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Realizing highly accurate quantum error correction even for quantum computers with about 10,000 physical qubitsOsaka University, Fujitsu LimitedNews Facts:

Tokyo and Osaka, March 23, 2023

Fujitsu and Osaka Universitys Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology (QIQB) today revealed the development of a new, highly efficient analog rotation quantum computing architecture, representing a significant milestone toward the realization of practical quantum computing. The new architecture reduces the number of physical qubits required for quantum error correction a prerequisite for the realization of fault-tolerant quantum computing by 90% from 1 million to 10,000 qubits. This breakthrough will allow research to embark on the construction of a quantum computer with 10,000 physical qubits and 64 logical qubits (4), which corresponds to computing performance of approximately 100,000 times that of the peak performance of conventional high performance computers.

Moving forward, Fujitsu and Osaka University will further refine this new architecture to lead the development of quantum computers in the early FTQC era, with the aim of applying quantum computing applications to a wide range of practical societal issues including material development and finance.

Gate-based quantum computers are expected to revolutionize research in a wide range of fields including quantum chemistry and complex financial systems, as they will offer significantly higher calculation performance than current classical computers.Logical qubits, which consist of multiple physical qubits, play a major key role in quantum error correction technology, and ultimately the realization of practical quantum computers that can provide fault-tolerant results.

Within conventional quantum computing architectures, calculations are performed using a combination of four error-corrected universal quantum gates (5) (CNOT, H, S, and T gate). Within these architectures, especially quantum error correction for T-gates requires a large number of physical qubits, and rotation of the state vector in the quantum calculation requires repeated logical T-gate operations for approximately fifty times on average. Thus, the realization of a genuine fault-tolerant quantum computer is estimated to require more than one million physical qubits in total.

For this reason, quantum computers in the early FTQC era using conventional architecture for quantum error correction can only conduct calculations on a very limited scale below that of classical computers, as they work with a maximum of about 10,000 physical qubits, a number far below that required for genuine, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

To address these issues, Fujitsu and Osaka University developed a new, highly efficient analog rotation quantum computing architecture that is able to significantly reduce the number of physical qubits required for quantum error correction, and enable even quantum computers with 10,000 physical qubits to perform better than current classical computers, accelerating progress toward the realization of genuine, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Fujitsu and Osaka University have been promoting joint R&D in quantum error correction technology including new quantum computation architectures for the early FTQC era at the Fujitsu Quantum Computing Joint Research Division, a collaborative research effort of the QIQB, established on October 1, 2021 at the campus of Osaka University as part of Fujitsus Fujitsu Small Research Laboratory program (6).

By redefining the universal quantum gate set, Fujitsu and Osaka University succeeded in implementing a phase rotating gate a world first which enables highly efficient phase rotation, a process which previously required a high number of physical qubits and quantum gate operations.

In contrast to conventional architectures that required repeated logical T-gate operations using a large number of physical qubits, gate operation within the new architecture is performed by phase rotating directly to any specified angle.

In this way, the two parties succeeded in reducing the number of qubits required for quantum error correction to around 10% of existing technologies, and the number of gate operations required for arbitrary rotation to approx. 5% of conventional architectures. In addition, Fujitsu and Osaka University suppressed quantum error probability in physical qubits to about 13%, thus achieving highly accurate calculations.

The newly developed computing architecture lays the foundation for the construction of a quantum computer with 10,000 physical qubits and 64 logical qubits, which corresponds to computing performance of approximately 100,000 times that of the peak performance of conventional high performance computers.

Research and development of the new quantum computing architecture was supported by the following programs: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), The program on open innovation platform for industry-academia co-creation (COI-NEXT), "Quantum Software Research Hub" (JPMJPF2014); JST Moonshot Goal 6 "Realization of a fault-tolerant universal quantum computer that will revolutionize economy, industry, and security by 2050", R&D project "Research and Development of Theory and Software for Fault-tolerant Quantum Computers" (JPMJMS2061); MEXT Quantum Leap Flagship Program (MEXT Q-LEAP) "Development of quantum software by intelligent quantum system design and its applications" (JPMXS0120319794) and "Development of quantum software applications by fast classical simulator of quantum computers" (JPMXS0118067394).

Fujitsus purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in over 100 countries, our 124,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: Computing, Networks, AI, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$32 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: http://www.fujitsu.com.

