This proposal studies the practical fault tolerance of quantum low-density parity-check (qLDPC) codes through joint design of logical protocols, decoders, and code constructions.
The central claim is that overhead is governed by cross-layer compatibility: useful codes must support low-overhead syndrome extraction, fast decoding with guarantees, and efficient logical operations. My completed work supports this view via adaptive syndrome extraction and single-shot code-switching protocols, generalized matching decoders for 2D translationally-invariant codes with provable performance, and code-design tools based on effective distance, weight reduction, and automorphism structure. Building on these results, I will (i) formalize morphing-circuit syndrome extraction and mid-cycle logical symmetries, (ii) extend efficient decoding to larger structured 2D/3D families, and (iii) develop qLDPC constructions with improved connectivity and logical-gate support, including routes to high-rate non-Clifford logical operations. The expected outcome is a framework for architecture-aware co-design that lowers fault-tolerance overhead both in terms of asymptotic and finite-size performance.
Shi Jie Samuel Tan is a third-year PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park, advised by Prof. Daniel Gottesman and Prof. Michael J. Gullans. His research interests are in quantum error correction and fault tolerance.
Examining Committee Chair: Dr. Daniel Gottesman
Department Representative: Dr. Jia-Bin Huang
Members: Dr. Michael Gullans

