Quantum Error Correction on Error-mitigated Physical Qubits

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Jeon, Minjun, Cai, Zhenyu
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866914280754905088
author Jeon, Minjun
Cai, Zhenyu
author_facet Jeon, Minjun
Cai, Zhenyu
contents We present a general framework for applying linear quantum error mitigation (QEM) techniques directly to physical qubits within a logical qubit to suppress logical errors. By exploiting the linearity of quantum error correction (QEC), we demonstrate that any linear QEM method$\unicode{x2014}$including probabilistic error cancellation (PEC), zero-noise extrapolation (ZNE), and symmetry verification$\unicode{x2014}$can be integrated into the physical layer without requiring modifications to the subsequent QEC decoder. Applying this framework to memory experiments using PEC, we analytically prove and numerically verify that the leading-order contribution to the logical error can be removed, increasing the effective code distance by 2. Our simulations on repetition and rotated surface codes show that a distance-3 code with physical-level PEC achieves logical error rates lower than or similar to a distance-5 unmitigated code while using 40% and 64% fewer qubits, respectively. These results establish physical-level QEM as a widely compatible and resource-efficient strategy for enhancing logical performance in early fault-tolerant architectures.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_18384
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantum Error Correction on Error-mitigated Physical Qubits
Jeon, Minjun
Cai, Zhenyu
Quantum Physics
We present a general framework for applying linear quantum error mitigation (QEM) techniques directly to physical qubits within a logical qubit to suppress logical errors. By exploiting the linearity of quantum error correction (QEC), we demonstrate that any linear QEM method$\unicode{x2014}$including probabilistic error cancellation (PEC), zero-noise extrapolation (ZNE), and symmetry verification$\unicode{x2014}$can be integrated into the physical layer without requiring modifications to the subsequent QEC decoder. Applying this framework to memory experiments using PEC, we analytically prove and numerically verify that the leading-order contribution to the logical error can be removed, increasing the effective code distance by 2. Our simulations on repetition and rotated surface codes show that a distance-3 code with physical-level PEC achieves logical error rates lower than or similar to a distance-5 unmitigated code while using 40% and 64% fewer qubits, respectively. These results establish physical-level QEM as a widely compatible and resource-efficient strategy for enhancing logical performance in early fault-tolerant architectures.
title Quantum Error Correction on Error-mitigated Physical Qubits
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.18384