Rainer Reczek L&S Math & Physical Sciences
Realizing a relaxation-protected erasure qubit in fluxonium
Quantum computers promise solutions to highly formidable problems in physics, chemistry and mathematics that are intractable on classical computers. However, realization of quantum computers capable of solving these problems is hindered by the issue of preserving quantum information on practical timescales. Qubits, the quantum mechanical analog of a bit and the building block of quantum computers are subject to noise from their environment, quickly losing the information they carry. A promising way to improve the lifetime of a qubit is to detect and correct noise-induced errors, a technique known as quantum error correction; but detecting an error requires one to measure the qubit, thus destroying the information it carries. In this project, we try to sidestep this issue by using a novel scheme of encoding information; this allocation of information allows us to detect all relaxation events without destroying the state. The operation scheme will be further discussed later in this proposal, but the key difference in our design is the use of the ground and second excited states for computation and the monitoring of the first excited state to detect relaxation errors.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you very much for helping fund my work for this summer. I have recently started doing research in the field of quantum computing, and I have quickly become fascinated by its promises to solve problems intractable on classical computers. In this project, we hope to work towards qubits with longer lifetimes, pushing towards full-scale quantum computation.