Nested Quantum Annealing Correction at Finite Temperature: $p$-spin models

Abstract: Quantum annealing in a real device is necessarily susceptible to errors due to diabatic transitions and thermal noise. Nested quantum annealing correction is a method to suppress errors by using an all-to-all penalty coupling among a set of physical qubits representing a logical qubit. We show analytically that nested quantum annealing correction can suppress errors effectively in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Ising models with infinite-range interactions. Our analysis reveals that the nesting structure can significantly weaken or even remove first-order phase transitions, in which the energy gap closes exponentially. The nesting structure also suppresses thermal fluctuations by reducing the effective temperature.