A team of
researchers from Yale University has successfully demonstrated one of the key
steps in building the architecture for modular quantum computers: the
“teleportation” of a quantum gate between two qubits, on demand. Scientists
team says it looking to solve one of the big problems in quantum computing: the
errors that are introduced by quantum computing processors.

“A quantum
computer has the potential to efficiently solve problems that are intractable
for classical computers,” the team wrote. “However, constructing a large-scale
quantum processor is challenging because of the errors and noise that are
inherent in real-world quantum systems.”
One way to
cut out these errors is to use modularity.

Network
overview of the modular quantum architecture demonstrated in the new study. Special
Credit for the Image: Yale University (YU)
Modularity,
which is found in everything from the organization of a biological cell to the
network of engines in the latest SpaceX rocket, has proved to be a powerful
strategy for building large, complex systems, the researchers say. A quantum
modular architecture consists of a collection of modules that function as small
quantum processors connected into a larger network.
Modules in
this architecture have a natural isolation from each other, which reduces
unwanted interactions through the larger system. Yet this isolation also makes
performing operations between modules a distinct challenge, according to the
researchers. Teleported gates are a way to implement inter-module operation.
So essential
to this approach is the teleportation of a quantum gate—this would allow
interactions without the risk of errors being introduced in the transfer. This
idea was first proposed as a theoretical approach in the 1990s. The Yale
scientists have now demonstrated it in a real-world experiment.
“Our work is
the first time that this protocol has been demonstrated where the classical
communication occurs in real-time, allowing us to implement a ‘deterministic’
operation that performs the desired operation every time,” study co-author
Kevin Chou said in a statement.
This has big
implications for the development of “fault-tolerant quantum computation,” the
scientists say. “And when realized within a network it can have broad
applications in quantum communication, metrology, and simulations,” they add.
Head
investigator Robert Schoelkopf said that: “It is a milestone toward quantum
information processing using error-correctable qubits.”
The research
Published in Nature.com
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