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Physicists have for the first time grown nearly error-free quantum states on a superconducting chip, reducing errors by a factor of 40.
Abstract
Fault-tolerant quantum computation requires a universal gate set, with non-Clifford gates accounting for the main resource overhead in most quantum error correction architectures. Magic state cultivation is considered an efficient alternative to resource-intensive distillation protocols, but experimental validation of its premises represents a nontrivial step beyond quantum memory experiments. An experimental study of magic state cultivation on a superconducting quantum processor is presented. Cultivation was realized, including code switching to the surface code, and a fault-tolerant measurement protocol was developed to assess the magic state fidelity. Cultivation reduces the error by a factor of 40, achieving a state fidelity of 0.9999(1) while preserving 8% of attempts. The results experimentally confirm magic state cultivation as a viable solution to one of the most significant challenges in quantum computing.
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Quantum computers require magical states—special helper particles for error-free operation. Previously, they were obtained through repeated purification, akin to endless distillation of alcohol: each step added энтропию (disorder), like weeds in a garden, and consumed resources. The purity now achievable is usually characteristic only of products of сверхновых. The new approach—cultivation—works differently. Scientists place a 'seed' state into an ordered pattern of qubits, known as the поверхностным кодом, and it sprouts into the desired form. On a superconducting chip, this garden produced a record purity of 99.99%, but only 8% of attempts were successful—the rest were discarded.
Like rare plant species, the surviving seedlings carry ideal properties.
This cultivation method reduced errors by 40 times and replaced complex purification. Quantum computers are now closer to discovering new materials and medicines.
🎯 To achieve such accuracy, alcohol would have to be distilled more than 40 times—here, just one cultivation cycle produced the same effect.
🎬 In Neal Stephenson's novel 'Anathem,' quantum monks grow states of consciousness, much like physicists on a chip, to influence reality.