PREVIEW

Google have revealed their new ‘Willow’ Quantum chip that could revolutionise computing.

Quantum computers rely on qubits, fragile computational units that often lose information rapidly by interacting with their environment.
The chip is a step forward as historically, the more qubits added, the more errors occurred, causing systems to revert to classical computing behaviour.

However, in a study published on Monday (09December2024) in the journal Nature, researchers have demonstrated a breakthrough with their latest quantum chip, Willow.
By scaling up the number of qubits while simultaneously reducing error rates, the team achieved an exponential improvement in performance—a milestone known as being “below threshold”.

This advancement is considered a critical step towards building practical and scalable quantum computers.

Quantum computers are the next step forward in technology as if proven as a technology they can solve the calculations an ordinary computer can at a rate that could in the future come close to being almost exponentially faster.

The team behind Willow tested increasingly larger grids of qubits, from 3x3 to 5x5 to 7x7, applying advanced quantum error correction techniques. Each expansion halved the error rate, demonstrating that the system grows more stable and quantum in nature as it scales.

This achievement marks a turning point in quantum computing, overcoming a challenge first identified in 1995 by Peter Shor, the pioneer of quantum error correction. The researchers also demonstrated real-time error correction on a superconducting quantum system, a capability essential for practical computation.

Significantly, Willow’s arrays of qubits now exhibit longer operational lifespans than individual physical qubits—an indisputable indicator that error correction is enhancing system-wide performance.

Willow was fabricated at a cutting-edge facility in Santa Barbara, purpose-built for quantum chip development. The chip’s performance was assessed holistically, taking into account error correction, gate operations, and overall system integration. This focus on quality, rather than sheer quantity of qubits, ensures Willow’s superiority across multiple benchmarks.

The ultimate goal is to use quantum computers for tasks beyond the reach of classical systems that have practical, commercial applications. Current experiments either outperform classical computers without real-world relevance or simulate quantum systems that can still be modelled classically. Willow’s developers aim to bridge this gap, unlocking new possibilities in fields like medicine, energy, and artificial intelligence.

Quantum computing is expected to revolutionise industries by solving problems that classical computers cannot tackle, such as optimising complex systems, designing new drugs, and developing next-generation energy solutions.

The lab behind Willow, aptly named Quantum AI, highlights the synergy between quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Quantum systems can significantly enhance AI capabilities by solving problems that are computationally prohibitive for classical machines, accelerating advancements in fields from healthcare to clean energy.

As Willow pushes the boundaries of what quantum systems can achieve, the team invites researchers and developers to explore its capabilities through open-source software and educational resources. The quantum future is no longer a distant vision—it’s rapidly becoming a reality.