Beyond the Hashing Limit of Quantum Pauli Channels
Jihao Fan
Abstract
Abstract The classical noisy-channel coding theorem developed by Shannon establishes a fundamental limit on reliable information transmission. In quantum regime, this framework is extended by results such as the Lloyd-Shor-Devetak theorem, which gives the hashing limit on quantum channel capacity. In this work, we beat the hashing limit for low rate coding schemes over quantum Pauli channels. Our approach is based on a re-examination of Bacon-Shor codes and their generalizations, which we show are not merely simple constructions but instances of a broader mechanism that fundamentally alters achievable rate limits. Over depolarizing channels with depolarizing probability of p, these codes exceed the hashing bound with 0.1145 ≤ p ≤ 0.75, and further surpass the asymptotic quantum Singleton bound under bounded minimum-distance decoding for 0.3301 ≤ p ≤ 0.75. We further present explicit constructions based on quantum low-density parity-check codes, achieving frame error rates below 10−4 while exceeding the hashing bound. The advantage persists and is pronouncedly enhanced in the presence of biased noise, demonstrating robustness across realistic quantum Pauli channels. Our results challenge the prevailing understanding of fundamental limits in quantum coding and information theory.