Separability does not certify zero-noise extrapolation: Factorial diagnostics in dynamic quantum circuits
quant-ph
Submitted: 2026-10-20
Updated: 2026-10-20
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: Separately amplifying gate, latency, and mid-circuit measurement errors can simplify zero-noise extrapolation, but a weak interaction between amplification knobs does not establish an accurate
Terminology
Abstract
Separately amplifying gate, latency, and mid-circuit measurement errors can simplify zero-noise extrapolation, but a weak interaction between amplification knobs does not establish an accurate zero-noise limit. We distinguish observable separability, response-model adequacy, and calibration of that limit, and test them in a pre-specified 2 cubed factorial experiment on three IBM dynamic circuits. For the primary echoed spectator observable, the latency-measurement coefficient is b LM=+0.0007 with a nominal 95% bootstrap interval [-0.0033,+0.0049]. A separately planned follow-up meets a plus or minus0.005 equivalence criterion and recovers two injected interactions; both repeat runs nevertheless trigger the drift rule. Multi-knob extrapolations have smaller median absolute errors than the single-knob comparisons, yet all five original strategies exclude the known ideal value for three of six observables. Duration controls support a model-dependent contribution to the spectator deficit from unequal decay rates in native padding and added delay. We give an explicit construction showing why measurements at two measurement-knob levels cannot identify the extrapolated limit without response assumptions. A post-hoc precision analysis and an additive full-factorial estimator expose a further bias-variance trade-off hidden by point-error comparisons. The experiment provides a diagnostic of the implemented response surface, not a certification of physical channel independence or mitigation accuracy.
Related papers
- Reconquering Bell sampling on qudits: stabilizer learning and testing, quantum pseudorandomness bounds, and more
- Encrypted clones can leak: Classification of informative subsets in Quantum Encrypted Cloning
- Polynomial-time classical and quantum simulation of quantum impurity models
- Incoherent Imaging with Spatially Structured Quantum Probes
- A quasiparticle-protected superconducting qubit
- Theory of quantum-enhanced interferometry with general Markovian light sources