On Variable Strength Quantum ECC

Quantum error correcting codes (QECC) facilitate timely detection and correction of errors to increase the robustness of qubits. Higher expected error rates necessitate stronger (i.e., larger-distance) QECC to guarantee correct operation. With increasing strength, however, QECC overhead can easily become forbidding. Based on the observation that quantum algorithms exhibit varying spatio-temporal sensitivity to noise (hence, errors), this article explores challenges and opportunities of variable strength QECC where QECC strength gets adapted to the degree of noise tolerance, to minimize QECC overhead without compromising correctness.