Error-free into the Quantum Computer Age

A study carried out by an international team of researchers and published in the journal Physical Review X shows that ion-trap technologies available today are suitable for building large-scale quantum computers. The scientists introduce trapped-ion quantum error correction protocols that detect and correct processing errors. In order to reach their full potential, today's quantum computer prototypes have to meet specific criteria: First, they have to be made bigger, which means they need to consist of a considerably higher number of quantum bits. Second, they have to be capable of processing errors. "We still fail in running complex computations because environmental noise and errors cause the system to get out of control," says quantum physicist Rainer Blatt from the University of Innsbruck and the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. "By using quantum error correction, we can respond to this challenge better." Classical computers use similar schemes to detect and correct errors during data storage and transfer: Before data is stored and transferred, redundancy is added to the data usually in the form of additional bits detecting and correcting errors. Scientists have developed comparable schemes for quantum computers, where quantum information is encoded in several entangled physical quantum bits.