A Milestone in the Development of Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers

0
401
Error Protected Quantum Bits Entangled

Revealed: The Secrets our Clients Used to Earn $3 Billion

Quantum particles lined up in a lattice form the basis for an error-tolerant quantum processor. Credit: Uni Innsbruck/Harald Ritsch

Even computer systems can overlook. Already little disruptions alter saved info and corrupt outcomes. That is why computer systems utilize techniques to continually fix such mistakes.

In quantum computer systems, the vulnerability to mistakes can be lowered by keeping quantum info in more than a single quantum particle. These rational quantum bits are less conscious mistakes.

In current years, theorists have actually established several mistake correction codes and enhanced them for various jobs. “The most promising codes in quantum error correction are those defined on a two-dimensional lattice,” discusses Thomas Monz from the Department of Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck. “This is due to the fact that the physical structure of current quantum computers can be very well mapped through such lattices.”

With the aid of the codes, rational quantum bits can be dispersed over numerous quantum things. The quantum physicists from Innsbruck have actually now been successful for the very first time in entangling 2 quantum bits coded in this method. The entanglement of 2 quantum bits is an essential resource of quantum computer systems, providing an efficiency benefit over classical computer systems.

A type of quantum sewing maker

For their experiment, the physicists utilize an ion-trap quantum computer system with 10 ions. Into these ions the rational quantum bits are encoded. Using a method that researchers describe as ‘lattice surgery’, 2 rational qubits encoded on a lattice can be ‘stitched together’. “A new larger qubit is created from the qubits stitched together in this way,” discusses Alexander Erhard from the Innsbruck group. In turn, a big rational qubit can be separated into 2 specific rational qubits by lattice surgical treatment.

In contrast to the basic operations in between 2 rational qubits, lattice surgical treatment just needs operations along the limit of the encoded qubits, not on their whole surface area. “This reduces the number of operations required to create entanglement between two encoded qubits,” discusses the theoretical physicists Nicolai Friis and Hendrik Poulsen Nautrup.

Key innovation for fault tolerant quantum computer systems

Lattice surgical treatment is thought about among the crucial methods for the operation of future fault-tolerant quantum computer systems. Using lattice surgical treatment, the physicists led by Thomas Monz and Rainer Blatt, together with the theoretical physicists Hendrik Poulsen Nautrup and Hans Briegel from the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck and Nicolai Friis from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, have actually now shown the generation of entanglement in between 2 encoded qubits.

This is the very first speculative awareness of non-classical connections in between topologically encoded qubits. Furthermore, the scientists had the ability to show for the very first time the teleportation of quantum states in between 2 encoded qubits.

Reference: 13 January 2021, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03079-6

The research study was economically supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF and the Research Promotion Agency FFG in addition to the EU.