arXiv subjects

Nolan J. Coble

Publications and source records attributed to Nolan J. Coble.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing with Trapped Ions: The Walking Cat Architecture

We propose a fault-tolerant quantum computer architecture for trapped-ion devices, which we call the walking cat architecture. Our blueprint includes a compiler, a detailed description of all the quantum error-correction protocols, a micro-architecture, a sufficiently fast decoder, and thorough simulations. The backbone of the architecture is a cat factory, producing cat states distributed throughout the machine, which are consumed to perform logical operations. The walking cat architecture is based entirely on a modern quantum error-correction approach called low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. We identify promising instances of the walking cat architecture, such as (1) a simple architecture based on a single LDPC code, (2) a fast architecture based on fast logical gates relying on a [[70, 6, 9]] code, equipped with Clifford-frame tracking for any 6-qubit Clifford gate, and (3) a dense architecture based on a [[102, 22, 9]]] code encoding 22 logical qubits per memory block. Our dense architecture provides a design with 110 logical qubits executing about one million T gates per day using only 2,514 physical qubits. We estimate that the quantum Hamiltonian simulation of a Heisenberg model on 100 sites can be executed within one month with 10,000 physical qubits, including all shots required to achieve chemical accuracy, suggesting that such a device could enter the regime of classically intractable physics simulations. Our design relies on hardware components that have been experimentally demonstrated on small devices. We emphasize simplicity over hypothetical performance to facilitate the practical realization of this machine. Based on this approach, we believe that a fault-tolerant quantum computer with hundreds of logical qubits capable of running millions of logical gates can be built in the near term, providing a platform to explore a broad range of applications.

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arXiv2025

Correction of chain losses in trapped ion quantum computers

Neutral atom quantum computers and to a lesser extent trapped ions may suffer from atom loss. In this work, we investigate the impact of atom loss in long chains of trapped ions. Even though this is a relatively rare event, ion loss in long chains must be addressed because it destabilizes the entire chain resulting in the loss of all the qubits of the chain. We propose a solution to the chain loss problem based on (1) a quantum error correction code distributed over multiple long chains, (2) beacon qubits within each long chain to detect the loss of a chain, and (3) a decoder adapted to correct a combination of circuit faults and erasures after beacon qubits convert chain losses into erasures. We verify the chain loss correction capability of our scheme through circuit level simulations with a distributed $[[72,12,6]]$ BB code with beacon qubits.

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arXiv2025

Coxeter codes: Extending the Reed-Muller family

Binary Reed-Muller (RM) codes are defined via evaluations of Boolean-valued functions on $\mathbb{Z}_2^m$. We introduce a class of binary linear codes that generalizes the RM family by replacing the domain $\mathbb{Z}_2^m$ with an arbitrary finite Coxeter group. Like RM codes, this class is closed under duality, forms a nested code sequence, satisfies a multiplication property, and has asymptotic rate determined by a Gaussian distribution. Coxeter codes also give rise to a family of quantum codes for which transversal diagonal $Z$ rotations can perform non-trivial logic.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2024

Geometric structure and transversal logic of quantum Reed-Muller codes

Designing efficient and noise-tolerant quantum computation protocols generally begins with an understanding of quantum error-correcting codes and their native logical operations. The simplest class of native operations are transversal gates, which are naturally fault-tolerant. In this paper, we aim to characterize the transversal gates of quantum Reed-Muller (RM) codes by exploiting the well-studied properties of their classical counterparts. We start our work by establishing a new geometric characterization of quantum RM codes via the Boolean hypercube and its associated subcube complex. More specifically, a set of stabilizer generators for a quantum RM code can be described via transversal $X$ and $Z$ operators acting on subcubes of particular dimensions. This characterization leads us to define subcube operators composed of single-qubit $π/2^k$ $Z$-rotations that act on subcubes of given dimensions. We first characterize the action of subcube operators on the code space: depending on the dimension of the subcube, these operators either (1) act as a logical identity on the code space, (2) implement non-trivial logic, or (3) rotate a state away from the code space. Second, and more remarkably, we uncover that the logic implemented by these operators corresponds to circuits of multi-controlled-$Z$ gates that have an explicit and simple combinatorial description. Overall, this suite of results yields a comprehensive understanding of a class of natural transversal operators for quantum RM codes.

