Quantum stabilizer codes and beyond

The importance of quantum error correction in paving the way to build a practical quantum computer is no longer in doubt. This dissertation makes a threefold contribution to the mathematical theory of quantum error-correcting codes. Firstly, it extends the framework of an important class of quantum codes -- nonbinary stabilizer codes. It clarifies the connections of stabilizer codes to classical codes over quadratic extension fields, provides many new constructions of quantum codes, and develops further the theory of optimal quantum codes and punctured quantum codes. Secondly, it contributes to the theory of operator quantum error correcting codes also called as subsystem codes. These codes are expected to have efficient error recovery schemes than stabilizer codes. This dissertation develops a framework for study and analysis of subsystem codes using character theoretic methods. In particular, this work establishes a close link between subsystem codes and classical codes showing that the subsystem codes can be constructed from arbitrary classical codes. Thirdly, it seeks to exploit the knowledge of noise to design efficient quantum codes and considers more realistic channels than the commonly studied depolarizing channel. It gives systematic constructions of asymmetric quantum stabilizer codes that exploit the asymmetry of errors in certain quantum channels.Comment: Ph.D. Dissertation, Texas A&M University, 200

Sur l'algorithme de décodage en liste de Guruswami-Sudan sur les anneaux finis

This thesis studies the algorithmic techniques of list decoding, first proposed by Guruswami and Sudan in 1998, in the context of Reed-Solomon codes over finite rings. Two approaches are considered. First we adapt the Guruswami-Sudan (GS) list decoding algorithm to generalized Reed-Solomon (GRS) codes over finite rings with identity. We study in details the complexities of the algorithms for GRS codes over Galois rings and truncated power series rings. Then we explore more deeply a lifting technique for list decoding. We show that the latter technique is able to correct more error patterns than the original GS list decoding algorithm. We apply the technique to GRS code over Galois rings and truncated power series rings and show that the algorithms coming from this technique have a lower complexity than the original GS algorithm. We show that it can be easily adapted for interleaved Reed-Solomon codes. Finally we present the complete implementation in C and C++ of the list decoding algorithms studied in this thesis. All the needed subroutines, such as univariate polynomial root finding algorithms, finite fields and rings arithmetic, are also presented. Independently, this manuscript contains other work produced during the thesis. We study quasi cyclic codes in details and show that they are in one-to-one correspondence with left principal ideal of a certain matrix ring. Then we adapt the GS framework for ideal based codes to number fields codes and provide a list decoding algorithm for the latter.Cette thèse porte sur l'algorithmique des techniques de décodage en liste, initiée par Guruswami et Sudan en 1998, dans le contexte des codes de Reed-Solomon sur les anneaux finis. Deux approches sont considérées. Dans un premier temps, nous adaptons l'algorithme de décodage en liste de Guruswami-Sudan aux codes de Reed-Solomon généralisés sur les anneaux finis. Nous étudions en détails les complexités de l'algorithme pour les anneaux de Galois et les anneaux de séries tronquées. Dans un deuxième temps nous approfondissons l'étude d'une technique de remontée pour le décodage en liste. Nous montrons que cette derni're permet de corriger davantage de motifs d'erreurs que la technique de Guruswami-Sudan originale. Nous appliquons ensuite cette même technique aux codes de Reed-Solomon généralisés sur les anneaux de Galois et les anneaux de séries tronquées et obtenons de meilleures bornes de complexités. Enfin nous présentons l'implantation des algorithmes en C et C++ des algorithmes de décodage en liste étudiés au cours de cette thèse. Tous les sous-algorithmes nécessaires au décodage en liste, comme la recherche de racines pour les polynômes univariés, l'arithmétique des corps et anneaux finis sont aussi présentés. Indépendamment, ce manuscrit contient d'autres travaux sur les codes quasi-cycliques. Nous prouvons qu'ils sont en correspondance biunivoque avec les idéaux à gauche d'un certain anneaux de matrices. Enfin nous adaptons le cadre proposé par Guruswami et Sudan pour les codes à base d'ideaux aux codes construits à l'aide des corps de nombres. Nous fournissons un algorithme de décodage en liste dans ce contexte

A Combinatorial Commutative Algebra Approach to Complete Decoding

Esta tesis pretende explorar el nexo de unión que existe entre la estructura algebraica de un código lineal y el proceso de descodificación completa. Sabemos que el proceso de descodificación completa para códigos lineales arbitrarios es NP-completo, incluso si se admite preprocesamiento de los datos. Nuestro objetivo es realizar un análisis algebraico del proceso de la descodificación, para ello asociamos diferentes estructuras matemáticas a ciertas familias de códigos. Desde el punto de vista computacional, nuestra descripción no proporciona un algoritmo eficiente pues nos enfrentamos a un problema de naturaleza NP. Sin embargo, proponemos algoritmos alternativos y nuevas técnicas que permiten relajar las condiciones del problema reduciendo los recursos de espacio y tiempo necesarios para manejar dicha estructura algebraica.Departamento de Algebra, Geometría y Topologí

Algebraic Techniques for Low Communication Secure Protocols

Internet communication is often encrypted with the aid of mathematical problems that are hard to solve. Another method to secure electronic communication is the use of a digital lock of which the digital key must be exchanged first. PhD student Robbert de Haan (CWI) researched models for a guaranteed safe communication between two people without the exchange of a digital key and without assumptions concerning the practical difficulty of solving certain mathematical problems. In ancient times Julius Caesar used secret codes to make his messages illegible for spies. He upped every letter of the alphabet with three positions: A became D, Z became C, and so on. Usually, cryptographers research secure communication between two people through one channel that can be monitored by malevolent people. De Haan studied the use of multiple channels. A minority of these channels may be in the hands of adversaries that can intercept, replace or block the message. He proved the most efficient way to securely communicate along these channels and thus solved a fundamental cryptography problem that was introduced almost 20 years ago by Dole, Dwork, Naor and Yung