From fragile qubits to reliable computation
Codes, thresholds and the limits of quantum memories. Four sourced contributions to read in sequence.
- STOP 1 OF 4 · Protect the information
Peter W. Shor
1995 · Protecting quantum memory from decoherence
Shor proposed a quantum error-correcting construction to reduce decoherence in stored quantum information when errors act independently on the constituent qubits. It established a route to preserving quantum states through encoded redundancy.
Sole author of the cited quantum-memory error-correction proposal.
Read the contribution in context - STOP 2 OF 4 · Describe the codes
Daniel Gottesman
1997 · Stabilizer codes and error correction
Gottesman’s doctoral thesis developed the stabilizer formalism for quantum error-correcting codes and examined fault-tolerant operations. It provides a structured way to describe encoded quantum information and the checks used to diagnose errors without simply measuring the stored state.
Author of the doctoral thesis developing the stabilizer-code framework and fault-tolerant operations.
Read the contribution in context - STOP 3 OF 4 · Ask when computation can scale
Dorit Aharonov
2008 · A threshold for reliable computation
The full journal paper with Michael Ben-Or establishes fault-tolerant computation below a constant error threshold under its local-noise assumptions, with modest asymptotic overhead. It provides a theoretical reason that increasing computation size need not require error-free elementary operations.
Joint fault-tolerance theorem by Dorit Aharonov and Michael Ben-Or, within the paper’s noise model.
Read the contribution in context - STOP 4 OF 4 · Understand quantum memories
Barbara M. Terhal
2015 · A framework for quantum memories
Terhal’s review brought together stabilizer and subsystem codes, fault-tolerance thresholds, decoding and passive-memory approaches. It connected the mathematical structure of error correction with the requirements of storing quantum information in physical systems.
Sole author of the cited quantum-memory review.
Read the contribution in context