Probabilistic quantum error correction

Abstract

There are well known necessary and sufficient conditions for a quantum code to correct a set of errors. We study weaker conditions under which a quantum code may correct errors with probabilities that may be less than one. We work with stabilizer codes and as an application study how the nine qubit code, the seven qubit code, and the five qubit code perform when there are errors on more than one qubit. As a second application, we discuss the concept of syndrome quality and use it to suggest a way that quantum error correction can be practically improved.