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Grow and Shrink Operations

In Entwine, you can grow or shrink patches of the lattice. These operations are a core tool in lattice surgery, allowing you to change the size of a surface code patch in order to perform logical operations.

⚠️ Important: Remember to enter lattice surgery mode by pressing s before growing or shrinking!

Growing a Patch

Growing a patch increases its boundary size by extending stabilisers outward. This is useful for:

  • Merging patches in lattice surgery protocols.
  • Expanding code distance to increase error tolerance.
  • Preparing for interactions with neighboring logical blocks.

Growing Horizontally:

Growing a rotated surface code patch

Shrinking a Patch

Shrinking a patch reduces its boundary size by removing stabilisers. This is useful for:

  • Splitting patches after lattice surgery operations.
  • Reducing code distance when resources are limited.
  • Cleaning up unused regions of the lattice.

Shrinking Horizontally:

Shrinking a rotated surface code patch

Horizontal and Vertical Operations

The examples above demonstrate horizontal growth and shrink operations on a rotated surface code patch.
Of course, patches can also be grown and shrunk vertically, following the same procedure.