arXiv subjects

Theodore J. Yoder

Publications and source records attributed to Theodore J. Yoder.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Density theorems with applications in quantum signal processing

We study the approximation capabilities of two families of univariate polynomials that arise in applications of quantum signal processing. Although approximation only in the domain $[0,1]$ is physically desired, these polynomial families are defined by bound constraints not just in $[0,1]$, but also with additional bound constraints outside $[0,1]$. One might wonder then if these additional constraints inhibit their approximation properties within $[0,1]$. The main result of this paper is that this is not the case -- the additional constraints do not hinder the ability of these polynomial families to approximate arbitrarily well any continuous function $f:[0,1] \rightarrow [0,1]$ in the supremum norm, provided $f$ also matches any polynomial in the family at $0$ and $1$. We additionally study the specific problem of approximating the step function on $[0,1]$ (with the step from $0$ to $1$ occurring at $x=\frac{1}{2}$) using one of these families, and propose two subfamilies of monotone and non-monotone approximations. For the non-monotone case, under some additional assumptions, we provide an iterative heuristic algorithm that finds the optimal polynomial approximation.

math.CA↗

arXiv2021

Robust Calibration of a Universal Single-Qubit Gate-Set via Robust Phase Estimation

An important step in building a quantum computer is calibrating experimentally implemented quantum gates to produce operations that are close to ideal unitaries. The calibration step involves estimating the systematic errors in gates and then using controls to correct the implementation. Quantum process tomography is a standard technique for estimating these errors, but is both time consuming, (when one only wants to learn a few key parameters), and is usually inaccurate without resources like perfect state preparation and measurement, which might not be available. With the goal of efficiently and accurately estimating specific errors using minimal resources, we develop a parameter estimation technique, which can gauge key systematic parameters (specifically, amplitude and off-resonance errors) in a universal single-qubit gate-set with provable robustness and efficiency. In particular, our estimates achieve the optimal efficiency, Heisenberg scaling, and do so without entanglement and entirely within a single-qubit Hilbert space. Our main theorem making this possible is a robust version of the phase estimation procedure of Higgins et al. [B. L. Higgins, New J. Phys. 11, 073023 (2009)].

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Calibrated decoders for experimental quantum error correction

Arbitrarily long quantum computations require quantum memories that can be repeatedly measured without being corrupted. Here, we preserve the state of a quantum memory, notably with the additional use of flagged error events. All error events were extracted using fast, mid-circuit measurements and resets of the physical qubits. Among the error decoders we considered, we introduce a perfect matching decoder that was calibrated from measurements containing up to size-4 correlated events. To compare the decoders, we used a partial post-selection scheme shown to retain ten times more data than full post-selection. We observed logical errors per round of $2.2\pm0.1\times10^{-2}$ (decoded without post-selection) and $5.1\pm0.7\times10^{-4}$ (full post-selection), which was less than the physical measurement error of $7\times10^{-3}$ and therefore surpasses a pseudo-threshold for repeated logical measurements.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Scalable error mitigation for noisy quantum circuits produces competitive expectation values

Noise in existing quantum processors only enables an approximation to ideal quantum computation. However, these approximations can be vastly improved by error mitigation, for the computation of expectation values, as shown by small-scale experimental demonstrations. However, the practical scaling of these methods to larger system sizes remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate the utility of zero-noise extrapolation for relevant quantum circuits using up to 26 qubits, circuit depths of 60, and 1080 CNOT gates. We study the scaling of the method for canonical examples of product states and entangling Clifford circuits of increasing size, and extend it to the quench dynamics of 2-D Ising spin lattices with varying couplings. We show that the efficacy of the error mitigation is greatly enhanced by additional error suppression techniques and native gate decomposition that reduce the circuit time. By combining these methods, we demonstrate an accuracy in the approximate quantum simulation of the quench dynamics that surpasses the classical approximations obtained from a state-of-the-art 2-D tensor network method. These results reveal a path to a relevant quantum advantage with noisy, digital, quantum processors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Quantum advantage for computations with limited space

