Universal Quantum Computation with ideal Clifford gates and noisy ancillas

We consider a model of quantum computation in which the set of elementary operations is limited to Clifford unitaries, the creation of the state $|0>$, and qubit measurement in the computational basis. In addition, we allow the creation of a one-qubit ancilla in a mixed state $\rho$, which should be regarded as a parameter of the model. Our goal is to determine for which $\rho$ universal quantum computation (UQC) can be efficiently simulated. To answer this question, we construct purification protocols that consume several copies of $\rho$ and produce a single output qubit with higher polarization. The protocols allow one to increase the polarization only along certain ``magic'' directions. If the polarization of $\rho$ along a magic direction exceeds a threshold value (about 65%), the purification asymptotically yields a pure state, which we call a magic state. We show that the Clifford group operations combined with magic states preparation are sufficient for UQC. The connection of our results with the Gottesman-Knill theorem is discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, revtex

Improved magic states distillation for quantum universality

Given stabilizer operations and the ability to repeatedly prepare a single-qubit mixed state rho, can we do universal quantum computation? As motivation for this question, "magic state" distillation procedures can reduce the general fault-tolerance problem to that of performing fault-tolerant stabilizer circuits. We improve the procedures of Bravyi and Kitaev in the Hadamard "magic" direction of the Bloch sphere to achieve a sharp threshold between those rho allowing universal quantum computation, and those for which any calculation can be efficiently classically simulated. As a corollary, the ability to repeatedly prepare any pure state which is not a stabilizer state (e.g., any single-qubit pure state which is not a Pauli eigenstate), together with stabilizer operations, gives quantum universality. It remains open whether there is also a tight separation in the so-called T direction.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Magic state distillation with low overhead

We propose a new family of error detecting stabilizer codes with an encoding rate 1/3 that permit a transversal implementation of the pi/8-rotation $T$ on all logical qubits. The new codes are used to construct protocols for distilling high-quality `magic' states $T|+>$ by Clifford group gates and Pauli measurements. The distillation overhead has a poly-logarithmic scaling as a function of the output accuracy, where the degree of the polynomial is $\log_2{3}\approx 1.6$. To construct the desired family of codes, we introduce the notion of a triorthogonal matrix --- a binary matrix in which any pair and any triple of rows have even overlap. Any triorthogonal matrix gives rise to a stabilizer code with a transversal $T$-gate on all logical qubits, possibly augmented by Clifford gates. A powerful numerical method for generating triorthogonal matrices is proposed. Our techniques lead to a two-fold overhead reduction for distilling magic states with output accuracy $10^{-12}$ compared with the best previously known protocol.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Small Codes for Magic State Distillation

Magic state distillation is a critical component in leading proposals for fault-tolerant quantum computation. Relatively little is known, however, about how to construct a magic state distillation routine or, more specifically, which stabilizer codes are suitable for the task. While transversality of a non-Clifford gate within a code often leads to efficient distillation routines, it appears to not be a necessary condition. Here we have examined a number of small stabilizer codes and highlight a handful of which displaying interesting, albeit inefficient, distillation behaviour. Many of these distill noisy states right up to the boundary of the known undististillable region, while some distill toward non-stabilizer states that have not previously been considered.Comment: Some additional comments and clarifications. Close to published version. Contribution to the Topical Issue "Quantum Information Processing and Communication". 6 pages, 6 figure

Magic State Distillation with Low Space Overhead and Optimal Asymptotic Input Count

We present an infinite family of protocols to distill magic states for $T$-gates that has a low space overhead and uses an asymptotic number of input magic states to achieve a given target error that is conjectured to be optimal. The space overhead, defined as the ratio between the physical qubits to the number of output magic states, is asymptotically constant, while both the number of input magic states used per output state and the $T$-gate depth of the circuit scale linearly in the logarithm of the target error $\delta$ (up to $\log \log 1/\delta$). Unlike other distillation protocols, this protocol achieves this performance without concatenation and the input magic states are injected at various steps in the circuit rather than all at the start of the circuit. The protocol can be modified to distill magic states for other gates at the third level of the Clifford hierarchy, with the same asymptotic performance. The protocol relies on the construction of weakly self-dual CSS codes with many logical qubits and large distance, allowing us to implement control-SWAPs on multiple qubits. We call this code the "inner code". The control-SWAPs are then used to measure properties of the magic state and detect errors, using another code that we call the "outer code". Alternatively, we use weakly-self dual CSS codes which implement controlled Hadamards for the inner code, reducing circuit depth. We present several specific small examples of this protocol.Comment: 39 pages, (v2) renamed "odd" and "even" weakly self-dual CSS codes of (v1) to "normal" and "hyperbolic" codes, respectively. (v3) published in Quantu