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1. Subsystem symmetry, spin-glass order, and criticality from random measurements in a two-dimensional Bacon-Shor circuit

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.108.024205  

   Sharma, Vaibhav; Jian, Chao-Ming; Mueller, Erich J (July 2023, Physical Review B)

   We study a 2D measurement-only random circuit motivated by the Bacon-Shor error correcting code. We find a rich phase diagram as one varies the relative probabilities of measuring nearest-neighbor Pauli XX and ZZ check operators. In the Bacon-Shor code, these checks commute with a group of stabilizer and logical operators, which therefore represent conserved quantities. Described as a subsystem symmetry, these conservation laws lead to a continuous phase transition between an X-basis and Z-basis spin-glass order. The two phases are separated by a critical point where the entanglement entropy between two halves of an L × L system scales as L ln L, a logarithmic violation of the area law. We generalize to a model where the check operators break the subsystem symmetries (and the Bacon-Shor code structure). In tension with established heuristics, we find that the phase transition is replaced by a smooth crossover, and the X - and Z -basis spin-glass orders spatially coexist. Additionally, if we approach the line of subsystem symmetries away from the critical point in the phase diagram, some spin-glass order parameters jump discontinuously. 

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2. Overcoming leakage in quantum error correction

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-02226-w  

   Miao, Kevin C.; McEwen, Matt; Atalaya, Juan; Kafri, Dvir; Pryadko, Leonid P.; Bengtsson, Andreas; Opremcak, Alex; Satzinger, Kevin J.; Chen, Zijun; Klimov, Paul V.; et al (December 2023, Nature Physics)

   Abstract The leakage of quantum information out of the two computational states of a qubit into other energy states represents a major challenge for quantum error correction. During the operation of an error-corrected algorithm, leakage builds over time and spreads through multi-qubit interactions. This leads to correlated errors that degrade the exponential suppression of the logical error with scale, thus challenging the feasibility of quantum error correction as a path towards fault-tolerant quantum computation. Here, we demonstrate a distance-3 surface code and distance-21 bit-flip code on a quantum processor for which leakage is removed from all qubits in each cycle. This shortens the lifetime of leakage and curtails its ability to spread and induce correlated errors. We report a tenfold reduction in the steady-state leakage population of the data qubits encoding the logical state and an average leakage population of less than 1 × 10⁻³throughout the entire device. Our leakage removal process efficiently returns the system back to the computational basis. Adding it to a code circuit would prevent leakage from inducing correlated error across cycles. With this demonstration that leakage can be contained, we have resolved a key challenge for practical quantum error correction at scale. 

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3. Group-theoretic error mitigation enabled by classical shadows and symmetries

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-024-00854-5  

   Zhao, Andrew; Miyake, Akimasa (June 2024, npj Quantum Information)

   Abstract Estimating expectation values is a key subroutine in quantum algorithms. Near-term implementations face two major challenges: a limited number of samples required to learn a large collection of observables, and the accumulation of errors in devices without quantum error correction. To address these challenges simultaneously, we develop a quantum error-mitigation strategy calledsymmetry-adjusted classical shadows, by adjusting classical-shadow tomography according to how symmetries are corrupted by device errors. As a concrete example, we highlight global U(1) symmetry, which manifests in fermions as particle number and in spins as total magnetization, and illustrate their group-theoretic unification with respective classical-shadow protocols. We establish rigorous sampling bounds under readout errors obeying minimal assumptions, and perform numerical experiments with a more comprehensive model of gate-level errors derived from existing quantum processors. Our results reveal symmetry-adjusted classical shadows as a low-cost strategy to mitigate errors from noisy quantum experiments in the ubiquitous presence of symmetry. 

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4. Adaptive syndrome measurements for Shor-style error correction

   https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2023-08-08-1075  

   Tansuwannont, Theerapat; Pato, Balint; Brown, Kenneth R. (August 2023, Quantum)

   The Shor fault-tolerant error correction (FTEC) scheme uses transversal gates and ancilla qubits prepared in the cat state in syndrome extraction circuits to prevent propagation of errors caused by gate faults. For a stabilizer code of distance $d$that can correct up to $t=\lfloor (d-1)/2\rfloor$errors, the traditional Shor scheme handles ancilla preparation and measurement faults by performing syndrome measurements until the syndromes are repeated $t+1$times in a row; in the worst-case scenario, $(t+1{)}^2$rounds of measurements are required. In this work, we improve the Shor FTEC scheme using an adaptive syndrome measurement technique. The syndrome for error correction is determined based on information from the differences of syndromes obtained from consecutive rounds. Our protocols that satisfy the strong and the weak FTEC conditions require no more than $(t+3{)}^2/4-1$rounds and $(t+3{)}^2/4-2$rounds, respectively, and are applicable to any stabilizer code. Our simulations of FTEC protocols with the adaptive schemes on hexagonal color codes of small distances verify that our protocols preserve the code distance, can increase the pseudothreshold, and can decrease the average number of rounds compared to the traditional Shor scheme. We also find that for the code of distance $d$, our FTEC protocols with the adaptive schemes require no more than $d$rounds on average. 

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5. New perspectives on covariant quantum error correction

   https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2021-08-09-521  

   Zhou, Sisi; Liu, Zi-Wen; Jiang, Liang (August 2021, Quantum)

   Covariant codes are quantum codes such that a symmetry transformation on the logical system could be realized by a symmetry transformation on the physical system, usually with limited capability of performing quantum error correction (an important case being the Eastin–Knill theorem). The need for understanding the limits of covariant quantum error correction arises in various realms of physics including fault-tolerant quantum computation, condensed matter physics and quantum gravity. Here, we explore covariant quantum error correction with respect to continuous symmetries from the perspectives of quantum metrology and quantum resource theory, establishing solid connections between these formerly disparate fields. We prove new and powerful lower bounds on the infidelity of covariant quantum error correction, which not only extend the scope of previous no-go results but also provide a substantial improvement over existing bounds. Explicit lower bounds are derived for both erasure and depolarizing noises. We also present a type of covariant codes which nearly saturates these lower bounds. 

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