Non-Markovian Noise Suppression Simplified through Channel Representation

Abstract

Non-Markovian noise, arising from memory effects in the environment, poses substantial challenges to conventional quantum noise suppression protocols, including quantum error correction and mitigation. We introduce a channel representation for arbitrary non-Markovian quantum dynamics, termed the Choi channel, which translates the complex dynamics of non-Markovian noise into the familiar picture of noise channels. It therefore provides a systematic way to design non-Markovian noise suppression protocols: one can apply existing channel-level error-suppression techniques in the Choi-channel picture and then translate them back to the circuit picture. The performance of the resulting non-Markovian protocols, including their noise-suppression effects and complexity, can often be inherited directly from the corresponding Choi-channel protocols without requiring a separate analysis. With this framework, we devise new protocols using Pauli twirling, probabilistic error cancellation, and virtual channel purification. Pauli twirling reduces non-Markovian noise to noise with only classical temporal correlations; probabilistic error cancellation can fully cancel non-Markovian noise; and virtual channel purification can suppress non-Markovian noise without detailed knowledge of its specific form. Through these examples, the Choi channel serves as a foundational bridge for systematically converting existing channel-level techniques into non-Markovian noise suppression protocols.