Topological Subsystem Codes

We introduce a family of 2D topological subsystem quantum error-correcting codes. The gauge group is generated by 2-local Pauli operators, so that 2-local measurements are enough to recover the error syndrome. We study the computational power of code deformation in these codes, and show that boundaries cannot be introduced in the usual way. In addition, we give a general mapping connecting suitable classical statistical mechanical models to optimal error correction in subsystem stabilizer codes that suffer from depolarizing noise.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, explanations added, typos correcte

Non-abelian vortices and non-abelian statistics

We study the interactions of non-abelian vortices in two spatial dimensions. These interactions have novel features, because the Aharonov-Bohm effect enables a pair of vortices to exchange quantum numbers. The cross section for vortex-vortex scattering is typically a multi-valued function of the scattering angle. There can be an exchange contribution to the vortex-vortex scattering amplitude that adds coherently with the direct amplitude, even if the two vortices have distinct quantum numbers. Thus two vortices can be ``indistinguishable'' even though they are not the same

Fault-Tolerant Thresholds for Encoded Ancillae with Homogeneous Errors

I describe a procedure for calculating thresholds for quantum computation as a function of error model given the availability of ancillae prepared in logical states with independent, identically distributed errors. The thresholds are determined via a simple counting argument performed on a single qubit of an infinitely large CSS code. I give concrete examples of thresholds thus achievable for both Steane and Knill style fault-tolerant implementations and investigate their relation to threshold estimates in the literature.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables; v2 minor edits, v3 completely revised, submitted to PR

Inverting quantum decoherence by classical feedback from the environment

We show that for qubits and qutrits it is always possible to perfectly recover quantum coherence by performing a measurement only on the environment, whereas for dimension d>3 there are situations where recovery is impossible, even with complete access to the environment. For qubits, the minimal amount of classical information to be extracted from the environment equals the entropy exchange.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 090501 (2005). Published versio

Black holes as mirrors: quantum information in random subsystems

We study information retrieval from evaporating black holes, assuming that the internal dynamics of a black hole is unitary and rapidly mixing, and assuming that the retriever has unlimited control over the emitted Hawking radiation. If the evaporation of the black hole has already proceeded past the "half-way" point, where half of the initial entropy has been radiated away, then additional quantum information deposited in the black hole is revealed in the Hawking radiation very rapidly. Information deposited prior to the half-way point remains concealed until the half-way point, and then emerges quickly. These conclusions hold because typical local quantum circuits are efficient encoders for quantum error-correcting codes that nearly achieve the capacity of the quantum erasure channel. Our estimate of a black hole's information retention time, based on speculative dynamical assumptions, is just barely compatible with the black hole complementarity hypothesis.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures. (v2): discussion of decoding complexity clarifie

Multiparticle Entanglement in the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick Model

The multiparticle entanglement in the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model has been discussed extensively in this paper. Measured by the global entanglement and its generalization, our calculation shows that the multiparticle entanglement can faithfully detect quantum phase transitions. For an antiferromagnetic case the multiparticle entanglement reaches the maximum at the transition point, whereas for ferromagnetic coupling, two different behaviors of multiparticle entanglement can be identified, dependent on the anisotropic parameter in the coupling.Comment: 7 pages and 5 figure

Quantum Computational Complexity in the Presence of Closed Timelike Curves

Quantum computation with quantum data that can traverse closed timelike curves represents a new physical model of computation. We argue that a model of quantum computation in the presence of closed timelike curves can be formulated which represents a valid quantification of resources given the ability to construct compact regions of closed timelike curves. The notion of self-consistent evolution for quantum computers whose components follow closed timelike curves, as pointed out by Deutsch [Phys. Rev. D {\bf 44}, 3197 (1991)], implies that the evolution of the chronology respecting components which interact with the closed timelike curve components is nonlinear. We demonstrate that this nonlinearity can be used to efficiently solve computational problems which are generally thought to be intractable. In particular we demonstrate that a quantum computer which has access to closed timelike curve qubits can solve NP-complete problems with only a polynomial number of quantum gates.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Minor changes and typos fixed. Reference adde

Secure quantum key distribution with an uncharacterized source

We prove the security of the Bennett-Brassard (BB84) quantum key distribution protocol for an arbitrary source whose averaged states are basis-independent, a condition that is automatically satisfied if the source is suitably designed. The proof is based on the observation that, to an adversary, the key extraction process is equivalent to a measurement in the sigma_x-basis performed on a pure sigma_z-basis eigenstate. The dependence of the achievable key length on the bit error rate is the same as that established by Shor and Preskill for a perfect source, indicating that the defects in the source are efficiently detected by the protocol.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, REVTeX, minor revision

Simple Proof of Security of the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution Protocol

We prove the security of the 1984 protocol of Bennett and Brassard (BB84) for quantum key distribution. We first give a key distribution protocol based on entanglement purification, which can be proven secure using methods from Lo and Chau's proof of security for a similar protocol. We then show that the security of this protocol implies the security of BB84. The entanglement-purification based protocol uses Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes, and properties of these codes are used to remove the use of quantum computation from the Lo-Chau protocol.Comment: 5 pages, Latex, minor changes to improve clarity and fix typo