Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gates

Constant-rate low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are promising candidates for constructing efficient fault-tolerant quantum memories. However, if physical gates are subject to geometric-locality constraints, it becomes challenging to realize these codes. In this paper, we construct a new family o...

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Main Authors: Christopher A. Pattison, Anirudh Krishna, John Preskill
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Verein zur Förderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften 2025-05-01
Series:Quantum
Online Access:https://quantum-journal.org/papers/q-2025-05-05-1728/pdf/
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author Christopher A. Pattison
Anirudh Krishna
John Preskill
author_facet Christopher A. Pattison
Anirudh Krishna
John Preskill
author_sort Christopher A. Pattison
collection DOAJ
description Constant-rate low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are promising candidates for constructing efficient fault-tolerant quantum memories. However, if physical gates are subject to geometric-locality constraints, it becomes challenging to realize these codes. In this paper, we construct a new family of $[[N,K,D]]$ codes, referred to as hierarchical codes, that encode a number of logical qubits $K = \Omega(N/\log(N)^2)$. The $N^{th}$ element of this code family is obtained by concatenating a constant-rate quantum LDPC code with a surface code; nearest-neighbor gates in two dimensions are sufficient to implement the corresponding syndrome-extraction circuit and achieve a threshold. Below threshold the logical failure rate vanishes superpolynomially as a function of the distance $D(N)$. We present a bilayer architecture for implementing the syndrome-extraction circuit, and estimate the logical failure rate for this architecture. Under conservative assumptions, we find that the hierarchical code outperforms the basic encoding where all logical qubits are encoded in the surface code.
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issn 2521-327X
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Verein zur Förderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften
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spelling doaj-art-19b695994d77435ebc0df0c5c87abd8a2025-08-20T02:11:25ZengVerein zur Förderung des Open Access Publizierens in den QuantenwissenschaftenQuantum2521-327X2025-05-019172810.22331/q-2025-05-05-172810.22331/q-2025-05-05-1728Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gatesChristopher A. PattisonAnirudh KrishnaJohn PreskillConstant-rate low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are promising candidates for constructing efficient fault-tolerant quantum memories. However, if physical gates are subject to geometric-locality constraints, it becomes challenging to realize these codes. In this paper, we construct a new family of $[[N,K,D]]$ codes, referred to as hierarchical codes, that encode a number of logical qubits $K = \Omega(N/\log(N)^2)$. The $N^{th}$ element of this code family is obtained by concatenating a constant-rate quantum LDPC code with a surface code; nearest-neighbor gates in two dimensions are sufficient to implement the corresponding syndrome-extraction circuit and achieve a threshold. Below threshold the logical failure rate vanishes superpolynomially as a function of the distance $D(N)$. We present a bilayer architecture for implementing the syndrome-extraction circuit, and estimate the logical failure rate for this architecture. Under conservative assumptions, we find that the hierarchical code outperforms the basic encoding where all logical qubits are encoded in the surface code.https://quantum-journal.org/papers/q-2025-05-05-1728/pdf/
spellingShingle Christopher A. Pattison
Anirudh Krishna
John Preskill
Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gates
Quantum
title Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gates
title_full Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gates
title_fullStr Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gates
title_full_unstemmed Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gates
title_short Hierarchical memories: Simulating quantum LDPC codes with local gates
title_sort hierarchical memories simulating quantum ldpc codes with local gates
url https://quantum-journal.org/papers/q-2025-05-05-1728/pdf/
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AT anirudhkrishna hierarchicalmemoriessimulatingquantumldpccodeswithlocalgates
AT johnpreskill hierarchicalmemoriessimulatingquantumldpccodeswithlocalgates