Nondegenerate phase-flip correction in the Steane code
ID: nondegenerate-phase-flip-correction-in-the-steane-code
Write the Steane code basis as uniform quantum superpositions over a binary linear code and a disjoint coset , where is the even-weight part of the length-seven Hamming code. For , diagonal Pauli Z gates cannot connect the two cosets. Within coset , the overlap isIf , translation by a word with negates this sum, so it vanishes. Since the dual code is the length-seven Hamming code of minimum Hamming distance three, every nonzero of Hamming weight one or two has vanishing overlap. Taking from proves the displayed identity. The eight two-dimensional error images are orthogonal, so their projective measurement determines the error syndrome without revealing the logical state; applying the identified phase flip again recovers every code state. This proves nondegenerate quantum error-correcting code behaviour for the identity and all single-site phase flips, including their coherent linear span.
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