Continuous groups of transversal gates for quantum error correcting codes from finite clock reference frames

Mischa P. Woods; Álvaro M. Alhambra

doi:10.22331/q-2020-03-23-245

Continuous groups of transversal gates for quantum error correcting codes from finite clock reference frames

Mischa P. Woods¹ and Álvaro M. Alhambra²

¹Institute for Theoretical Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
²Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Canada

Published:	2020-03-23, volume 4, page 245
Eprint:	arXiv:1902.07725v4
Doi:	https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2020-03-23-245
Citation:	Quantum 4, 245 (2020).

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Abstract

Following the introduction of the task of $\textit{reference frame error}$ $\textit{correction}$ [1], we show how, by using reference frame alignment with clocks, one can add a continuous Abelian group of transversal logical gates to $any$ error-correcting code. With this we further explore a way of circumventing the no-go theorem of Eastin and Knill, which states that if local errors are correctable, the group of transversal gates must be of finite order. We are able to do this by introducing a small error on the decoding procedure that decreases with the dimension of the frames used. Furthermore, we show that there is a direct relationship between how small this error can be and how accurate quantum clocks can be: the more accurate the clock, the smaller the error; and the no-go theorem would be violated if time could be measured perfectly in quantum mechanics. The asymptotic scaling of the error is studied under a number of scenarios of reference frames and error models. The scheme is also extended to errors at unknown locations, and we show how to achieve this by simple majority voting related error correction schemes on the reference frames. In the Outlook, we discuss our results in relation to the AdS/CFT correspondence and the Page-Wooters mechanism.

Popular summary

Quantum error correction is the field that aims to devise schemes that protect quantum information as it is being processed in computations. This is a monumental task, which needs to overcome fundamental physical constraints unique to quantum physics such as the no-cloning theorem. The codes must then present different features that makes them both scalable and robust. A crucial one is the existence of "transversal gates", which are logical operations that can be implemented by acting separately on the different subsystems within the code.

Previously, a number of no-go theorems heavily restricted the possibility of such transversal gates, establishing that the set of them must in general be finite. Here, we show that one can in fact enhance these sets to continuous or infinite groups by appending a so-called "quantum clock" to the codes. This is only possible if one allows for a small error in the decoding procedure — an idea that had been overlooked in much of the previous literature. We show that the error here in fact quickly vanishes as the size and precision of the clocks increases, so that in principle it can be made as small as required in the different implementations. Quantum error correcting codes have recently found numerous applications in physics beyond their initial purpose, and we explain what our results could imply for these connections.

► BibTeX data

@article{Woods2020continuousgroupsof,
  doi = {10.22331/q-2020-03-23-245},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2020-03-23-245},
  title = {Continuous groups of transversal gates for quantum error correcting codes from finite clock reference frames},
  author = {Woods, Mischa P. and Alhambra, {\'{A}}lvaro M.},
  journal = {{Quantum}},
  issn = {2521-327X},
  publisher = {{Verein zur F{\"{o}}rderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften}},
  volume = {4},
  pages = {245},
  month = mar,
  year = {2020}
}

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