Quantum Computation: Fragile yet Error-free

Caption:   This 7-ion system applied for encoding one logical quantum bit can be
Caption: This 7-ion system applied for encoding one logical quantum bit can be used as a building block for much larger quantum systems. The bigger the lattice, the more robust it becomes. Photo credit: IQOQI/Harald Ritsch
In a close collaborative effort, Spanish and Austrian physicists have experimentally encoded one quantum bit (qubit) in entangled states distributed over several particles and for the first time carried out simple computations on it. The 7-qubit quantum register could be used as the main building block for a quantum computer that corrects any type of error. The researchers' results have now been published in Science. Even computers are error-prone. The slightest disturbances may alter saved information and falsify the results of calculations. To overcome these problems, computers use specific routines to continuously detect and correct errors. This also holds true for a future quantum computer, which will require procedures for error correction as well: "Quantum phenomena are extremely fragile and error-prone.
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