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arXiv:quant-ph/0505051 · Physical Review A

Theory of initialization-free decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems

Alireza Shabani, Daniel A. Lidar

Published Oct 3, 2005• 101 citations
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Abstract

We introduce a generalized theory of decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems (DFSs), which do not require accurate initialization. We derive a set of conditions for the existence of DFSs within this generalized framework. By relaxing the initialization requirement we show that a DFS can tolerate arbitrarily large preparation errors. This has potentially significant implications for experiments involving DFSs, in particular for the experimental implementation, over DFSs, of the large class of quantum algorithms which can function with arbitrary input states.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.72.042303

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We introduce a generalized theory of decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems (DFSs), which do not require accurate initialization. We derive a set of conditions for the existence of DFSs within this generalized framework. By relaxing the initialization requirement we show that a DFS can tolerate arbitrarily large preparation errors. This has potentially significant implications for experiments involving DFSs, in particular for the experimental implementation, over DFSs, of the large class of quantum algorithms which can function with arbitrary input states.
Universal quantum computation on decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems (DFSs) is examined with particular emphasis on using only physically relevant interactions. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of decoherence-free (noiseless) subsystems in the Markovian regime is derived here for the first time. A stabilizer formalism for DFSs is then developed which allows for the explicit understanding of these in their dual role as quantum error correcting codes. Conditions for the existence of Hamiltonians whose induced evolution always preserves a DFS are derived within this stabilizer formalism. Two possible collective decoherence mechanisms arising from permutation symmetries of the system-bath coupling are examined within this framework. It is shown that in both cases universal quantum computation which always preserves the DFS (natural fault-tolerant computation) can be performed using only two-body interactions. This is in marked contrast to standard error correcting codes, where all known constructions using one- or two-body interactions must leave the code space during the on-time of the fault-tolerant gates. A further consequence of our universality construction is that a single exchange Hamiltonian can be used to perform universal quantum computation on an encoded space whose asymptotic coding efficiency is unity. The exchange Hamiltonian, which is naturally present in many quantum systems, is thus asymptotically universal.
A general scheme to perform universal, fault-tolerant quantum computation within decoherence-free subspaces (DFSs) is presented. At most two-qubit interactions are required, and the system remains within the DFS throughout the entire implementation of a quantum gate. We show explicitly how to perform universal computation on clusters of the four-qubit DFS encoding one logical qubit each under spatially symmetric (collective) decoherence. Our results have immediate relevance to quantum computer implementations in which quantum logic is implemented through exchange interactions, such as the recently proposed spin-spin coupled quantum dot arrays and donor-atom arrays.
Decoherence-free subspace (DFS) provides a crucial mechanism for passive error mitigation in quantum computation by encoding information within symmetry-protected subspaces of the Hilbert space, which are immune from collective decoherence. Constructing a complete set of orthogonal basis states for the DFS is essential to realize fault-tolerant quantum computation by using the DFS codes. However, existing methods for preparing these basis states are often non-scalable, platform-specific, or yield mixed states. Here, we propose a deterministic approach to prepare pure, orthogonal and complete DFS basis states for systems of arbitrary size composed of qubits. Our method employs projective measurements and quantum circuits with single-qubit, two-qubit and Toffoli gates. We provide a rigorous resource cost analysis both mathematically and numerically. Meanwhile, we demonstrate the realizability of our method on NISQ devices by discussing how to implement our method on a superconducting chip. The proposed method offers a universal solution for preparing the DFS basis states across diverse quantum computing platforms and system sizes, which is realizable in the NISQ era.
Decoherence free subspaces (DFS) is a theoretical tool towards experimental implementation of quantum information storage and processing. However, they represent an experimental challenge, since conditions for their existence are very stringent. This work explores the situation in which a system of NNN oscillators coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators is close to satisfy the conditions for the existence of DFS. We show, in the Born-Markov limit and for small deviations from separability and degeneracy conditions, that there are {\emph{weak decoherence subspaces}} which resemble the original notion of DFS.
Decoherence-free subspaces (DFSs) shield quantum information from errors induced by the interaction with an uncontrollable environment. Here we study a model of correlated errors forming an Abelian subgroup (stabilizer) of the Pauli group (the group of tensor products of Pauli matrices). Unlike previous studies of DFSs, this type of error does not involve any spatial symmetry assumptions on the system-environment interaction. We solve the problem of universal, fault-tolerant quantum computation on the associated class of DFSs. We do so by introducing a hybrid DFS quantum error-correcting-code approach, where errors that arise due to departure of the codewords from the DFS are corrected actively.