Tech · 18 d ago
OJB Quantum · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Google cuts errors in a key quantum computing ingredient by about 40 times
The ingredient
magic state
Quantum computers need magic states, prepared in advance, to carry out some of their hardest operations. Each one can be used only once, so a machine needs a steady supply.
Fidelity of the cultivated states
99.99 %
On its Willow processor, Google used a method called magic state cultivation to cut preparation errors about 40-fold, reaching a fidelity of at least 99.99 per cent, a paper in Science reports.
The trade-off
The method checks each attempt and throws out the faulty ones. In the strictest runs, only about 8 per cent of attempts were kept.
What we know
- Cultivation works on real hardware
- States can move into a larger code
Not yet
- Whether it works at practical scale
- How to store states with fewer errors
Some estimates suggest making magic states could take up to 95 per cent of a quantum computer's capacity. Google moved its states into a larger error-correcting code, but errors there ran about seven times higher than simulations predicted.
