Google Reports 40-Fold Drop in Quantum-State Errors
The Willow chip experiment produced magic states with 99.99% fidelity, though RSA-2048 code-breaking would require far cleaner states.
Key takeaways
- Google said magic state cultivation cut errors about 40-fold on its Willow processor.
- About 8% of attempts passed every check in the experiment.
Google Quantum AI said its Willow processor cut errors in a type of quantum computing resource by about 40 times. A paper published Thursday in Science reported magic states with 99.99% logical fidelity.
The technique, called magic state cultivation, filters noisy states through checks and keeps those that pass. About 8% of attempts made it through every check, according to the report.
Google said cultivation contributed to an estimate that RSA-2048 encryption could be broken with fewer than one million noisy qubits. But such a task would require magic states with errors around one in 10 billion, far cleaner than those achieved in the experiment.
This article was produced with the help of AI technology. Based on reporting by the outlets listed above.
