On November 11, 12 and 13, IBM will hold its annual Quantum Computing Conference. This American company has already announced that it will present its new itinerary, its latest quantum processor and its latest advancements. Towards quantum convenienceThat requires demonstrating that a quantum computer can solve some computational problem that is beyond the scope of the best available classical methods.
Although IBM has not yet confirmed which products it will introduce, it is very likely to unveil the Kookaburra Quantum Processor. In fact, the presentation of this chip has been considered in the latest review of its itinerary. And it won’t be just another launch. This quantum processor will play a crucial role on the path to Starling, the fault-tolerant quantum computer that IBM plans to have ready in 2029.
The relevance of the Kookaburra processor lies in the fact that it will integrate a logical processing unit and a quantum memory, so it will be implemented in an architecture designed to create much more reliable and robust quantum systems where errors will not compromise their results. IBM wants to demonstrate that both functions can coexist within the same module, laying a foundation on which to build more complex systems.
It’s IBM’s bet
Kookaburra’s built-in quantum memory allows quantum-encoded information to be stored in a way that makes it easy to detect and correct errors. Logical processing units, on the other hand, make it possible to operate on that information to perform calculations. This combination is the greatest contribution of this quantum chip, and it is essential because storing secure quantum information is not enough.
In addition, it is necessary to be able to manage and execute logical operations with quantum information without destroying protection against errors. This problem is easy to describe, but extremely difficult to solve. IBM has taken a very important step That’s the way it’s been for the past few years, and Kookaburra aims to prove that’s the right strategy.
A single logical qubit encodes a single qubit of quantum information, but with redundancy.
However, there is another essential pillar in this company’s plan that we should not overlook: logical qubits are the ideal tool for developing a fault-tolerant quantum computer. In fact, Starling will combine 200 logical qubits which, in theory, will allow it to perform 100 million quantum operations.
Logical qubits represent a way to overcome the difficulties involved in using hardware or physical qubits, which are highly sensitive to noise, and hence, error prone. Each logical qubit is abstractly built on several physical or hardware qubits, so that a single logical qubit encodes a single qubit of quantum information, but with redundancy.
It is precisely this redundancy that allows us to detect and correct defects present in physical qubits. Until very recently the number of hardware qubits required to implement a single error-proof logical qubit was impractical, but IBM claims it has found a solution to this problem. We will clear the doubt very soon. In less than a month.
Picture | IBM
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