[quantum-info] Two PiQuDos seminars this week, Monday and Wednesday

[Daniel Brod]

Dear all

This week we have two quantum information seminars:

*On Monday Dec 12, 4pm in the Time room, we have *

Speaker: Aleksander Kubica

Title: The ABCs of color codes

Abstract: To build a fully functioning quantum computer, it is necessary to
encode quantum information to protect it from noise. Topological codes,
such as the color code, naturally protect against local errors and
represent our best hope for storing quantum information. Moreover, a
quantum computer must also be capable of processing this information. Since
the color code has many computationally valuable transversal logical gates,
it is a promising candidate for a future quantum computer architecture.

In the talk, I will provide an overview of the color code. First, I will
establish a connection between the color code and a well-studied model
- the toric
code. Then, I will explain how one can implement a universal gate set with
the subsystem and the stabilizer color codes in three dimensions using
techniques of code switching and gauge fixing. Next, I will discuss the problem
of decoding the color code. Finally, I will explain how one can find
the optimal
error correction threshold by analyzing phase transitions in certain
statistical-mechanical models.

The talk is based on http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.0069, http://arxiv.org/abs/
1503.02065 and recent works with M. Beverland, F. Brandao, N. Delfosse, J.
Preskill and K. Svore.


***



*On Wednesday Dec 14, 4pm in the Time room, we have*
Speaker: Chris Jackson

Title: Non-holonomic tomography and detecting state-preparation and
measurement correlated errors

Abstract: Quantum tomography is an important tool for characterizing the
parameters of unknown states, measurements, and gates.  Standard quantum
tomography is the practice of estimating these parameters with known
measurements, states, or both, respectively.  In recent years, it has
become important to address the issue of working with systems where the
``devices'' used to prepare states and make measurements *both *have
significant errors.  Of particular concern to me is whether such
state-preparation and measurement errors are correlated with each other.
In this talk, I will share a solution to assessing such correlations with
an object called a partial determinant.  Further, I will show how this
technique suggests a perspective for such correlated quantum states and
observables (over the space of device settings) is analogous to the
non-holonomic perspectives of thermodynamic heat and work (over the
macroscopic state space.)
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