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arXiv2024

Hamiltonians whose low-energy states require $Ω(n)$ T gates

The recent resolution of the NLTS Conjecture [ABN22] establishes a prerequisite to the Quantum PCP (QPCP) Conjecture through a novel use of newly-constructed QLDPC codes [LZ22]. Even with NLTS now solved, there remain many independent and unresolved prerequisites to the QPCP Conjecture, such as the NLSS Conjecture of [GL22]. In this work we focus on a specific and natural prerequisite to both NLSS and the QPCP Conjecture, namely, the existence of local Hamiltonians whose low-energy states all require $ω(\log n)$ T gates to prepare. In fact, we prove a stronger result which is not necessarily implied by either conjecture: we construct local Hamiltonians whose low-energy states require $Ω(n)$ T gates. We further show that our procedure can be applied to the NLTS Hamiltonians of [ABN22] to yield local Hamiltonians whose low-energy states require both $Ω(\log n)$-depth and $Ω(n)$ T gates to prepare. In order to accomplish this we define a "pseudo-stabilizer" property of a state with respect to each local Hamiltonian term, and prove an additive local energy lower bound for each term at which the state is pseudo-stabilizer. By proving a relationship between the number of T gates preparing a state and the number of terms at which the state is pseudo-stabilizer, we are able to give a constant energy lower bound which applies to any state with T-count less than $c \cdot n$ for some fixed positive constant $c$. This result represents a significant improvement over [CCNN23] where we used a different technique to give an energy bound which only distinguishes between stabilizer states and states which require a non-zero number of T gates.

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arXiv2023

Local Hamiltonians with no low-energy stabilizer states

The recently-defined No Low-energy Sampleable States (NLSS) conjecture of Gharibian and Le Gall [GL22] posits the existence of a family of local Hamiltonians where all states of low-enough constant energy do not have succinct representations allowing perfect sampling access. States that can be prepared using only Clifford gates (i.e. stabilizer states) are an example of sampleable states, so the NLSS conjecture implies the existence of local Hamiltonians whose low-energy space contains no stabilizer states. We describe families that exhibit this requisite property via a simple alteration to local Hamiltonians corresponding to CSS codes. Our method can also be applied to the recent NLTS Hamiltonians of Anshu, Breuckmann, and Nirkhe [ABN22], resulting in a family of local Hamiltonians whose low-energy space contains neither stabilizer states nor trivial states. We hope that our techniques will eventually be helpful for constructing Hamiltonians which simultaneously satisfy NLSS and NLTS.

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arXiv2021

Quasi-polynomial time approximation of output probabilities of geometrically-local, shallow quantum circuits

We present a classical algorithm that, for any 3D geometrically-local, polylogarithmic-depth quantum circuit $C$ acting on $n$ qubits, and any bit string $x\in\{0,1\}^n$, can compute the quantity $|< x |C|0^{\otimes n}>|^2$ to within any inverse-polynomial additive error in quasi-polynomial time. It is known that it is $\#P$-hard to compute this same quantity to within $2^{-n^2}$ additive error [Mov20, KMM21]. The previous best known algorithm for this problem used $O(2^{n^{1/3}}\text{poly}(1/ε))$ time to compute probabilities to within additive error $ε$ [BGM20]. Notably, the [BGM20] paper included an elegant polynomial time algorithm for this estimation task restricted to 2D circuits, which makes a novel use of 1D Matrix Product States (MPS) carefully tailored to the 2D geometry of the circuit in question. Surprisingly, it is not clear that it is possible to extend this use of MPS to address the case of 3D circuits in polynomial time. This raises a natural question as to whether the computational complexity of the 3D problem might be drastically higher than that of the 2D problem. In this work we address this question by exhibiting a quasi-polynomial time algorithm for the 3D case. In order to surpass the technical barriers encountered by previously known techniques we are forced to pursue a novel approach. Our algorithm has a Divide-and-Conquer structure, demonstrating how to approximate the desired quantity via several instantiations of the same problem type, each involving 3D-local circuits on about half the number of qubits as the original. This division step is then applied recursively, expressing the original quantity as a weighted combination of smaller and smaller 3D-local quantum circuits. A central technical challenge is to control correlations arising from entanglement that may exist between the different circuit ``pieces" produced this way.

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