No Arabic abstract
Quantum error correction is widely thought to be the key to fault-tolerant quantum computation. However, determining the most suited encoding for unknown error channels or specific laboratory setups is highly challenging. Here, we present a reinforcement learning framework for optimizing and fault-tolerantly adapting quantum error correction codes. We consider a reinforcement learning agent tasked with modifying a family of surface code quantum memories until a desired logical error rate is reached. Using efficient simulations with about 70 data qubits with arbitrary connectivity, we demonstrate that such a reinforcement learning agent can determine near-optimal solutions, in terms of the number of data qubits, for various error models of interest. Moreover, we show that agents trained on one setting are able to successfully transfer their experience to different settings. This ability for transfer learning showcases the inherent strengths of reinforcement learning and the applicability of our approach for optimization from off-line simulations to on-line laboratory settings.
Based on the group structure of a unitary Lie algebra, a scheme is provided to systematically and exhaustively generate quantum error correction codes, including the additive and nonadditive codes. The syndromes in the process of error-correction distinguished by different orthogonal vector subspaces, the coset subspaces. Moreover, the generated codes can be classified into four types with respect to the spinors in the unitary Lie algebra and a chosen initial quantum state.
Fracton topological phases have a large number of materialized symmetries that enforce a rigid structure on their excitations. Remarkably, we find that the symmetries of a quantum error-correcting code based on a fracton phase enable us to design decoding algorithms. Here we propose and implement decoding algorithms for the three-dimensional X-cube model. In our example, decoding is parallelized into a series of two-dimensional matching problems, thus significantly simplifying the most time consuming component of the decoder. We also find that the rigid structure of its point excitations enable us to obtain high threshold error rates. Our decoding algorithms bring to light some key ideas that we expect to be useful in the design of decoders for general topological stabilizer codes. Moreover, the notion of parallelization unifies several concepts in quantum error correction. We conclude by discussing the broad applicability of our methods, and we explain the connection between parallelizable codes and other methods of quantum error correction. In particular we propose that the new concept represents a generalization of single-shot error correction.
Methods borrowed from the world of quantum information processing have lately been used to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of quantum detectors. Here we analyze the use of stabilizer quantum error-correction codes for the purpose of signal detection. We show that using quantum error-correction codes a small signal can be measured with Heisenberg limited uncertainty even in the presence of noise. We analyze the limitations to the measurement of signals of interest and discuss two simple examples. The possibility of long coherence times, combined with their Heisenberg limited sensitivity to certain signals, pose quantum error-correction codes as a promising detection scheme.
The key approaches for machine learning, especially learning in unknown probabilistic environments are new representations and computation mechanisms. In this paper, a novel quantum reinforcement learning (QRL) method is proposed by combining quantum theory and reinforcement learning (RL). Inspired by the state superposition principle and quantum parallelism, a framework of value updating algorithm is introduced. The state (action) in traditional RL is identified as the eigen state (eigen action) in QRL. The state (action) set can be represented with a quantum superposition state and the eigen state (eigen action) can be obtained by randomly observing the simulated quantum state according to the collapse postulate of quantum measurement. The probability of the eigen action is determined by the probability amplitude, which is parallelly updated according to rewards. Some related characteristics of QRL such as convergence, optimality and balancing between exploration and exploitation are also analyzed, which shows that this approach makes a good tradeoff between exploration and exploitation using the probability amplitude and can speed up learning through the quantum parallelism. To evaluate the performance and practicability of QRL, several simulated experiments are given and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of QRL algorithm for some complex problems. The present work is also an effective exploration on the application of quantum computation to artificial intelligence.
The efficient validation of quantum devices is critical for emerging technological applications. In a wide class of use-cases the precise engineering of a Hamiltonian is required both for the implementation of gate-based quantum information processing as well as for reliable quantum memories. Inferring the experimentally realized Hamiltonian through a scalable number of measurements constitutes the challenging task of Hamiltonian learning. In particular, assessing the quality of the implementation of topological codes is essential for quantum error correction. Here, we introduce a neural net based approach to this challenge. We capitalize on a family of exactly solvable models to train our algorithm and generalize to a broad class of experimentally relevant sources of errors. We discuss how our algorithm scales with system size and analyze its resilience towards various noise sources.