These recent developments in quantum computing are exhilarating. Alice & Bob wasn’t the only research team making progress down this path—several others have contributed to making cat qubits less cantankerous and more reliable. These unique qubits, which emulate the superposition principle famously illustrated by Schrödinger’s cat, hold promise for the future of accurate quantum computing.
Alice and Bob have created extraordinary resources. They increased the bit-flip lifetime of cat qubits, raising it from 138 milliseconds to an astounding 22 seconds. This new development represents a historic breakthrough in the race to build more stable quantum computing systems. The scientists achieved this by squeezing the quantum states. This was enough reduction to eliminate confusion between the two states of cat qubits.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently incorporated these cat qubits into the Ocelot Chip. This strategic decision underscores the emerging role of cat qubits in practical quantum technology. Thanks to Alice and Bob’s efforts in achieving improved reliability, this goes a long way toward maximizing the performance of these qubits. This achievement lays the tracks for quantum computers of tomorrow when they arrive to be far more precise.
Perhaps the most important breakthrough is the improvement of bit-flip protection. This seemingly small improvement increases the protection level by as much as 160-fold! Today, the cat qubits are at the forefront of error-resilience. This improvement dramatically increases their applicability and longevity within quantum systems. The smaller overlap between the two states of a cat qubit improves stability in operation. This capability is an important step towards being able to perform advanced quantum computations.
Alice and Bob are looking forward to taking their research into unexplored territory. Their goal is to build universal fault-tolerant quantum computing. This next stage will further refine the pace we’ve set with cat qubits. It could open the possibility for a fundamental redesign and rethinking of how we use quantum computers.