Osaka University was founded in 1931 as one of the seven imperial universities of Japan and is now one of Japan's leading comprehensive universities with a broad disciplinary spectrum. This strength is coupled with a singular drive for innovation that extends throughout the scientific process, from fundamental research to the creation of applied technology with positive economic impacts. Its commitment to innovation has been recognized in Japan and around the world, being named Japan's most innovative university in 2015 (Reuters 2015 Top 100) and one of the most innovative institutions in the world in 2017 (Innovative Universities and the Nature Index Innovation 2017). Now, Osaka University is leveraging its role as a Designated National University Corporation selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to contribute to innovation for human welfare, sustainable development of society, and social transformation.Website: https://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en

Fujitsu LimitedPublic and Investor Relations DivisionInquiries

Osaka UniversityInternational Advanced Research Institute, Center for Quantum Information and Quantum BiologyCOI-NEXT, Quantum Software Research HubE-mail: coi-next@qiqb.osaka-u.ac.jp

All company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.

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by Meredith Fore , Chicago Quantum Exchange

Researchers have discovered a way to "translate" quantum information between different kinds of quantum technologies, with significant implications for quantum computing, communication, and networking.

The research was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. It represents a new way to convert quantum information from the format used by quantum computers to the format needed for quantum communication.

Photonsparticles of lightare essential for quantum information technologies, but different technologies use them at different frequencies. For example, some of the most common quantum computing technology is based on superconducting qubits, such as those used by tech giants Google and IBM; these qubits store quantum information in photons that move at microwave frequencies.

But if you want to build a quantum network, or connect quantum computers, you can't send around microwave photons because their grip on their quantum information is too weak to survive the trip.

"A lot of the technologies that we use for classical communicationcell phones, Wi-Fi, GPS and things like thatall use microwave frequencies of light," said Aishwarya Kumar, a postdoc at the James Franck Institute at University of Chicago and lead author on the paper. "But you can't do that for quantum communication because the quantum information you need is in a single photon. And at microwave frequencies, that information will get buried in thermal noise."

The solution is to transfer the quantum information to a higher-frequency photon, called an optical photon, which is much more resilient against ambient noise. But the information can't be transferred directly from photon to photon; instead, we need intermediary matter. Some experiments design solid state devices for this purpose, but Kumar's experiment aimed for something more fundamental: atoms.

The electrons in atoms are only ever allowed to have certain specific amounts of energy, called energy levels. If an electron is sitting at a lower energy level, it can be excited to a higher energy level by hitting it with a photon whose energy exactly matches the difference between the higher and lower level. Similarly, when an electron is forced to drop to a lower energy level, the atom then emits a photon with an energy that matches the energy difference between levels. A diagram of the electron energy levels of Rubidium. Two of the energy level gaps match the frequencies of optical photons and microwave photons, respectively. Lasers are used to force the electron to jump to higher levels or drop to lower levels. Credit: Aishwarya Kumar

Rubidium atoms happen to have two gaps in their levels that Kumar's technology exploits: one that exactly equals the energy of a microwave photon, and one that exactly equals the energy of an optical photon. By using lasers to shift the atom's electron energies up and down, the technology allows the atom to absorb a microwave photon with quantum information and then emit an optical photon with that quantum information. This translation between different modes of quantum information is called "transduction."

Effectively using atoms for this purpose is made possible by the significant progress scientists have made in manipulating such small objects. "We as a community have built remarkable technology in the last 20 or 30 years that lets us control essentially everything about the atoms," Kumar said. "So the experiment is very controlled and efficient."

He says the other secret to their success is the field's progress in cavity quantum electrodynamics, where a photon is trapped in a superconducting, reflective chamber. Forcing the photon to bounce around in an enclosed space, the superconducting cavity strengthens the interaction between the photon and whatever matter is placed inside it.

Their chamber doesn't look very enclosedin fact, it more closely resembles a block of Swiss cheese. But what look like holes are actually tunnels that intersect in a very specific geometry, so that photons or atoms can be trapped at an intersection. It's a clever design that also allows researchers access to the chamber so they can inject the atoms and the photons.

The technology works both ways: it can transfer quantum information from microwave photons to optical photons, and vice versa. So it can be on either side of a long-distance connection between two superconducting qubit quantum computers, and serve as a fundamental building block to a quantum internet.

But Kumar thinks there may be a lot more applications for this technology than just quantum networking. Its core ability is to strongly entangle atoms and photonsan essential, and difficult task in many different quantum technologies across the field.

"One of the things that we're really excited about is the ability of this platform to generate really efficient entanglement," he said. "Entanglement is central to almost everything quantum that we care about, from computing to simulations to metrology and atomic clocks. I'm excited to see what else we can do."

More information: Aishwarya Kumar et al, Quantum-enabled millimetre wave to optical transduction using neutral atoms, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05740-2

Journal information: Nature

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New experiment translates quantum information between technologies in an important step for the quantum internet - Phys.org