Quantum error correction is essential for building scalable quantum computers. Traditional error-correcting methods are static, encoding logical information within spatial correlations of physical qubits in a manner that remains unchanged throughout computation. Recent advances, however, reveal that dynamically varying these encodings can substantially enhance efficiency. Could even more powerful paradigms for quantum error correction exist? Here, we argue that the most general error-correcting protocols should adaptively update encodings based on past observations. Motivated by this, we introduce strategic codes, a universal framework encompassing all spatio-temporal methods of error correction, from which static and dynamic codes emerge as special cases. We illustrate two immediate applications: (1) deriving necessary and sufficient conditions for correcting errors, including scenarios involving non-Markovian noise, and (2) developing systematic optimization methods for constructing such strategic codes. Our work thus simultaneously highlights entirely new paradigms for quantum error correction and establishes fundamental bounds on its ultimate capabilities.

Pizza and drinks will be served after the seminar in ATL 2117.