Experimental Implementation of a Codeword Stabilized Quantum Code

A five-qubit codeword stabilized quantum code is implemented in a seven-qubit system using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Our experiment implements a good nonadditive quantum code which encodes a larger Hilbert space than any stabilizer code with the same length and capable of correcting the same kind of errors. The experimentally measured quantum coherence is shown to be robust against artificially introduced errors, benchmarking the success in implementing the quantum error correction code. Given the typical decoherence time of the system, our experiment illustrates the ability of coherent control to implement complex quantum circuits for demonstrating interesting results in spin qubits for quantum computing

Structured Error Recovery for Codeword-Stabilized Quantum Codes

Codeword stabilized (CWS) codes are, in general, non-additive quantum codes that can correct errors by an exhaustive search of different error patterns, similar to the way that we decode classical non-linear codes. For an n-qubit quantum code correcting errors on up to t qubits, this brute-force approach consecutively tests different errors of weight t or less, and employs a separate n-qubit measurement in each test. In this paper, we suggest an error grouping technique that allows to simultaneously test large groups of errors in a single measurement. This structured error recovery technique exponentially reduces the number of measurements by about 3^t times. While it still leaves exponentially many measurements for a generic CWS code, the technique is equivalent to syndrome-based recovery for the special case of additive CWS codes.Comment: 13 pages, 9 eps figure

Generalized decoding, effective channels, and simplified security proofs in quantum key distribution

Prepare and measure quantum key distribution protocols can be decomposed into two basic steps: delivery of the signals over a quantum channel and distillation of a secret key from the signal and measurement records by classical processing and public communication. Here we formalize the distillation process for a general protocol in a purely quantum-mechanical framework and demonstrate that it can be viewed as creating an ``effective'' quantum channel between the legitimate users Alice and Bob. The process of secret key generation can then be viewed as entanglement distribution using this channel, which enables application of entanglement-based security proofs to essentially any prepare and measure protocol. To ensure secrecy of the key, Alice and Bob must be able to estimate the channel noise from errors in the key, and we further show how symmetries of the distillation process simplify this task. Applying this method, we prove the security of several key distribution protocols based on equiangular spherical codes.Comment: 9.1 pages REVTeX. (v3): published version. (v2): revised for improved presentation; content unchange

Low-complexity quantum codes designed via codeword-stabilized framework

We consider design of the quantum stabilizer codes via a two-step, low-complexity approach based on the framework of codeword-stabilized (CWS) codes. In this framework, each quantum CWS code can be specified by a graph and a binary code. For codes that can be obtained from a given graph, we give several upper bounds on the distance of a generic (additive or non-additive) CWS code, and the lower Gilbert-Varshamov bound for the existence of additive CWS codes. We also consider additive cyclic CWS codes and show that these codes correspond to a previously unexplored class of single-generator cyclic stabilizer codes. We present several families of simple stabilizer codes with relatively good parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Non-Threshold Quantum Secret Sharing Schemes in the Graph State Formalism

In a recent work, Markham and Sanders have proposed a framework to study quantum secret sharing (QSS) schemes using graph states. This framework unified three classes of QSS protocols, namely, sharing classical secrets over private and public channels, and sharing quantum secrets. However, most work on secret sharing based on graph states focused on threshold schemes. In this paper, we focus on general access structures. We show how to realize a large class of arbitrary access structures using the graph state formalism. We show an equivalence between $[[n,1]]$ binary quantum codes and graph state secret sharing schemes sharing one bit. We also establish a similar (but restricted) equivalence between a class of $[[n,1]]$ Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes and graph state QSS schemes sharing one qubit. With these results we are able to construct a large class of quantum secret sharing schemes with arbitrary access structures.Comment: LaTeX, 6 page

Minimal-memory realization of pearl-necklace encoders of general quantum convolutional codes

Quantum convolutional codes, like their classical counterparts, promise to offer higher error correction performance than block codes of equivalent encoding complexity, and are expected to find important applications in reliable quantum communication where a continuous stream of qubits is transmitted. Grassl and Roetteler devised an algorithm to encode a quantum convolutional code with a "pearl-necklace encoder." Despite their theoretical significance as a neat way of representing quantum convolutional codes, they are not well-suited to practical realization. In fact, there is no straightforward way to implement any given pearl-necklace structure. This paper closes the gap between theoretical representation and practical implementation. In our previous work, we presented an efficient algorithm for finding a minimal-memory realization of a pearl-necklace encoder for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) convolutional codes. This work extends our previous work and presents an algorithm for turning a pearl-necklace encoder for a general (non-CSS) quantum convolutional code into a realizable quantum convolutional encoder. We show that a minimal-memory realization depends on the commutativity relations between the gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder. We find a realization by means of a weighted graph which details the non-commutative paths through the pearl-necklace. The weight of the longest path in this graph is equal to the minimal amount of memory needed to implement the encoder. The algorithm has a polynomial-time complexity in the number of gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures; extends paper arXiv:1004.5179v

Multiparticle entanglement purification for graph states

We introduce a class of multiparticle entanglement purification protocols that allow us to distill a large class of entangled states. These include cluster states, GHZ states and various error correction codes all of which belong to the class of two-colorable graph states. We analyze these schemes under realistic conditions and observe that they are scalable, i.e. the threshold value for imperfect local operations does not depend on the number of parties for many of these states. When compared to schemes based on bipartite entanglement purification, the protocol is more efficient and the achievable quality of the purified states is larger. As an application we discuss an experimental realization of the protocol in optical lattices which allows one to purify cluster states.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; V2: some typos corrected; V3: published versio

Small sets of complementary observables

Two observables are called complementary if preparing a physical object in an eigenstate of one of them yields a completely random result in a measurement of the other. We investigate small sets of complementary observables that cannot be extended by yet another complementary observable. We construct explicit examples of the unextendible sets up to dimension $16$ and conjecture certain small sets to be unextendible in higher dimensions. Our constructions provide three complementary measurements, only one observable away from the ultimate minimum of two observables in the set. Almost all of our examples in finite dimension allow to discriminate pure states from some mixed states, and shed light on the complex topology of the Bloch space of higher-dimensional quantum systems

On local invariants of pure three-qubit states

We study invariants of three-qubit states under local unitary transformations, i.e. functions on the space of entanglement types, which is known to have dimension 6. We show that there is no set of six independent polynomial invariants of degree less than or equal to 6, and find such a set with maximum degree 8. We describe an intrinsic definition of a canonical state on each orbit, and discuss the (non-polynomial) invariants associated with it.Comment: LateX, 13 pages. Minor typoes corrected. Published versio