Multi-valued quantum systems can store more information than binary ones for a given number of quantum states. For reliable operation of multi-valued quantum systems, error correction is mandated. In this paper, we propose a 5-qutrit quantum error-correcting code and provide its stabilizer formulation. Since 5 qutrits are necessary to correct a single error, our proposed code is optimal in the number of qutrits. We prove that the error model considered in this paper spans the entire
(3×3) operator space. Therefore, our proposed code can correct any single error on the codeword. This code outperforms the previous 9-qutrit code in (i) the number of qutrits required for encoding, (ii) our code can correct any arbitrary
(3×3) error, (ii) our code can readily correct bit errors in a single step as opposed to the two-step correction used previously, and (iii) phase error correction does not require correcting individual subspaces.
Quantum error correction is a critical technique for transitioning from noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices to fully fledged quantum computers. The surface code, which has a high threshold error rate, is the leading quantum error correction code for two-dimensional grid architecture. So far, the repeated error correction capability of the surface code has not been realized experimentally. Here, we experimentally implement an error-correcting surface code, the distance-three surface code which consists of 17 qubits, on the Zuchongzhi 2.1 superconducting quantum processor. By executing several consecutive error correction cycles, the logical error can be significantly reduced after applying corrections, achieving the repeated error correction of surface code for the first time. This experiment represents a fully functional instance of an error-correcting surface code, providing a key step on the path towards scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Quantum burst error correction codes (QBECCs) are of great importance to deal with the memory effect in quantum channels. As the most important family of QBECCs, quantum cyclic codes (QCCs) play a vital role in the correction of burst errors. In this work, we characterize the burst error correction ability of QCCs constructed from the Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) and the Hermitian constructions. We determine the burst error correction limit of QCCs and quantum Reed-Solomon codes with algorithms in polynomial-time complexities. As a result, lots of QBECCs saturating the quantum Reiger bound are obtained. We show that quantum Reed-Solomon codes have better burst error correction abilities than the previous results. At last, we give the quantum error-trapping decoder (QETD) of QCCs for decoding burst errors. The decoder runs in linear time and can decode both degenerate and nondegenerate burst errors. What’s more, the numerical results show that QETD can decode much more degenerate burst errors than the nondegenerate ones.