Research published in the journal Science described an important step forward in quantum computing. Google’s Quantum AI division has managed to reduce error rates by roughly a factor of 40 using the Willow processor.
In doing so, the researchers addressed a crucial obstacle. Creating reliable quantum states requires enormous amounts of computing power and other resources. That process can consume almost 95% of a system’s total capacity.
For universal quantum computations, processors need special quantum states. Generating these with as few errors as possible has long been a major challenge in the development of powerful quantum computers.
Google tackled this problem with a strategy called “magic state cultivation”. It uses synchronised measurements to detect and discard failed attempts. This improves the quality of the states and reduces resource consumption.
During experiments with the Willow chip, Google succeeded in creating special quantum states with a reliability of 99.99%.
Moreover, the team demonstrated that these refined states could be transferred between different error-correction protocols, suggesting that the technique can be successfully integrated into Google’s existing hardware framework.
The experiment confirms a theoretical model proposed in 2024. Google does acknowledge that further development is needed to scale up the method for practical applications.
Nonetheless, this breakthrough suggests a feasible strategy for reducing the amount of physical hardware required to build fault-tolerant quantum computers.
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