SOFT: a high-performance simulator for universal fault-tolerant quantum circuits

TL;DR

SOFT is a high-performance GPU-accelerated simulator for universal fault-tolerant quantum circuits, enabling large-scale noisy circuit simulations including non-Clifford gates, crucial for advancing quantum error correction research.

Contribution

The paper introduces SOFT, a novel simulation tool combining stabilizer formalism and GPU parallelization to simulate large-scale, noisy, non-Clifford quantum circuits at a scale previously unattainable.

Findings

First ground-truth simulation of MSC protocol at scale

Revealed discrepancy in logical error rates

Validated effectiveness of MSC for high-fidelity T-states

Abstract

Circuit simulation tools are critical for developing and assessing quantum-error-correcting and fault-tolerant strategies. In this work, we present SOFT, a high-performance SimulatOr for universal Fault-Tolerant quantum circuits. Integrating the generalized stabilizer formalism and highly optimized GPU parallelization, SOFT enables the simulation of noisy quantum circuits containing non-Clifford gates at a scale not accessible with existing tools. To provide a concrete demonstration, we simulate the state-of-the-art magic state cultivation (MSC) protocol at code distance $d=5$, involving 42 qubits, 72 $T$ / $T^\dagger$ gates, and mid-circuit measurements. Using only modest GPU resources, SOFT performs over 200 billion shots and achieves the first ground-truth simulation of the cultivation protocol at a non-trivial scale. This endeavor not only certifies the MSC's effectiveness for generating high-fidelity logical $T$-states, but also reveals a large discrepancy between the actual logical error rate and the previously reported values. Our work demonstrates the importance of reliable simulation tools for fault-tolerant architecture design, advancing the field from simulating quantum memory to simulating a universal quantum computer.