Quantum information effects

We study the two dual quantum information effects to manipulate the amount of information in quantum computation: hiding and allocation. The resulting type-and-effect system is fully expressive for irreversible quantum computing, including measurement. We provide universal categorical constructions that semantically interpret this arrow metalanguage with choice, starting with any rig groupoid interpreting the reversible base language. Several properties of quantum measurement follow in general, and we translate (noniterative) quantum flow charts into our language. The semantic constructions turn the category of unitaries between Hilbert spaces into the category of completely positive trace-preserving maps, and they turn the category of bijections between finite sets into the category of functions with chosen garbage. Thus they capture the fundamental theorems of classical and quantum reversible computing of Toffoli and Stinespring.

Semantics for variational Quantum programming

We consider a programming language that can manipulate both classical and quantum information. Our language is type-safe and designed for variational quantum programming, which is a hybrid classical-quantum computational paradigm. The classical subsystem of the language is the Probabilistic FixPoint Calculus (PFPC), which is a lambda calculus with mixed-variance recursive types, term recursion and probabilistic choice. The quantum subsystem is a first-order linear type system that can manipulate quantum information. The two subsystems are related by mixed classical/quantum terms that specify how classical probabilistic effects are induced by quantum measurements, and conversely, how classical (probabilistic) programs can influence the quantum dynamics. We also describe a sound and computationally adequate denotational semantics for the language. Classical probabilistic effects are interpreted using a recently-described commutative probabilistic monad on DCPO. Quantum effects and resources are interpreted in a category of von Neumann algebras that we show is enriched over (continuous) domains. This strong sense of enrichment allows us to develop novel semantic methods that we use to interpret the relationship between the quantum and classical probabilistic effects. By doing so we provide a very detailed denotational analysis that relates domain-theoretic models of classical probabilistic programming to models of quantum programming.

Encoding classical information in gauge subsystems of quantum codes

In this paper, we show how to construct hybrid quantum-classical codes from subsystem codes by encoding the classical information into the gauge qudits using gauge fixing. Unlike previous work on hybrid codes, we allow for two separate minimum distances, one for the quantum information and one for the classical information. We give an explicit construction of hybrid codes from two classical linear codes using Bacon–Casaccino subsystem codes, as well as several new examples of good hybrid code.

Decoherence-protected quantum register of nuclear spins in diamond

Solid-state quantum registers are exceptional for storing quantum information at room temperature with long coherence time. Nevertheless, practical applications toward quantum supremacy require even longer coherence time to allow for more complex algorithms. In this work we propose a quantum register that lies in a decoherence-protected subspace to be implemented with nuclear spins nearby a Nitrogen-Vacancy center in diamond. The quantum information is encoded in two logical states composed of two Carbon-13 nuclear spins, while an electron spin is used as ancilla for initialization and control. Moreover, by tuning an off-axis magnetic field we enable non-nuclear-spin- preserving transitions that we use for preparing and manipulating the register through Stimulating Raman Adiabatic Passage. Furthermore, we consider more elaborated sequences to improve simultaneous control over the system yielding decreased gate time.