Quantum computations promise the ability to solve problems intractable in the classical setting. Restricting the types of computations considered often allows to establish a provable theoretical advantage by quantum computations, and later demonstrate it experimentally. In this paper, we consider space-restricted computations, where input is a read-only memory and only one (qu)bit can be computed on. We show that $n$-bit symmetric Boolean functions can be implemented exactly through the use of quantum signal processing as restricted space quantum computations using $O(n^2)$ gates, but some of them may only be evaluated with probability $1/2 + O(n/\sqrt{2}^n)$ by analogously defined classical computations. We experimentally demonstrate computations of $3$-, $4$-, $5$-, and $6$-bit symmetric Boolean functions by quantum circuits, leveraging custom two-qubit gates, with algorithmic success probability exceeding the best possible classically. This establishes and experimentally verifies a different kind of quantum advantage -- one where quantum scrap space is more valuable than analogous classical space -- and calls for an in-depth exploration of space-time tradeoffs in quantum circuits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

A four-dimensional toric code with non-Clifford transversal gates

The design of a four-dimensional toric code is explored with the goal of finding a lattice capable of implementing a logical $\mathsf{CCCZ}$ gate transversally. The established lattice is the octaplex tessellation, which is a regular tessellation of four-dimensional Euclidean space whose underlying 4-cell is the octaplex, or hyper-diamond. This differs from the conventional 4D toric code lattice, based on the hypercubic tessellation, which is symmetric with respect to logical $X$ and $Z$ and only allows for the implementation of a transversal Clifford gate. This work further develops the established connection between topological dimension and transversal gates in the Clifford hierarchy, generalizing the known designs for the implementation of transversal $\mathsf{CZ}$ and $\mathsf{CCZ}$ in two and three dimensions, respectively.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Efficient ancilla-free reversible and quantum circuits for the Hidden Weighted Bit function

The Hidden Weighted Bit function plays an important role in the study of classical models of computation. A common belief is that this function is exponentially hard for the implementation by reversible ancilla-free circuits, even though introducing a small number of ancillae allows a very efficient implementation. In this paper, we refute the exponential hardness conjecture by developing a polynomial-size reversible ancilla-free circuit computing the Hidden Weighted Bit function. Our circuit has size $O(n^{6.42})$, where $n$ is the number of input bits. We also show that the Hidden Weighted Bit function can be computed by a quantum ancilla-free circuit of size $O(n^2)$. The technical tools employed come from a combination of Theoretical Computer Science (Barrington's theorem) and Physics (simulation of fermionic Hamiltonians) techniques.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Triangular color codes on trivalent graphs with flag qubits

The color code is a topological quantum error-correcting code supporting a variety of valuable fault-tolerant logical gates. Its two-dimensional version, the triangular color code, may soon be realized with currently available superconducting hardware despite constrained qubit connectivity. To guide this experimental effort, we study the storage threshold of the triangular color code against circuit-level depolarizing noise. First, we adapt the Restriction Decoder to the setting of the triangular color code and to phenomenological noise. Then, we propose a fault-tolerant implementation of the stabilizer measurement circuits, which incorporates flag qubits. We show how information from flag qubits can be used with the Restriction Decoder to maintain the effective distance of the code. We numerically estimate the threshold of the triangular color code to be 0.2%, which is competitive with the thresholds of other topological quantum codes. We also prove that 1-flag stabilizer measurement circuits are sufficient to preserve the full code distance, which may be used to find simpler syndrome extraction circuits of the color code.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

A Numerical Study of Bravyi-Bacon-Shor and Subsystem Hypergraph Product Codes

We provide a numerical investigation of two families of subsystem quantum codes that are related to hypergraph product codes by gauge-fixing. The first family consists of the Bravyi-Bacon-Shor (BBS) codes which have optimal code parameters for subsystem quantum codes local in 2-dimensions. The second family consists of the constant rate "generalized Shor" codes of Bacon and Cassicino \cite{bacon2006quantum}, which we re-brand as subsystem hypergraph product (SHP) codes. We show that any hypergraph product code can be obtained by entangling the gauge qubits of two SHP codes. To evaluate the performance of these codes, we simulate both small and large examples. For circuit noise, a $[[21,4,3]]$ BBS code and a $[[49,16,3]]$ SHP code have pseudthresholds of $2\times10^{-3}$ and $8\times10^{-4}$, respectively. Simulations for phenomenological noise show that large BBS and SHP codes start to outperform surface codes with similar encoding rate at physical error rates $1\times 10^{-6}$ and $4\times10^{-4}$, respectively.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Topological and subsystem codes on low-degree graphs with flag qubits

