Stratified Cohomological Quantum Codes via Colimits in Ch(R)
Abstract
We introduce \emph{stratified colimit codes}: stabiliser codes obtained by taking the degree-wise colimit of a functor from a finite poset into the category of chain complexes over a commutative ring~. Axioms requiring only transitivity and boundary-compatibility of the morphisms in ensure that , so the homology and cohomology furnish the usual CSS - and -type logical sectors; torsion in classifies qudit charges via the universal coefficient sequence. Varying recovers classical surface and color codes, torsion codes, twisted toric families with rate , 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 directly, giving LDPC parameters that inherit the sparsity of . 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