1206.0800 (Austin G. Fowler)

Proof of finite surface code threshold for matching    [PDF]

Austin G. Fowler

Qubits are fragile and require error correction. The surface code is an excellent quantum error correction code. Edmonds' minimum weight perfect matching algorithm is an extremely fast and effective method of handling errors in the surface code. While numerical evidence of a finite threshold error rate when using this method is overwhelming, a formal proof has been lacking. We provide a formal existence proof and lower bound of 7.4x10^-4, closing a long-standing open problem.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.0800