Quantum computers can complete certain tasks exponentially faster than a normal computer. In 2019, Google claimed that they could solve a problem that would normally take 10,000 years in about 200 seconds with the use of their quantum computer. Although quantum computers are many times faster, they also have a much higher chance for a mistake to occur. A computer today roughly has an error rate of about 1 in 2 billion to a rate of 1 in 360 billion and a physical qubits error rate is about 1 in 100. The biggest issue with qubits is the error rate but that might not be a problem for long. A team of computer engineers from Quantinuum are working with computer scientists from Microsoft, and have found a way to greatly reduce errors when running experiments on a quantum computer.
Microsoft has teamed up with Quantinuum to create 4 logical qubits from 30 physical qubits according to Bob Yirka. The software used identifies any errors and corrects them before the final result. The technique involves learning details about the qubits regarding noise, rather than measuring them. Their method also allows them to do the calculations without destroying the logical qubits. The research team tested their method by running 14,000 experiments on H2, the computer given to Microsoft by Quantinuum. After all of the experiments were completed they found no detectable mistakes were made. Later they pushed the experiments higher and found that the system had an error rate of 1 in 100,000 which is approximately 800 times better than the achievement of the same quantum computer without the logical qubits from Microsoft. Although it does still have a much higher error rate than a normal computer, in just a few years we could reduce the error rate to be much higher, maybe even higher than a normal computer.
Quantum computers have made some significant advances in the amount of errors they make and have been used to create better models for how atoms interact with each other leading to a superior and more precise understanding of molecular structure. This knowledge may directly impact drug and chemical research and impact the way new products and medicines are developed by providing foresight into how chemical compounds and drugs would develop, evolve and interact with other elements over time. Manufacturing of batteries would also be more optimized allowing for batteries that can hold more energy and last longer which will be used to improve electric cars. It’s obvious quantum computers will have a much bigger impact in the future by vastly improving many fields and areas of the world but we will still have to wait for a few years to see how big of an impact it will have.