In this work we introduce two code families, which we call the heavy hexagon code and heavy square code. Both code families are implemented by assigning physical data and ancilla qubits to both vertices and edges of low degree graphs. Such a layout is particularly suitable for superconducting qubit architectures to minimize frequency collisions and crosstalk. In some cases, frequency collisions can be reduced by several orders of magnitude. The heavy hexagon code is a hybrid surface/Bacon-Shor code mapped onto a (heavy) hexagonal lattice whereas the heavy square code is the surface code mapped onto a (heavy) square lattice. In both cases, the lattice includes all the ancilla qubits required for fault-tolerant error-correction. Naively, the limited qubit connectivity might be thought to limit the error-correcting capability of the code to less than its full distance. Therefore, essential to our construction is the use of flag qubits. We modify minimum weight perfect matching decoding to efficiently and scalably incorporate information from measurements of the flag qubits and correct up to the full code distance while respecting the limited connectivity. Simulations show that high threshold values for both codes can be obtained using our decoding protocol. Further, our decoding scheme can be adapted to other topological code families.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Optimal quantum subsystem codes in 2-dimensions

Given any two classical codes with parameters $[n_1,k,d_1]$ and $[n_2,k,d_2]$, we show how to construct a quantum subsystem code in 2-dimensions with parameters $[[N,K,D]]$ satisfying $N\le 2n_1n_2$, $K=k$, and $D=\min(d_1,d_2)$. These quantum codes are in the class of generalized Bacon-Shor codes introduced by Bravyi. We note that constructions of good classical codes can be used to construct quantum codes that saturate Bravyi's bound $KD=O(N)$ on the code parameters of 2-dimensional subsystem codes. One of these good constructions uses classical expander codes. This construction has the additional advantage of a linear time quantum decoder based on the classical Sipser-Spielman flip decoder. Finally, while the subsystem codes we create do not have asymptotic thresholds, we show how they can be gauge-fixed to certain hypergraph product codes that do.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Quantum simulation from the bottom up: the case of rebits

Typically, quantum mechanics is thought of as a linear theory with unitary evolution governed by the Schrödinger equation. While this is technically true and useful for a physicist, with regards to computation it is an unfortunately narrow point of view. Just as a classical computer can simulate highly nonlinear functions of classical states, so too can the more general quantum computer simulate nonlinear evolutions of quantum states. We detail one particular simulation of nonlinearity on a quantum computer, showing how the entire class of $\mathbb{R}$-unitary evolutions (on $n$ qubits) can be simulated using a unitary, real-amplitude quantum computer (consisting of $n+1$ qubits in total). These operators can be represented as the sum of a linear and antilinear operator, and add an intriguing new set of nonlinear quantum gates to the toolbox of the quantum algorithm designer. Furthermore, a subgroup of these nonlinear evolutions, called the $\mathbb{R}$-Cliffords, can be efficiently classically simulated, by making use of the fact that Clifford operators can simulate non-Clifford (in fact, non-linear) operators. This perspective of using the physical operators that we have to simulate non-physical ones that we do not is what we call bottom-up simulation, and we give some examples of its broader implications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

The methodology of resonant equiangular composite quantum gates

The creation of composite quantum gates that implement quantum response functions $\hat{U}(θ)$ dependent on some parameter of interest $θ$ is often more of an art than a science. Through inspired design, a sequence of $L$ primitive gates also depending on $θ$ can engineer a highly nontrivial $\hat{U}(θ)$ that enables myriad precision metrology, spectroscopy, and control techniques. However, discovering new, useful examples of $\hat{U}(θ)$ requires great intuition to perceive the possibilities, and often brute-force to find optimal implementations. We present a systematic and efficient methodology for composite gate design of arbitrary length, where phase-controlled primitive gates all rotating by $θ$ act on a single spin. We fully characterize the realizable family of $\hat{U}(θ)$, provide an efficient algorithm that decomposes a choice of $\hat{U}(θ)$ into its shortest sequence of gates, and show how to efficiently choose an achievable $\hat{U}(θ)$ that for fixed $L$, is an optimal approximation to objective functions on its quadratures. A strong connection is forged with \emph{classical} discrete-time signal processing, allowing us to swiftly construct, as examples, compensated gates with optimal bandwidth that implement arbitrary single spin rotations with sub-wavelength spatial selectivity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Heisenberg scaling of imaging resolution by coherent enhancement

