when using codes in a quantum memory or in applications of quantum teleportation to communication. We show that the error for entangled states is bounded linearly by the error for pure states. A formal definition of independent interactions for qubits is given. This leads to lower bounds on the number of qubits required to correct e errors and a formal proof that the classical bounds on the probability of error of e-error-correcting codes applies to e-error-correcting quantum codes, provided that the interaction is dominated by an identity component.
Quantum error correction will be necessary for preserving coherent states against noise and other unwanted interactions in quantum computation and communication. We develop a general theory of quantum error correction based on encoding states into larger Hilbert spaces subject to known interactions. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the perfect recovery of an encoded state after its degradation by an interaction. The conditions depend only on the behavior of the logical states. We use them to give a recovery-operator-independent definition of error-correcting codes. We relate this definition to four others: the existence of a left inverse of the interaction, an explicit representation of the error syndrome using tensor products, perfect recovery of the completely entangled state, and an information theoretic identity. Two notions of fidelity and error for imperfect recovery are introduced, one for pure and the other for entangled states. The latter is more appropriate when using codes in a quantum memory or in applications of quantum teleportation to communication. We show that the error for entangled states is bounded linearly by the error for pure states. A formal definition of independent interactions for qubits is given. This leads to lower bounds on the number of qubits required to correct e errors and a formal proof that the classical bounds on the probability of error of e-error-correcting codes applies to e-error-correcting quantum codes, provided that the interaction is dominated by an identity component.
Abstract: Quantum Error Correction will be necessary for preserving coherent states against noise and other unwanted interactions in quantum computation and communication. We develop a general theory of quantum error correction based on encoding states into larger Hilbert spaces subject to known interactions. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the perfect recovery of an encoded state after its degradation by an interaction. The conditions depend only on the behavior of the logical states. We use them to give a recovery operator independent definition of error-correcting codes. We relate this definition to four others: The existence of a left inverse of the interaction, an explicit representation of the error syndrome using tensor products, perfect recovery of the completely entangled state and an information theoretic identity. Two notions of fidelity and error for imperfect recovery are introduced, one for pure and the other for entangled states. The latter is more appropriate when using codes in a quantum memory or in applications of quantum teleportation to communication. We show that the error for entangled states is bounded linearly by the error for pure states. A formal definition of independent interactions for qubits is given. This leads to lower bounds on the number of qubits required to correct errors and a formal proof that the classical bounds on the probability of errorcorrecting codes applies to error correcting quantum codes, provided that the interaction is dominated by an identity component.
Quantum error correction is a set of methods to protect quantum information--that is, quantum states--from unwanted environmental interactions (decoherence) and other forms of noise. The information is stored in a quantum error-correcting code, which is a subspace in a larger Hilbert space. This code is designed so that the most common errors move the state into an error space orthogonal to the original code space while preserving the information in the state. It is possible to determine whether an error has occurred by a suitable measurement and to apply a unitary correction that returns the state to the code space, without measuring (and hence disturbing) the protected state itself. In general, codewords of a quantum code are entangled states. No code that stores information can protect against all possible errors; instead, codes are designed to correct a specific error set, which should be chosen to match the most likely types of noise. An error set is represented by a set of operators that can multiply the codeword state. Quantum error correction is used to protect information in quantum communication (where quantum states pass through noisy channels) and quantum computation (where quantum states are transformed through a sequence of imperfect computational steps in the presence of environmental decoherence to solve a computational problem). In quantum computation, error correction is just one component of fault-tolerant design.
Quantum error correction is a set of methods to protect quantum information--that is, quantum states--from unwanted environmental interactions (decoherence) and other forms of noise. The information is stored in a quantum error-correcting code, which is a subspace in a larger Hilbert space. This code is designed so that the most common errors move the state into an error space orthogonal to the original code space while preserving the information in the state. It is possible to determine whether an error has occurred by a suitable measurement and to apply a unitary correction that returns the state to the code space, without measuring (and hence disturbing) the protected state itself. In general, codewords of a quantum code are entangled states. No code that stores information can protect against all possible errors; instead, codes are designed to correct a specific error set, which should be chosen to match the most likely types of noise. An error set is represented by a set of operators that can multiply the codeword state. Quantum error correction is used to protect information in quantum communication (where quantum states pass through noisy channels) and quantum computation (where quantum states are transformed through a sequence of imperfect computational steps in the presence of environmental decoherence to solve a computational problem). In quantum computation, error correction is just one component of fault-tolerant design.
