Approximation of real error channels by Clifford channels and Pauli measurements

TL;DR

This paper introduces a broader class of efficiently simulable error channels, including Clifford gates and Pauli measurements, to better approximate realistic quantum error channels like amplitude damping.

Contribution

It extends the set of simulable error channels beyond depolarizing channels to include Clifford operations and measurements, improving the modeling of real quantum errors.

Findings

New error channels effectively approximate amplitude damping.

Enhanced simulation accuracy for stabilizer-based quantum circuits.

Broader set of errors can be efficiently simulated.

Abstract

The Gottesman-Knill theorem allows for the efficient simulation of stabilizer-based quantum error-correction circuits. Errors in these circuits are commonly modeled as depolarizing channels by using Monte Carlo methods to insert Pauli gates randomly throughout the circuit. Although convenient, these channels are poor approximations of common, realistic channels like amplitude damping. Here we analyze a larger set of efficiently simulable error channels by allowing the random insertion of any one-qubit gate or measurement that can be efficiently simulated within the stabilizer formalism. Our new error channels are shown to be a viable method for accurately approximating real error channels.