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First-ever quantum device that detects and corrects its own errors
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SCIENCE

First-ever quantum device

that detects and corrects its
own errors
By Colin Jeffrey
March 22, 2015

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Physicists working at UC Berkeley claim to have created breakthrough

quantum circuitry that checks and corrects its own errors (Photo: Julian
Kelly/UC Berkeley)
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First-ever quantum device that detects and corrects its own errors

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Before the dream of quantum computing is realized, a number of inherent

problems must first be solved. One of these is the ability to maintain a
stable memory system that overcomes the intrinsic instability of the basic
unit of information in quantum computing the quantum bit or "qubit". To
address this problem, Physicists working at the University of California
Berkeley (UC Berkeley) claim to have created breakthrough circuitry that
continuously self-checks for inaccuracies to consistently maintain the errorfree status of the quantum memory.
Vulnerability to environmentally-induced error such as cosmic ray events
or simply an unknown collapse of quantum coherence, for example
means that the information contained in a qubit is easily lost. And because
of the nature of of quantum entanglement required to encode the qubit in
the first place, any attempt to replicate the information will also immediately
destabilize it.

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"One of the biggest challenges in quantum computing is that qubits are

inherently faulty," said Julian Kelly, graduate student researcher at the John
Martini physics lab at UC Berkeley. "So if you store some information in
them, theyll forget it." Rather than attempt to maintain the integrity of a
qubit by, say, trapping it in an isotope of silicon, the UC Berkeley team has
instead opted for an algorithm-based approach.

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Unlike conventional computers, quantum computers do not use binary data

storage (ones and zeroes), where a bit can be one of two states. Instead,
quantum computers use what is known as "superpositioning," where the
data contained in a qubit can also be either 0 or 1 (or even both
simultaneously if superdense coding is used), and may exist at any and all
possible positions simultaneously, and in various dimensions.

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However, whilst this property of qubits is distinctly advantageous in terms
of computational power, it is also this trait which renders qubits prone to
"flipping" (randomly changing state), especially when in unstable
environments, and thus difficult to work with.
"Its hard to process information if it disappears," said Kelly.
To help solve this problem, the new error detection and correction process
uses a system where several qubits are made to operate together to
http://www.gizmag.com/quantum-device-detects-corrects-errors/36404/

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3/25/2015

First-ever quantum device that detects and corrects its own errors

preserve the information. To achieve this, information is simultaneously

stored across a number of qubits.

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" the idea is that we build this system of nine qubits, which can then look
for errors," said Kelly. "Qubits in the grid are responsible for safeguarding
the information contained in their neighbors in a repetitive error detection
and correction system that can protect the appropriate information and
store it longer than any individual qubit can."
This is necessary because qubits exist in a quantum state where you can
either know the position of a particle or you can measure its momentum,
but not both. To do so will result in the decoherence of the qubit to a
random state.

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"You cant measure a quantum state, and expect it to still be quantum," said
UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Rami Barends. "The very act of
measurement locks the qubit into a single state and it then loses its
superpositioning power."
To do this, UC Berkeley staff scientist, Austin Fowler, used what is termed a
"surface code" to provide information about errors. Obtained by repeatedly
measuring each qubit after interaction with its nearest neighbor data qubits
on a matrix, changes in the measurement value indicate the presence of
chains of errors in space and time.
In other words, this code utilizes parity information to detect any variation
from the original data. In this case, if the polarization state applied to a set
number of qubits is "even" and these qubits are then transmitted elsewhere
in the system, any change to that polarization will be seen by comparing
that state between the original and transmitted qubits.

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This is different to the standard way of checking data in a computer that

involves duplication of the original data to look for errors an impossible
task in quantum computing, because the qubits must remain unobserved to
maintain their integrity.
"So you pull out just enough information to detect errors, but not enough to
peek under the hood and destroy the quantum-ness," said Kelly.

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So far, research has proven that it is capable of negating a "bit-flip" qubit

error, but the team is hoping to next confront other qubit decoherence
problems, such as the complementary "phase-flip," error.
Senior researchers from the Martinis group have now also partnered with
Google to further explore this technology and research in quantum
computing applications.
The team's paper appears in the journal Nature.
Source: UC Berkeley

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About the Author

Colin discovered technology at an early age, pulling apart
clocks, radios, and the family TV. Despite his father's
remonstrations that he never put anything back together,
Colin went on to become an electronics engineer. Later he
decided to get a degree in anthropology, and used that to
do all manner of interesting things masquerading as work.
Even later he took up sculpting, moved to the coast, and never learned to
surf. All articles by Colin Jeffrey

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