Good quantum error-correcting codes exist

A quantum error-correcting code is defined to be a unitary mapping (encoding) of k qubits (two-state quantum systems) into a subspace of the quantum state space of n qubits such that if any t of the qubits undergo arbitrary decoherence, not necessarily independently, the resulting n qubits can be used to faithfully reconstruct the original quantum state of the k encoded qubits. Quantum error-correcting codes are shown to exist with asymptotic rate k/n=1-2H₂(2t/n) where H₂(p) is the binary entropy function -plog₂p-(1-p)log₂(1-p). Upper bounds on this asymptotic rate are given. © 1996 The American Physical Society.