Classical imaging works by scattering photons from an object to be imaged, and achieves resolution scaling as $1/\sqrt{t}$, with $t$ the imaging time. By contrast, the laws of quantum mechanics allow one to utilize quantum coherence to obtain imaging resolution that can scale as quickly as $1/t$ -- the so-called "Heisenberg limit." However, ambiguities in the obtained signal often preclude taking full advantage of this quantum enhancement, while imaging techniques designed to be unambiguous often lose this optimal Heisenberg scaling. Here, we demonstrate an imaging technique which combines unambiguous detection of the target with Heisenberg scaling of the resolution. We also demonstrate a binary search algorithm which can efficiently locate a coherent target using the technique, resolving a target trapped ion to within 0.3% of the $1/e^2$ diameter of the excitation beam.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2017

The disjointness of stabilizer codes and limitations on fault-tolerant logical gates

Stabilizer codes are a simple and successful class of quantum error-correcting codes. Yet this success comes in spite of some harsh limitations on the ability of these codes to fault-tolerantly compute. Here we introduce a new metric for these codes, the disjointness, which, roughly speaking, is the number of mostly non-overlapping representatives of any given non-trivial logical Pauli operator. We use the disjointness to prove that transversal gates on error-detecting stabilizer codes are necessarily in a finite level of the Clifford hierarchy. We also apply our techniques to topological code families to find similar bounds on the level of the hierarchy attainable by constant depth circuits, regardless of their geometric locality. For instance, we can show that symmetric 2D surface codes cannot have non-local constant depth circuits for non-Clifford gates.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Error rates and resource overheads of encoded three-qubit gates

A non-Clifford gate is required for universal quantum computation, and, typically, this is the most error-prone and resource intensive logical operation on an error-correcting code. Small, single-qubit rotations are popular choices for this non-Clifford gate, but certain three-qubit gates, such as Toffoli or controlled-controlled-Z (CCZ), are equivalent options that are also more suited for implementing some quantum algorithms, for instance those with coherent classical subroutines. Here, we calculate error rates and resource overheads for implementing logical CCZ with pieceable fault-tolerance, a non-transversal method for implementing logical gates. We provide a comparison with a non-local magic-state scheme on a concatenated code and a local magic-state scheme on the surface code. We find the pieceable fault-tolerance scheme particularly advantaged over magic states on concatenated codes and in certain regimes over magic states on the surface code. Our results suggest that pieceable fault-tolerance is a promising candidate for fault-tolerance in a near-future quantum computer.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Universal fault-tolerant quantum computation with Bacon-Shor codes

We present a fault-tolerant universal gate set consisting of Hadamard and controlled-controlled-Z (CCZ) on Bacon-Shor subsystem codes. Transversal non-Clifford gates on these codes are intriguing in that higher levels of the Clifford hierarchy become accessible as the code becomes more asymmetric. For instance, in an appropriate gauge, Bacon-Shor codes on an $m\times m^k$ lattice have transversal $k$-qubit-controlled $Z$. Through a variety of tricks, including intermediate error-correction and non-Pauli recovery, we reduce the overhead required for fault-tolerant CCZ. We calculate pseudothresholds for our universal gate set on the smallest $3\times3$ Bacon-Shor code and also compare our gates with magic-states within the framework of a proposed ion trap architecture.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

The surface code with a twist

The surface code is one of the most successful approaches to topological quantum error-correction. It boasts the smallest known syndrome extraction circuits and correspondingly largest thresholds. Defect-based logical encodings of a new variety called twists have made it possible to implement the full Clifford group without state distillation. Here we investigate a patch-based encoding involving a modified twist. In our modified formulation, the resulting codes, called triangle codes for the shape of their planar layout, have only weight-four checks and relatively simple syndrome extraction circuits that maintain a high, near surface-code-level threshold. They also use 25% fewer physical qubits per logical qubit than the surface code. Moreover, benefiting from the twist, we can implement all Clifford gates by lattice surgery without the need for state distillation. By a surgical transformation to the surface code, we also develop a scheme of doing all Clifford gates on surface code patches in an atypical planar layout, though with less qubit efficiency than the triangle code. Finally, we remark that logical qubits encoded in triangle codes are naturally amenable to logical tomography, and the smallest triangle code can demonstrate high-pseudothreshold fault-tolerance to depolarizing noise using just 13 physical qubits.

quant-ph↗