Extended flag gadgets for low-overhead circuit verification

Abstract

Flag verification techniques are useful in quantum error correction for detecting critical faults. Here we present an application of flag-verification techniques for improving postselected performance of near-term algorithms. We extend the definition of what constitutes a flag by creating error-detection gadgets based on known transformations of unitary operators. In the case of Clifford or near-Clifford circuits, these unitary operators can be chosen to be controlled Pauli gates, leading to gadgets which require only a small number of additional Clifford gates. We show that such flags can improve circuit fidelities by up to a factor of 2 after postselection, and demonstrate their effectiveness over error models featuring single-qubit depolarizing noise, crosstalk, and two-qubit coherent overrotation.