This paper shows that it is possible to piggyback classical information on a stream of qubits protected by quantum error-correcting codes. The piggyback channel can be created by introducing intentional errors corresponding to a controlled sequence of syndromes. These syndromes are further protected, when quantum noise is present, by classical error-correcting codes according to a performance-delay trade-off. Classical information can thus be added and extracted at arbitrary epochs without consuming additional quantum resources and without disturbing the quantum stream.

• Received 30 November 2019
• Accepted 21 May 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.102.012410