A team of researchers led by Harvard, with support from DARPA, QuEra Computing, MIT, Princeton, NIST, and the University of Maryland, has announced a breakthrough in quantum computing. The team claims to have created a first-of-its-kind processor that can run quantum computing processes with error resistance and overcome noise, a major hurdle in achieving quantum advantage. The results, once reviewed, could represent a significant milestone in quantum computing research, moving beyond the noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era.


In a groundbreaking development, a team of researchers, led by Harvard and funded by DARPA, claims to have achieved a breakthrough in quantum computing with the creation of an error-resistant processor. The research, titled "Logical quantum processor based on reconfigurable atom arrays," outlines a method to run quantum computing processes with the ability to overcome noise and errors, a critical challenge in achieving quantum advantage.

Key Points of the Quantum Computing Breakthrough:

  • DARPA-Funded Research: The research, funded by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), involves collaboration between Harvard, QuEra Computing, MIT, Princeton, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the University of Maryland.

  • Overcoming Noise in Quantum Computing: Quantum computers in the current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era are limited by noise, making them prone to faults and errors. The Harvard-led team claims to have developed a processor that can run quantum computing processes with error resistance, overcoming noise at world-first scales.

  • Early Error-Corrected Quantum Computations: While not achieving full error correction, the processor introduces a post-processing error-detection phase. Instead of correcting errors during calculations, erroneous results are identified and rejected. The team claims this approach provides a new pathway for scaling quantum computers beyond the NISQ era.

  • Challenges in Quantum Computing: Quantum computing faces challenges due to the nature of qubits, which lose information when measured. Full error correction involves identifying and correcting errors during the computational process, a task that has proven challenging to scale.

  • Scalability to Over 10,000 Qubits: The researchers suggest that the techniques developed for the processor should be scalable to quantum systems with over 10,000 qubits. DARPA indicates that an order of magnitude greater than the 48 logical qubits used in the experiments will be needed to solve the significant problems envisioned for quantum computers.

The results of the research, once reviewed, could represent a significant step forward in quantum computing, paving the way for advancements beyond the current NISQ era and towards achieving quantum advantage. The team's approach to error resistance and scalability opens new possibilities for the future of quantum computing research and applications.

(TRISTAN GREENE, COINTELEGRAPH, 2023)