English

Stratified Cohomological Quantum Codes via Colimits in Ch(R)

Quantum Physics 2025-09-10 v1

Abstract

We introduce \emph{stratified colimit codes}: stabiliser codes obtained by taking the degree-wise colimit C(X):=colimσXF(σ)\mathcal C_\bullet(X):=\operatorname*{colim}_{\sigma\in X}F(\sigma) of a functor F ⁣:XCh(R)F\colon X\to\mathbf{Ch}(R) from a finite poset into the category of chain complexes over a commutative ring~RR. Axioms requiring only transitivity and boundary-compatibility of the morphisms in FF ensure that 2=0\partial^2=0, so the homology HH_\bullet and cohomology HH^\bullet furnish the usual CSS ZZ- and XX-type logical sectors; torsion in HH_\bullet classifies qudit charges via the universal coefficient sequence. Varying FF recovers classical surface and color codes, RP2\mathbb{RP}^2 torsion codes, twisted toric families with rate kdk\sim d, and X-cube style fracton models, all without referencing an ambient cell complex. Matrix Smith normal form (PID case) and sparse Gaussian elimination (field case) compute HH_\bullet directly, giving LDPC parameters that inherit the sparsity of FF. Because the construction is ring agnostic and functorial, it extends naturally to code surgery (push-outs) and, at the next categorical level, to bicomplex domain walls. Stratified colimit codes therefore supply a concise algebraic chassis for designing, classifying, and decoding topological and fractal quantum codes without ever drawing a lattice.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.06958,
  title  = {Stratified Cohomological Quantum Codes via Colimits in Ch(R)},
  author = {William Boone Samuels},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.06958},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

16 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to Communications in Mathematical Physics