Quantinuum Team Achieves Breakthrough in Quantum Computing: Logical Qubit Teleportation Becomes Reality

The Quantinuum team, comprised of engineers and physicists, has achieved the first-ever teleportation of a logical qubit using robust methods. Their article, published in the journal Science, details the setup and teleportation methods used, as well as the accuracy achieved by each.

One of the main obstacles in developing a practical quantum computer was the tendency of quantum computers to make errors when solving problems. One approach to reducing errors is the use of logical qubits, which can be used on multiple physical qubits.

Within the new development, the research group used a quantum processor based on trapped ions, which allowed the transmission of quantum-encoded data using entangled physical qubits.

The reason why logical qubits are less prone to errors than physical qubits is that they are not susceptible to noise and can be encoded using error-correcting codes. The problem with using logical qubits is the teleportation of information using quantum entanglement. To achieve their result, the researchers from Quantinuum experimented with two methods: "transversal" and "mesh surgery."

The transversal approach involved adding operations to more than one qubit simultaneously. This allowed for manipulation of the process, which in turn led to faster teleportation. The mesh surgery approach involved manipulating the boundaries of qubits as a way to perform operations – it is preferred when trying to make procedures more compatible between architectures.

The researchers found that either approach was viable as a means of transporting logical qubits, but they also had their own drawbacks. For example, the mesh surgery approach proved less accurate than the transversal approach.

The research group used real-time decoding (using the Steinitz code) as a means to apply error correction at four points in the teleportation process, demonstrating the first-ever teleportation of logical qubits using robust methods.