Abstract
Quantum computation and communication rely on the ability to manipulate quantum states robustly and with high fidelity. To protect fragile quantum-superposition states from corruption through so-called decoherence noise, some form of error correction is needed. Therefore, the discovery of quantum error correction1,2 (QEC) was a key step to turn the field of quantum information from an academic curiosity into a developing technology. Here, we present an experimental implementation of a QEC code for quantum information encoded in continuous variables, based on entanglement among nine optical beams3. This nine-wave-packet adaptation of Shor’s original nine-qubit scheme1 enables, at least in principle, full quantum error correction against an arbitrary single-beam error.
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Acknowledgements
This work was partly supported by SCF, GIA, G-COE and PFN commissioned by the MEXT of Japan, and the Research Foundation for Opto-Science and Technology. S.L.B. appreciated discussions with Netta Cohen. P.v.L. acknowledges the DFG for financial support under the Emmy Noether programme. A.F. acknowledges Y. Takeno for preparing the figures. P.v.L. thanks Gerd Leuchs for useful discussions.
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Project planning: T.A., A.F. Experimental work: T.A., G.T., T.K., J.Y. Theoretical work: S.L.B., P.v.L., A.F.
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Aoki, T., Takahashi, G., Kajiya, T. et al. Quantum error correction beyond qubits. Nature Phys 5, 541–546 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1309
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1309
