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Glossary

Quantum glossary

Syndrome

Also: error syndrome, stabilizer measurement

The pattern of parity-check results that tells an error-correcting code where an error probably happened.

Syndrome measurements reveal the error without revealing the encoded data. Turning a syndrome into a correction is the decoder’s job, and it must keep up in real time.

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Related terms

  • Quantum error correction — Encoding quantum information redundantly so errors can be detected and fixed without measuring — and destroying — the data.
  • Surface code — A quantum error-correcting code laid out on a 2D grid, needing only nearest-neighbour interactions.
  • Stabilizer formalism — A way to describe a quantum state by the Pauli operators that leave it unchanged, instead of by its amplitudes.