这是如何-CSDN博客

We now live in a world with quantum computers. Many are on the cloud and ready to use, requiring little more than an internet connection. But what can we do with them?

我们现在生活在一个拥有量子计算机的世界中。许多服务器都在云中并可以使用，它们只需要Internet连接即可。但是我们该怎么办？

First, we need to be realistic with our scope. No world crisis will be solved with a current quantum computer. No fortunes will be made. When thinking of these current devices as a computer, you have to think of them as pretty bad computers. The limited number of qubits means that they can’t do much, and the effect of errors means they can’t do even that very well.

首先，我们需要在范围上保持现实。当前的量子计算机不会解决世界危机。没有运气。当将这些当前设备视为计算机时，您必须将它们视为非常糟糕的计算机。数量有限的量子比特意味着它们不能做很多事情，而错误的影响意味着它们甚至不能做到那么好。

Instead, we can think of these devices as pieces of experimental physics equipment that we can run tests on. From that perspective, their size and precision is very impressive. Never have we had such control over such a large quantum system. They represent the frontier of what we have been able to probe experimentally. With them, we have an opportunity to test whether quantum theory continues to hold in this unexplored territory.

相反，我们可以将这些设备视为可以进行测试的实验物理设备。从这个角度来看，它们的尺寸和精度令人印象深刻。我们从未对如此庞大的量子系统拥有如此的控制权。它们代表了我们已经能够通过实验进行探索的前沿领域。有了它们，我们就有机会检验量子理论是否继续在这个尚未探索的领域中成立。

It was in 2016 that IBM handed this opportunity over to the world. At that time, I worked at the University of Basel and primarily did research on quantum error correction — ensuring that we don’t lose quantum information to the effects of noise and quantum decoherence. So I started to probe this particular corner of quantum theory: if we implement elements of quantum error correction on real devices, do they behave as we would expect them to?

正是在2016年，IBM将这一机会移交给了世界。当时，我在巴塞尔大学(University of Basel)工作，主要从事量子纠错研究-确保我们不会因噪声和量子退相干的影响而丢失量子信息。因此，我开始探究量子理论的这个特定方面：如果我们在真实设备上实现量子误差校正的元素，它们的行为是否会像我们期望的那样？

I wrote some papers with those results. These are now among the more than 200 papers that have been written by scientists around the world who have performed experiments on IBM’s quantum devices.

我写了一些具有这些结果的论文。现在，这些是世界各地在IBM量子设备上进行过实验的科学家撰写的200多篇论文中的一部分。

Using prototype quantum computers for science is obviously something that is easier when you are a professional scientist. However, given the right resources and tools, this is something that everyone else can have a go at as well.

当您是一名专业科学家时，将原型量子计算机用于科学显然很容易。但是，有了正确的资源和工具，其他所有人也可以尝试。

This was one of the main motivations for creating the topological_codes module in Qiskit. The module has all of the basic tools you need to create experimental tests of quantum error correction. Specifically, it helps set up and analyze instances of the so called ‘repetition code,” the simplest example of something that uses the principles of quantum error correction to store information and protect it from errors. The repetition code uses multiple physical qubits to simulate a logical bit, rather than a logical qubit. To store a bit you simply repeat the desired value many times, to make it unlikely that that the majority of copies will get garbled by errors. It is simple enough that it can be run on current devices, and used to see how well the ideas of quantum error correction actually work.

这是在Qiskit中创建topological_codes模块的主要动机之一。该模块具有创建量子误差校正的实验测试所需的所有基本工具。具体来说，它有助于建立和分析所谓的“重复代码”的实例，这是使用量子纠错原理存储信息并保护其免受错误影响的最简单示例。重复代码使用多个物理量子位来模拟逻辑位，而不是逻辑量子位。要存储一点，您只需重复多次所需的值，以使大多数副本不会因错误而乱码。它非常简单，可以在当前设备上运行，并用于查看量子误差校正的思想实际如何发挥作用。

To see it in action, you can read the relevant section of the Qiskit textbook. You can also now check out our paper, “Benchmarking near-term devices with quantum error correction” that has just been published in the journal Quantum Science and Technology.

要查看实际效果，您可以阅读Qiskit教科书的相关部分。现在，您还可以查看我们的论文“ 通过量子误差校正对近期设备进行基准测试 ”，该论文刚刚发表在《 量子科学与技术 》杂志上。

This paper aims to serve as an introduction to what quantum repetition codes are all about, and how to implement them with topological_codes. It also shows an example of the software in use, by doing the largest test of quantum error correction performed so far: a repetition code with 43 qubits.

本文旨在介绍量子重复码的全部含义，以及如何使用topological_codes实现它们。它还通过进行迄今为止最大的量子纠错测试来显示所用软件的示例：43个量子位的重复码。

If you want to discover more about all this, just check out the paper. It has been written for a broad audience, and so it isn’t too full of technobabble. It’s also open access, so you needn’t worry about a paywall.

如果您想了解更多有关这一切的信息，请查看本文。它是为广泛的读者而编写的，因此它并没有太多的技术问题。它也是开放式访问，因此您不必担心付费专区。

To give you a taste, let’s take a look at some results from the 53 qubit device called Rochester. Unfortunately, this specific device is not accessible to the public. But it is accessible to me, so I couldn’t resist the urge to put it to the test.

