Quantum Error Correction - A Pathway to Useful Quantum Computing

If you are unsure on any technical terms, check out the Ultimate Quantum Glossary. Quantum Computers today have very high error rates, with some as high as one in every 100 operations. This occurs because of the fragile nature of quantum bits (qubits) and can heavily restrict what tasks you can do with a quantum computer. Therefore, to correct this, we require techniques such as Quantum Error Correction - or QEC for short. QEC is theorised to be one of the missing puzzle pieces in the race for quantum advantage. Now, that’s not to say that QEC doesn’t exist but rather that currently it is not effective enough to achieve fault-tolerance. QEC refers to the ability in quantum computing to protect a quantum state from being altered due to errors caused by decoherence and quantum noise. If we are able to correct errors then even with low fidelity operations on a quantum computer, we would be able to run complex algorithms and yield accurate results. In a sense, quantum error correction is more realistic as it assumes a NISQ (Noisy-Intermediate-Scale-Quantum) computer. There are many approaches to reversing errors and we will discuss some of them today! Starting out with Quantum Computing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Get full access to Starting out with Quantum Computing at lloydlaronde.substack.com/subscribe