In a groundbreaking achievement that pushed the boundaries of fault-tolerant quantum computing, Microsoft and Quantinuum researchers succeeded in achieving error rates well below physical limits by combining trapped ion hardware and qubit virtualization systems.
The details of this research, published in the arXiv database, show the creation of 4 logical qubits, whose performance was 800 times better than the physical qubits of their constituents.

​📝 Technical description of the problem:
Until now, most quantum systems have been in the “NISQ” (intermediate scale-out) period. The main challenge is to convert error-prone physical qubits into reliable logical qubits.
In this experiment, the Quantinuum H2 processor (based on trapped ions) was used. By applying an “Active Syndrome Extraction” protocol and using error correction codes, the research team was able to convert 30 physical qubits into 4 logical qubits.

Quantitative data and results:
– Test Volume: 14,000 independent tests run on logic circuits.
– ​Error Rate: The system managed to complete all 14,000 tests without producing a single undetectable error.
– Improvement factor: the observed error rate at the logical level was about 800 times lower than the basic error rate at the physical level.

Impact analysis:
This research proves that the combination of “high quality ion hardware” with “qubit virtualization software” can take us past the stage of error correction theory demonstrations and enter the stage of reliable quantum computing. This is a critical step for implementing complex algorithms for material simulation and quantum chemistry.

​🔗 Link to the source