Decoherence-free universal quantum computation with symmetric qubit clusters

One of the most challenging problems for the realization of a scalable quantum computer is to design a physical device that keeps the error rate for each quantum processing operation low. These errors can originate from the accuracy of quantum manipulation, such as the sweeping of a gate voltage in solid state qubits or the duration of a laser pulse in optical schemes. Errors also result from decoherence, which is often regarded as more crucial in the sense that it is inherent to the quantum system, being fundamentally a consequence of the coupling to the external environment. Grouping small collections of qubits into clusters with symmetries may serve to protect parts of the calculation from decoherence. In this work, we use 4-level cores with a straightforward generalization of discrete rotational symmetry, called $\omega$-rotation invariance, to encode pairs of coupled qubits and universal 2-qubit logical gates. We propose a scalable scheme for universal quantum computation where cores play the role of quantum-computational transistors, or \textit{quansistors} for short. Embedding in the environment, initialization and readout are achieved by tunnel-coupling the quansistor to leads. The external leads are explicitly considered and are assumed to be the main source of decoherence. We show that quansistors can be dynamically decoupled from the leads by tuning their internal parameters, giving them the versatility required to act as controllable quantum memory units. With this dynamical decoupling, logical operations within quansistors are also symmetry-protected from unbiased noise in their parameters. We identify technologies that could implement $\omega$-rotation invariance. Many of our results can be generalized to higher-level $\omega$-rotation-invariant systems, or adapted to clusters with other symmetries.