Developing and analyzing the defect-based surface codes using optimization algorithms

Sayedsalehi, Samira (author), Bagherzadeh, Nader (author), Del Barrio García, Alberto A. (author), Botella, Guillermo (author), Pilipović, Ratko (author)

Fault tolerance is crucial for enabling large-scale quantum computations, with surface codes emerging as prominent error correction techniques due to their high error threshold and reliance on nearest-neighbor interactions. Despite the advantages of surface codes, they demand a substantial number of qubits to encode a single logical qubit, making them resource-intensive. Two primary approaches exist to encode multiple logical qubits: patch-based and defect-based. This study focuses on the latter approach, which involves creating holes in the surface code for logical qubit encoding. With the defect-based approach, we need to account for trade-offs between the number of logical qubits and the logical error rates, so we employ an optimization algorithm to evaluate the maximum number of logical qubits for a given error rate. Through a series of experiments, we assess the limitations of the defect-based approach and investigate the impact of various hole types on logical qubit encoding.

• Language: English
• Keywords: genetic algorithms, logical error rates, logical qubits, quantum computing, quantum error correction, simulated annealing, surface codes
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FRI - Faculty of Computer and Information Science
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 23 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 7, iss. 2, art. 25
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-172852
• UDC: 004
• ISSN on article: 2624-960X
• DOI: 10.3390/quantum7020025
• COBISS.SI-ID: 239228931
• Publication date in RUL: 11.09.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Quantum reports
• Shortened title: Quantum rep.
• Publisher: MDPI AG
• ISSN: 2624-960X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 18326531

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: genetski algoritmi, stopnje logičnih napak, logični kubiti, kvantno računanje, kvantna korekcija napak, simulirano žarjenje, površinske kode