The surface code is a prominent topological error-correcting code exhibiting high fault-tolerance accuracy thresholds. Conventional schemes for error correction with the surface code place qubits on a planar grid and assume native CNOT gates between
the data qubits with nearest-neighbor ancilla qubits. Here, we present surface code error-correction schemes using $textit{only}$ Pauli measurements on single qubits and on pairs of nearest-neighbor qubits. In particular, we provide several qubit layouts that offer favorable trade-offs between qubit overhead, circuit depth and connectivity degree. We also develop minimized measurement sequences for syndrome extraction, enabling reduced logical error rates and improved fault-tolerance thresholds. Our work applies to topologically protected qubits realized with Majorana zero modes and to similar systems in which multi-qubit Pauli measurements rather than CNOT gates are the native operations.
We describe an algorithm for finding angle sequences in quantum signal processing, with a novel component we call halving based on a new algebraic uniqueness theorem, and another we call capitalization. We present both theoretical and experimental re
sults that demonstrate the performance of the new algorithm. In particular, these two algorithmic ideas allow us to find sequences of more than 3000 angles within 5 minutes for important applications such as Hamiltonian simulation, all in standard double precision arithmetic. This is native to almost all hardware.
We propose a test for certifying the dimension of a quantum system: store in it a random $n$-bit string, in either the computational or the Hadamard basis, and later check that the string can be mostly recovered. The protocol tolerates noise, and the
verifier only needs to prepare one-qubit states. The analysis is based on uncertainty relations in the presence of quantum memory, due to Berta et al. (2010).
Conventional fault-tolerant quantum error-correction schemes require a number of extra qubits that grows linearly with the codes maximum stabilizer generator weight. For some common distance-three codes, the recent flag paradigm uses just two extra q
ubits. Chamberland and Beverland (2018) provide a framework for flag error correction of arbitrary-distance codes. However, their construction requires conditions that only some code families are known to satisfy. We give a flag error-correction scheme that works for any stabilizer code, unconditionally. With fast qubit measurement and reset, it uses $d+1$ extra qubits for a distance-$d$ code.
The increasing interest in using quantum error correcting codes in practical devices has heightened the need for designing quantum error correcting codes that can correct against specialized errors, such as that of amplitude damping errors which mode
l photon loss. Although considerable research has been devoted to quantum error correcting codes for amplitude damping, not so much attention has been paid to having these codes simultaneously lie within the decoherence free subspace of their underlying physical system. One common physical system comprises of quantum harmonic oscillators, and constant-excitation quantum codes can be naturally stabilized within them. The purpose of this paper is to give constant-excitation quantum codes that not only correct amplitude damping errors, but are also immune against permutations of their underlying modes. To construct such quantum codes, we use the nullspace of a specially constructed matrix based on integer partitions.
A Bell test separates quantum mechanics from a classical, local realist theory of physics. However, a Bell test cannot separate quantum physics from all classical theories. Classical devices supplemented with non-signaling correlations, e.g., the Pop
escu-Rohrlich nonlocal box, can pass a Bell test with probability at least as high as any quantum devices can. After all, quantum entanglement does not allow for signaling faster than the speed of light, so in a sense is a weaker special case of non-signaling correlations. It could be that underneath quantum mechanics is a deeper non-signaling theory. We present a test to separate quantum theory from powerful non-signaling theories. The test extends the CHSH game to involve three space-like separated devices. Quantum devices sharing a three-qubit GHZ state can pass the test with probability 5.1% higher than classical devices sharing arbitrary non-signaling correlations between pairs. More generally, we give a test that k space-like separated quantum devices can pass with higher probability than classical devices sharing arbitrary (k-1)-local non-signaling correlations.
Reliable qubits are difficult to engineer, but standard fault-tolerance schemes use seven or more physical qubits to encode each logical qubit, with still more qubits required for error correction. The large overhead makes it hard to experiment with
fault-tolerance schemes with multiple encoded qubits. The 15-qubit Hamming code protects seven encoded qubits to distance three. We give fault-tolerant procedures for applying arbitrary Clifford operations on these encoded qubits, using only two extra qubits, 17 total. In particular, individual encoded qubits within the code block can be targeted. Fault-tolerant universal computation is possible with four extra qubits, 19 total. The procedures could enable testing more sophisticated protected circuits in small-scale quantum devices. Our main technique is to use gadgets to protect gates against correlated faults. We also take advantage of special code symmetries, and use pieceable fault tolerance.
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 ancilla 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 to protect seven encoded qubits on a device with only 17 physical qubits.
An ideal system of $n$ qubits has $2^n$ dimensions. This exponential grants power, but also hinders characterizing the systems state and dynamics. We study a new problem: the qubits in a physical system might not be independent. They can overlap, in
the sense that an operation on one qubit slightly affects the others. We show that allowing for slight overlaps, $n$ qubits can fit in just polynomially many dimensions. (Defined in a natural way, all pairwise overlaps can be $leq epsilon$ in $n^{O(1/epsilon^2)}$ dimensions.) Thus, even before considering issues like noise, a real system of $n$ qubits might inherently lack any potential for exponential power. On the other hand, we also provide an efficient test to certify exponential dimensionality. Unfortunately, the test is sensitive to noise. It is important to devise more robust tests on the arrangements of qubits in quantum devices.
Bell-inequality violations establish that two systems share some quantum entanglement. We give a simple test to certify that two systems share an asymptotically large amount of entanglement, n EPR states. The test is efficient: unlike earlier tests t
hat play many games, in sequence or in parallel, our test requires only one or two CHSH games. One system is directed to play a CHSH game on a random specified qubit i, and the other is told to play games on qubits {i,j}, without knowing which index is i. The test is robust: a success probability within delta of optimal guarantees distance O(n^{5/2} sqrt{delta}) from n EPR states. However, the test does not tolerate constant delta; it breaks down for delta = Omega~(1/sqrt{n}). We give an adversarial strategy that succeeds within delta of the optimum probability using only O~(delta^{-2}) EPR states.
