One of the predominant causes of program distortion in the real quantum computing system may be attributed to the probability deviation caused by thermal relaxation. We introduce Barber (Balancing reAdout Results using Bit-invErted ciRcuits), a method designed to counteract the asymmetric thermal relaxation deviation and improve the reliability of near-term quantum programs. Barber collaborates with a bit-inverted quantum circuit, where the excited quantum state of qubits is assigned to the |0〉 and the unexcited state to the |1〉. In doing so, bit-inverted quantum circuits can experience thermal relaxation in the opposite direction compared to standard quantum circuits. Barber can effectively suppress the thermal relaxation deviation in program's readout results by selectively merging distributions from the standard and bit-inverted circuits.
One of the predominant causes of program distortion in the real quantum computing system may be attributed to the probability deviation caused by thermal relaxation. We introduce Barber (Balancing reAdout Results using Bit-invErted ciRcuits), a method designed to counteract the asymmetric thermal relaxation deviation and improve the reliability of near-term quantum programs. Barber collaborates with a bit-inverted quantum circuit, where the excited quantum state of qubits is assigned to the |0〉 and the unexcited state to the |1〉. In doing so, bit-inverted quantum circuits can experience thermal relaxation in the opposite direction compared to standard quantum circuits. Barber can effectively suppress the thermal relaxation deviation in program's readout results by selectively merging distributions from the standard and bit-inverted circuits.
Readout errors on near-term quantum computers can introduce significant error to the empirical probability distribution sampled from the output of a quantum circuit. These errors can be mitigated by classical postprocessing given the access of an experimental response matrix that describes the error associated with the measurement of each computational basis state. However, the resources required to characterize a complete response matrix and to compute the corrected probability distribution scale exponentially with the number of qubits, n. In this work, we modify standard matrix inversion techniques using perturbative approximations with significantly reduced complexity and bounded error when the likelihood of high-order bit-flip events is strongly suppressed. Given a characteristic error rate q, we discuss a method to recover the probability of the all-zeros bit string p0 by sampling only a small subspace of the response matrix before inverting readout error, resulting in a relative speedup of poly[2n/(nw)], which we motivate using a simplified error model for which the approximation incurs only O(qw) error for some integer w. We then provide a generalized technique to efficiently recover full output distributions with O(qw) error in the perturbative limit. These approximate techniques for readout-error correction may greatly accelerate near-term quantum computing applications.
Readout errors are a significant source of noise for near-term intermediate-scale quantum computers. Mismeasuring a qubit as $|1\ensuremath{\rangle}$ when it should be $|0\ensuremath{\rangle}$ occurs much less often than mismeasuring a qubit as $|0\ensuremath{\rangle}$ when it should have been $|1\ensuremath{\rangle}$. We make the simple observation that one can improve the readout fidelity of quantum computers by applying targeted X gates prior to performing a measurement. These X gates are placed so that the expected number of qubits in the $|1\ensuremath{\rangle}$ state is minimized. Classical postprocessing can undo the effect of the X gates so that the expectation value of any observable is unchanged. This protocol is designed to have no effect when readout errors are symmetric. We show that the statistical uncertainty following readout error corrections is smaller when using readout rebalancing. The statistical advantage is circuit and computer dependent and is demonstrated for the W state, a Grover search, and for a Gaussian state. The benefit in statistical precision is most pronounced (and nearly a factor of 2 in some cases) when states with many qubits in the excited state have high probability.
Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers suffer from gate errors, decoherence, and readout noise that can severely impact even small quantum circuits. In this work, the application of error mitigation techniques was investigated to a simple two-bit quantum comparator circuit executed on real IBM Quantum hardware. The 2-bit comparator is a basic quantum logic circuit that compares two 2-qubit binary numbers and outputs whether the first number is greater than, equal to, or less than the second. This comparator was implemented using Qiskit and studied its performance under realistic noise. This study on error mitigation concentrates on dynamical decoupling (DD), which is a coherent error suppression strategy that cancels coherent errors by inserting echo pulse sequences during idle time periods. The results demonstrate that dynamical decoupling improves accuracy for the comparator circuit - accurate outcomes are closer to the ideal outcome in the absence of noise. These results show that dynamical decoupling yields notable accuracy improvements for the comparator circuit - bringing measured outcomes closer to the ideal noiseless results. A performance analysis (including a bar-chart of accuracy after mitigation vs. before mitigation simulation) is presented to quantify these improvements. Finally, the implications of applying error mitigation in small quantum circuits and its relevance for near-term quantum computing are also discussed, where such techniques can enhance the reliability of quantum computations in the absence of full quantum error correction.
Quantum computing promises to address problems in simulation, optimization, and chemistry, but current hardware operates in the noisy intermediate-scale (NISQ) regime where coherence limits, gate imperfections, and readout errors restrict performance. Improving calibration and mitigating errors therefore remain essential. This thesis analyzes error reduction on superconducting transmon qubits through calibration, gate analysis, and circuit-level mitigation. It compares single-qubit amplitude calibration methods and analyzes two-qubit gates based on the cross-resonance interaction, identifying differences in precision, convergence, and performance. In addition, it develops Inverted-Circuit Zero-Noise-Extrapolation (IC-ZNE) which measures effective error strength using inverted circuits. Compared to standard ZNE, IC-ZNE achieves results closer to ideal values and reduces observable errors. Overall, the presented methods improve the reliability of near-term quantum processors.
Quantum systems have potential to demonstrate significant computational advantage, but current quantum devices suffer from the rapid accumulation of error that prevents the storage of quantum information over extended periods. The unintentional coupling of qubits to their environment and each other adds significant noise to computation, and improved methods to combat decoherence are required to boost the performance of quantum algorithms on real machines. While many existing techniques for mitigating error rely on adding extra gates to the circuit, calibrating new gates, or extending a circuit's runtime, this paper's primary contribution leverages the gates already present in a quantum program without extending circuit duration. We exploit circuit slack for single-qubit gates that occur in idle windows, scheduling the gates such that their timing can counteract some errors. Spin-echo corrections that mitigate decoherence on idling qubits act as inspiration for this work. Theoretical models, however, fail to capture all sources of noise in NISQ devices, making practical solutions necessary that better minimize the impact of unpredictable errors in quantum machines. This paper presents TimeStitch: a novel framework that pinpoints the optimum execution schedules for single-qubit gates within quantum circuits. TimeStitch, implemented as a compilation pass, leverages the reversible nature of quantum computation to boost the success of circuits on real quantum machines.
This work presents a routing-aware pruning strategy for quantum circuits executed on Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. We propose a method to remove parametric controlled rotations whose small rotation angles do not justify the routing overhead required for their implementation. By selectively pruning such gates, the method mitigates fidelity loss arising from additional SWAP operations introduced during compilation. Our approach evaluates whether executing a gate leads to greater fidelity loss than omitting it. Simulations on benchmark circuits with realistic noise models show that the method reduces two-qubit gate counts (up to 48.6%) while improving final state fidelity (up to 47.7%), especially for larger circuits where routing costs dominate.