Google scientists said Wednesday they have passed a major milestone in their quest to develop effective quantum computing, with a new study showing they reduced the rate of errors – long an obstacle for the much-hyped technology.
Quantum computing has been touted as a revolutionary advance that uses our growing scientific understanding of the subatomic world to create a machine with powers far beyond those of today’s conventional computers.
However, the technology remains largely theoretical, with many thorny problems still standing in the way – including stubbornly high error rates.
In new research published in the journal Nature, the Google Quantum AI lab described a system that can significantly decrease the error rate.
That could give the US tech giant a step up on its rivals, such as IBM, which is also working on superconducting quantum processors.
While traditional computers process information in bits that can be represented by 0 or 1, quantum computers use qubits, which can be a combination of both at the same time.
This property, known as superposition, means that a quantum computer can crunch an enormous number of potential outcomes simultaneously.
The computers harness some of the most mind-boggling aspects of quantum mechanics, including a phenomenon known as ” entanglement” – in which two members of a pair of bits can exist in a single state, even if far apart.
‘Magic’
But a problem called decoherence can cause the qubits to lose their information when they leave their quantum state and come into contact with the outside world.
This fragility causes high error rates, which also increase with the number of qubits, frustrating scientists wanting to ramp up their experiments.
However, Google’s team said it had demonstrated for the first time in practice that a system using error-correcting code can detect and fix errors without affecting the information.
