The multiplicative domain in quantum error correction

Man-Duen Choi, Nathaniel Johnston, David W. Kribs

Published 2008-11-06Version 1

We show that the multiplicative domain of a completely positive map yields a new class of quantum error correcting codes. In the case of a unital quantum channel, these are precisely the codes that do not require a measurement as part of the recovery process, the so-called unitarily correctable codes. Whereas in the arbitrary, not necessarily unital case they form a proper subset of unitarily correctable codes that can be computed from properties of the channel. As part of the analysis we derive a representation theoretic characterization of subsystem codes. We also present a number of illustrative examples.