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Achieving the Heisenberg limit using fault-tolerant quantum error correction

arXiv Quantum Physics
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⚡ Quantum Brief
Researchers Himanshu Sahu, Qian Xu, and Sisi Zhou demonstrated fault-tolerant quantum error correction (QEC) can achieve the Heisenberg limit (HL) in noisy environments, overcoming a key barrier in quantum metrology. Their protocol uses a repetition code to estimate a Pauli-Z signal under bit-flip noise, extending QEC robustness to include errors in state preparation, measurement, and all qubit operations—addressing prior assumptions of noiseless QEC steps. The team introduced a fault-tolerant metrological approach combining repeated syndrome measurements with logical measurements, proving errors can be suppressed below a critical threshold to attain the HL. This breakthrough eliminates the need for idealized noiseless QEC, making ultra-precise quantum sensing feasible in real-world conditions where noise is pervasive across all operations. The findings establish a practical path to HL precision in quantum metrology, advancing fault-tolerant quantum computing and high-precision measurement technologies.
Achieving the Heisenberg limit using fault-tolerant quantum error correction

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Quantum Physics arXiv:2601.05457 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 9 Jan 2026] Title:Achieving the Heisenberg limit using fault-tolerant quantum error correction Authors:Himanshu Sahu, Qian Xu, Sisi Zhou View a PDF of the paper titled Achieving the Heisenberg limit using fault-tolerant quantum error correction, by Himanshu Sahu and 2 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Quantum effect enables enhanced estimation precision in metrology, with the Heisenberg limit (HL) representing the ultimate limit allowed by quantum mechanics. Although the HL is generally unattainable in the presence of noise, quantum error correction (QEC) can recover the HL in various scenarios. A notable example is estimating a Pauli-$Z$ signal under bit-flip noise using the repetition code, which is both optimal for metrology and robust against noise. However, previous protocols often assume noise affects only the signal accumulation step, while the QEC operations -- including state preparation and measurement -- are noiseless. To overcome this limitation, we study fault-tolerant quantum metrology where all qubit operations are subject to noise. We focus on estimating a Pauli-$Z$ signal under bit-flip noise, together with state preparation and measurement errors in all QEC operations. We propose a fault-tolerant metrological protocol where a repetition code is prepared via repeated syndrome measurements, followed by a fault-tolerant logical measurement. We demonstrate the existence of an error threshold, below which errors are effectively suppressed and the HL is attained. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2601.05457 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2601.05457v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.05457 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Himanshu Sahu [view email] [v1] Fri, 9 Jan 2026 01:08:39 UTC (568 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Achieving the Heisenberg limit using fault-tolerant quantum error correction, by Himanshu Sahu and 2 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-01 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)

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quantum-error-correction
quantum-hardware
quantum-sensing

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Source: arXiv Quantum Physics