Is called Willow and it is a new quantum processor that solved a gold standard calculation in just five minutes. Published on the pages of Nature. Its developers: Google scientists, according to whom the best supercomputer of the world would have taken until 10 quadrillion years in solving the same problem. A key milestone, the researchers explain, that will allow quantum computers to be less prone to errors as they grow.
Errors in quantum computers
As a brief reminder, quantum computers are inherently “noisy,” meaning that, without error-correcting technologies, one in 1,000 qubits will fail (in conventional computers, one in every 1 trillion trillion will fail). bits). In other words, the qubits They tend to rapidly exchange information with their environment, making it difficult to protect the information needed to complete a calculation. And how many more qubits are used, the more errors occur. It is elevated error rate It is, consequently, one of the main challenges to getting quantum computers to perform sufficiently to surpass the fastest supercomputers. Therefore, in essence, research has focused on developing quantum computers with qubits better and less prone to errors.
Willow’s record
The new quantum processing unit (QPU), dubbed Willowis the first in the world to achieve a “below threshold” result. In practice, researchers have managed to reduce errors by increasing the number of qubitsan extraordinary achievement since the computer scientist Peter Shor outlined quantum error correction in a 1995 paper. To achieve this “subthreshold” goal, meaning that the errors in a quantum computer reduce exponentially as more are added qubitsGoogle scientists improved calibration protocols, machine learning to identify errors, and device manufacturing methods. Finally, they improved coherence times while maintaining the ability to optimize qubits to get the best performance.
Quantum computing successes
When testing Willow with the Random Circuit Sample, the standard for evaluating quantum computing chips, the researchers found that it performed a standard benchmark calculation in less than five minutes that would have required today’s fastest supercomputers. 10 quadrillion years. A time that is many times longer than the age of the Universe. “What we have been able to do in quantum error correction is a really important milestone, for the scientific community and for the future of technology.” quantum computingwhich consists of demonstrating that we can create a system that works below the threshold of quantum error correction,” he explained to Live Science Julian Kelly, director of hardware Google Quantum AI.
Article originally published in WIRED Italy. Adapted by Mauricio Serfatty Godoy.
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