为了让您有品味，让我们看一下名为Rochester的53量子位设备的一些结果。不幸的是，公众无法使用此特定设备。但这对我来说是可以访问的，因此我无法抗拒将其进行测试的冲动。

Image for post — A quantum computer called ibmq_rochester

The main result was to look at how well repetition codes of different sizes can protect information. For this, we make repetition codes and use them to store a bit value ( 0 or 1). Then we read out the bit value from the code. In a perfect world, we read out exactly what we put in. However, due to errors, sometimes this will go wrong. The probability of this is called the ‘logical error probability’, which we use as our main measure of how well the code is working.

主要结果是看不同大小的重复码可以很好地保护信息。为此，我们制作重复代码并使用它们存储一个位值( 0或1 )。然后我们从代码中读出位值。在一个完美的世界中，我们准确地读出了我们所输入的内容。但是，由于错误，有时会出错。这种可能性称为“逻辑错误概率”，我们将其用作衡量代码运行状况的主要指标。

The theory of quantum error correction tells us that making bigger codes should give us better protection against errors. In fact, we should find that the logical error probability decreases exponentially. Let’s see what actually happens.

量子纠错理论告诉我们，编写更大的代码应该为我们提供更好的防错保护。实际上，我们应该发现逻辑错误概率呈指数下降。让我们看看实际发生了什么。

Here the ‘code distance’ is a measure of how large the code is. So we do indeed see that the logical error probability decreases with code size, and does so in a way that is consistent with the exponential decay we expect. This is true whether we are doing the test by storing a bit value of 0 (blue) or 1 (orange).

这里的“代码距离”是对代码大小的度量。因此，我们确实确实看到逻辑错误概率随代码大小而降低，并且这样做的方式与我们期望的指数衰减一致。无论我们通过存储0 (蓝色)或1 (橙色)位值来进行测试，都是如此。

In addition, we get to see some of the details of real devices that theorists like me sometimes forget about. The decay of logical error probability is not smooth, but instead rather bumpy. This is due to the fact that different qubits suffer errors of different types and different strengths. So if making our code bigger means using some dodgy qubits, things might not improve as much as we’d like.

此外，我们还可以看到一些像我这样的理论家有时会忘记的真实设备的细节。逻辑错误概率的衰减不是平滑的，而是颠簸的。这是由于不同的量子位遭受不同类型和不同强度的误差这一事实。因此，如果使我们的代码更大，意味着使用一些狡猾的qubit，事情可能不会像我们期望的那样改善。

Also we see that it is easier to store a 0 than a 1. This is due to to the fact that we use a lot of qubits in the state |0 ⟩ to encode the 0, and a lot in state |1 ⟩ to encode a 1. The superconducting qubits we use prefer to be in the |0 ⟩ state rather than the |1 ⟩ state. So more errors cause a |1 ⟩ to flip to |0 ⟩ than vice-versa. The results we see are due to exactly this.

You don’t need 53 qubits to get insights like these. Repetition codes can be run just as well on 5 qubits or 15, which is what is available on the public devices. They can be used to test how well you can store a bit value if you use only the best qubits, or how much of an effect the errors will have if you use the worst. You could also add in extra noise using tricks like the ones below.

您不需要53个量子位就可以获得像这样的洞察力。重复代码也可以在5个量子位或15个量子位上运行，这在公共设备上可用。它们可以用来测试如果只使用最佳的量子位，则可以很好地存储位值，如果使用最差的量子位，则错误将产生多少影响。您也可以使用以下技巧增加额外的噪音。

The id gate makes the qubit pause for a moment and risk experiencing some stray interaction with its environment.
id门会使qubit暂停片刻，并有可能与其环境发生一些杂散交互。
Doing any gate and then immediately undoing it gives you the errors associated with that gate (make sure to put a barrier in between so the compiler doesn’t just remove them).
进行任何门操作然后立即撤消操作，会给您与该门相关的错误(请确保在两者之间加一个barrier ，以便编译器不会只是删除它们)。

You could even start thinking about new ways of decoding the results that come out, and contributing them to the toplogical_codes module for other people to use.

您甚至可以开始思考解码结果的新方法，并将其贡献给toplogical_codes模块供其他人使用。

In summary, by running repetition codes, you can start getting insights into how our devices work. You’ll be able to see the effects of errors and how error correction is able to deal with them. By comparing against simulations, you’ll be able to investigate whether these devices really can tamed in the way that we require to achieve fault-tolerant quantum computers.

总之，通过运行重复代码，您可以开始深入了解我们的设备如何工作。您将能够看到错误的影响以及错误纠正如何对其进行处理。通过与仿真进行比较，您将能够研究这些设备是否真的可以按照我们实现容错量子计算机所需的方式进行驯服。

Whether you are a high school student or someone doing a research project for their masters, you can do experimental tests of quantum physics from your own home. All the hardware and software you need is free and accessible through the IBM Quantum Experience.

无论您是高中生还是为硕士做研究项目的人，都可以在家中进行量子物理学的实验测试。您需要的所有硬件和软件都是免费的，可以通过IBM Quantum Experience进行访问。

So why not see what you can discover? And perhaps get to know a quantum device even better than the people who made it!

那为什么不看你能发现什么呢？并且也许比制造它的人更了解量子装置！