Enhancing quantum computer performance via symmetrization

Abstract: Large quantum computers promise to solve some critical problems not solvable otherwise. However, modern quantum technologies suffer various imperfections such as control errors and qubit decoherence, inhibiting their potential utility. The overheads of quantum error correction are too great for near-term quantum computers, whereas error-mitigation strategies that address specific device imperfections may lose relevance as devices improve. To enhance the performance of quantum computers with high-quality qubits, we introduce a strategy based on symmetrization and nonlinear aggregation. On a commercial trapped-ion quantum computer, it improves performance of multiple practical algorithms by 100x with no qubit or gate overhead.