Quantum computing exists at the intersection of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and engineering; the main goal of quantum computing is the creation of devices and algorithms which use the properties of quantum mechanics to store, manipulate and measure information. There exist many families of algorithms, which, using non-classical logical operations, can outperform traditional, classical algorithms in terms of memory and processing requirements. In addition, quantum computing devices are fundamentally smaller than classical processors and memory elements; since the physical models governing their performance are applicable on all scales, as opposed to classical logic elements, whose underlying principles rely on the macroscopic nature of the device in question. \n \nQuantum algorithms, for the most part, are predicated on a theory of resources. It is often assumed that quantum computers can be placed in a precise fiducial state prior to computation, and that logical operations are perfect, inducing no error on the system which they affect. These assumptions greatly simplify algorithmic design, but are fundamentally unrealistic. In order to justify their use, it is necessary to develop a framework for using a large number of imperfect devices to simulate the action of a perfect device, with some acceptable probability of failure. This is the study of fault-tolerant quantum computing. In order to pursue this study effectively, it is necessary to understand the fundamental nature of generic quantum states and operations, as well as the means by which one can correct quantum errors. Additionally, it is important to attempt to minimize the use of computational resources in achieving error reduction and fault-tolerant computing. \n \nThis thesis is concerned with three projects related to the use of error-prone quantum systems to transmit and manipulate information. The first of these is concerned with the use of imperfectly-prepared states in error-correction routines. Using optimal quantum error correction, we are able to deduce a method of partially protecting encoded quantum information against preparation errors prior to encoding, using no additional qubits. The second of these projects details the search for entangled states which can be used to transmit classical information over quantum channels at a rate superior to classical states. The third of these projects concerns the transcoding of data from one quantum code into another using few ancillary resources. The descriptions of these projects are preceded by a brief introduction to representations of quantum states and channels, for completeness. \n \nThree techniques of general interest are presented in appendices. The first is an introduction to, and a minor advance in the development of optimal error correction codes. The second is a more efficient means of calculating the action of a quantum channel on a given state, given that the channel acts non-trivially only on a subsystem, rather than the entire system. Finally, we include documentation on a software package developed to aid the search for quantum transcoding operations.
What must a quantum error-correction decoder know about temporally correlated noise, and what does it cost to learn? We study this question for fixed stabilizer memory experiments with known system-environment interactions. We formulate calibration in terms of the fidelity differences that select a Pauli recovery and relate missing information to the resulting fidelity loss. Our main example uses weak coherent X rotations in a class of CSS codes including Shor, Steane, and odd-distance rotated surface codes. All physical qubits share a sign either fixed throughout a run or independently redrawn each interval. The two models have identical syndrome statistics and the same spatiotemporal Pauli process (SPP), obtained by Pauli-twirling every noise interval. Yet at suitable storage times, they require different logical corrections. In the weak-noise limit, each model is almost perfectly correctable when known. Without model information, even the best final recovery has a worst-case fidelity loss approaching 1/2 relative to the noise-aware optimum, despite access to the full syndrome record. For this pair of models, at fixed code and fixed positive target loss below 1/2, we prove matching calibration bounds. With logical preparation and final readout, complete QEC cycles require a number of noise intervals scaling as the inverse rotation angle raised to the code's X distance. Allowing two uninterrupted intervals before one extraction reduces the optimal cost to inverse-square scaling. Physical Pauli twirling of every noise interval changes both recovery performance and its information requirements. Discarding the record of applied random Pauli operations makes the SPP sufficient for optimal recovery. Keeping this record can improve the attainable fidelity, but reaching that optimum may require additional noise information.
A measure of quality of an error-correcting code is the maximum number of errors that it is able to correct. We show that a suitable notion of "number of errors" e makes sense for any quantum or classical system in the presence of arbitrary interactions. Thus, e-error-correcting codes protect information without requiring the usual assumptions of independence. We prove the existence of large codes for both quantum and classical information. By viewing error-correcting codes as subsystems, we relate codes to irreducible representations of operator algebras and show that noiseless subsystems are infinite-distance error-correcting codes.