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arXiv:quant-ph/0101034 · Physical Review Letters

Benchmarking Quantum Computers: The Five-Qubit Error Correcting Code

Emanuel H. Knill, Raymond Laflamme, R. Martínez, C. Negrevergne

Published Jun 18, 2001• 217 citations
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Abstract

The smallest quantum code that can correct all one-qubit errors is based on five qubits. We experimentally implemented the encoding, decoding, and error-correction quantum networks using nuclear magnetic resonance on a five spin subsystem of labeled crotonic acid. The ability to correct each error was verified by tomography of the process. The use of error correction for benchmarking quantum networks is discussed, and we infer that the fidelity achieved in our experiment is sufficient for preserving entanglement.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.86.5811

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The smallest quantum code that can correct all one-qubit errors is based on five qubits. We experimentally implemented the encoding, decoding, and error-correction quantum networks using nuclear magnetic resonance on a five spin subsystem of labeled crotonic acid. The ability to correct each error was verified by tomography of the process. The use of error correction for benchmarking quantum networks is discussed, and we infer that the fidelity achieved in our experiment is sufficient for preserving entanglement.
Quantum error correction is an essential ingredient for universal quantum computing. Despite tremendous experimental efforts in the study of quantum error correction, to date, there has been no demonstration in the realisation of universal quantum error correction code (QECC), with the subsequent verification of all key features including the identification of an arbitrary physical error, the capability for transversal manipulation of the logical state, and state decoding. To address this notoriously difficult challenge, we push the limits of the depth of superconducting quantum circuits and experimentally realise the universal five-qubit QECC, the so-called smallest perfect code that permits corrections of generic single-qubit errors. In the experiment, having optimised the encoding circuit, we employ an array of superconducting qubits to realise the five-qubit QECC for several typical logical states including the magic state, an indispensable resource for realising non-Clifford gates. The encoded states are prepared with an average fidelity of 57.1(3)%57.1(3)\%57.1(3)% while with a high fidelity of 98.6(1)%98.6(1)\%98.6(1)% in the code space. Then, the arbitrary single-qubit errors introduced manually are identified by measuring the stabilizers. We further implement logical Pauli operations with a fidelity of 97.2(2)%97.2(2)\%97.2(2)% within the code space. Finally, we realise the decoding circuit and recover the input state with a process fidelity of 57.4(7)%57.4(7)\%57.4(7)%. After decoding, by identifying errors via the measurement of the four ancillae and then mathematically recovering the qubit state, we verify the power of error correction of this code. Thus, by demonstrating each key aspect of error correction with the five-qubit code, our work establishes the viability of experimental quantum error correction with superconducting qubits and paves the route to fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Quantum error correction is an essential ingredient for universal quantum computing. Despite tremendous experimental efforts in the study of quantum error correction, to date, there has been no demonstration in the realisation of universal quantum error-correcting code, with the subsequent verification of all key features including the identification of an arbitrary physical error, the capability for transversal manipulation of the logical state and state decoding. To address this challenge, we experimentally realise the [5, 1, 3] code, the so-called smallest perfect code that permits corrections of generic single-qubit errors. In the experiment, having optimised the encoding circuit, we employ an array of superconducting qubits to realise the [5, 1, 3] code for several typical logical states including the magic state, an indispensable resource for realising non-Clifford gates. The encoded states are prepared with an average fidelity of [Formula: see text] while with a high fidelity of [Formula: see text] in the code space. Then, the arbitrary single-qubit errors introduced manually are identified by measuring the stabilisers. We further implement logical Pauli operations with a fidelity of [Formula: see text] within the code space. Finally, we realise the decoding circuit and recover the input state with an overall fidelity of [Formula: see text], in total with 92 gates. Our work demonstrates each key aspect of the [5, 1, 3] code and verifies the viability of experimental realisation of quantum error-correcting codes with superconducting qubits.
A five-qubit-codeword-stabilized quantum code is implemented in a seven-qubit system using nuclear magnetic resonance. Our experiment implements a good nonadditive quantum code which encodes a larger Hilbert space than any stabilizer code with the same length and capable of correcting the same kind of errors. The experimentally measured quantum coherence is shown to be robust against artificially introduced errors, benchmarking the success in implementing the quantum error correction code. Given the typical decoherence time of the system, our experiment illustrates the ability of coherent control to implement complex quantum circuits for demonstrating interesting results in spin qubits for quantum computing.
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Quantum error correction (QEC) is crucial for the reliable implementation of quantum computers, as qubits are extremely sensitive to environmental noise. Traditional approaches to QEC often suffer from computational complexity, particularly when scaling to larger qubit systems. This work explores the application of tensor networks as a novel method for representing and manipulating quantum error correction codes. We demonstrate that tensor networks provide a compact and efficient framework for encoding and decoding quantum information, potentially mitigating the scalability issues inherent in conventional QEC schemes. Specifically, we leverage the ability of tensor networks to represent the entanglement structure of codes, allowing for efficient simulation and decoding of noisy quantum computations. This approach offers a promising avenue for developing scalable QEC protocols. The core claim is that tensor networks offer a compact and efficient representation for quantum error correction codes. The core mechanism involves utilizing tensor networks to represent the entanglement structure of quantum error correction codes, enabling efficient simulation and decoding of noisy quantum computations.
Noise rates in quantum computing experiments have dropped dramatically, but reliable qubits remain precious. Fault-tolerance schemes with minimal qubit overhead are therefore essential. We introduce fault-tolerant error-correction procedures that use only two extra qubits. The procedures are based on adding "flags" to catch the faults that can lead to correlated errors on the data. They work for various distance-three codes. In particular, our scheme allows one to test the ⟦5,1,3⟧ code, the smallest error-correcting code, using only seven qubits total. Our techniques also apply to the ⟦7,1,3⟧ and ⟦15,7,3⟧ Hamming codes, thus allowing us to protect seven encoded qubits on a device with only 17 physical qubits.