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How does error mitigation differ from error correction in quantum computing?

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How does error mitigation differ from error correction in quantum computing?

Asked on Jan 25, 2026

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Error mitigation and error correction are both crucial for improving the reliability of quantum computations, but they serve different purposes. Error correction involves actively detecting and correcting errors during quantum computation using additional qubits and complex algorithms, while error mitigation focuses on reducing the impact of errors without requiring extra qubits, often through post-processing techniques.

Example Concept: Error correction in quantum computing uses redundancy and logical qubits to detect and correct errors in real-time, requiring additional qubits and resources. In contrast, error mitigation techniques, such as zero-noise extrapolation or probabilistic error cancellation, aim to reduce the effect of errors on the final result by adjusting the computation or analyzing the output, without needing extra qubits.

Additional Comment:

Error correction is essential for fault-tolerant quantum computing and requires error-correcting codes like the surface code.
Error mitigation is more practical for near-term quantum devices (NISQ era) where qubit resources are limited.
Both techniques are crucial for achieving reliable quantum computations but are applied based on the available hardware and computational goals.

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How does error mitigation differ from error correction in quantum computing?

Asked on Jan 25, 2026

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