Quantum computers are advanced machines capable of performing complex tasks and calculations using
Because quantum computers solve problemstoo complex even for classical supercomputers, they have to deal with huge amounts of data. This makes them more susceptible to interference, which causes errors to appear. Just one of them can lead to the loss of a lot of valuable information. So engineers and scientists provide quantum computers with reliable error correction mechanisms to avoid any discrepancies.
A group of researchers from a German UniversityInnsbruck, RWTH Aachen University and Jülich Research Center have proposed a method that could lead to error-free quantum computers.
An ordinary computer avoids errors by creatingredundant copies of information in the form of bits. The copies are later used to verify the data. However, the laws of quantum mechanics do not allow data to be copied from one qubit to another. So in the case of quantum computers, instead of copying, scientists distribute data across multiple physical qubits to achieve information redundancy for solving problems.
Researchers from Germany have come up witha computational operation that involves two logical quantum bits and can be used to solve any problem. The said operation is actually represented by a set of universal gates or quantum circuits capable of processing all types of mathematical information. The authors of the study claim that the universal set can be used in a quantum computer to program all the algorithms.
During the study, it was used on a quantumcomputer with an ion trap. This machine processes quantum information through the movement of charged atomic particles suspended in free space under the influence of an electromagnetic field. The ion trap computer contained 16 atoms in total.
Two logical set bits called a gateCNOT and the T gate store quantum information. Each bit was divided into seven atoms, and for the first time, scientists were able to implement a universal gate on fault-tolerant bits. Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue its operation even after some of its nodes fail .