Introduction to Quantum Error Correction and Fault Tolerance

Steven M. Girvin

Published 2021-11-17, updated 2022-03-26Version 2

These lecture notes from the 2019 Les Houches Summer School on 'Quantum Information Machines' are intended to provide an introduction to classical and quantum error correction with bits and qubits, and with continuous variable systems (harmonic oscillators). The focus on the latter will be on practical examples that can be realized today or in the near future with a modular architecture based on superconducting electrical circuits and microwave photons. The goal and vision is 'hardware-efficient' quantum error correction that does not require exponentially large hardware overhead in order to achieve practical and useful levels of fault tolerance and circuit depth.