Rigetti announces demonstration of low latency quantum error correction

Rigetti announced the demonstration of real-time and low latency quantum error correction on a Rigetti quantum computer. Fault tolerance is the point at which lengthy operations can execute without a single error, due to the application of quantum error correction. Reaching this stage, and in turn realizing the full potential of quantum computers, will require the co-development of quantum error correction and quantum computing technologies. Rigetti and Riverlane’s recent work demonstrating real-time and low-latency quantum error correction on Rigetti’s 84-qubit Ankaa-2 system is an important step in our journey towards developing fault tolerant quantum computers. Among the quantum error correction resources being developed are classical algorithms that identify errors that occur during quantum computation. These classical algorithms are known as decoders. A challenge in improving the utility of decoders is addressing the problem of the backlog of computations that accumulates as the decoder processes data. To avoid the backlog problem, the decoding needs to occur at the same speed as the quantum circuit. This experiment demonstrated decoding times faster than the 1unitmicro threshold for generating measurement data on a superconducting qubit device — ensuring that the backlog problem is avoided and showcasing that low-latency feedback can be maintained during quantum error correction operations.