ABQ Times

Atoms in quantum computers, known as qubits, sometimes vanish silently, a phenomenon called atom loss that disrupts data and calculations. Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico have found a way to detect these errors for neutral atom platforms. This advancement removes a major obstacle for one branch of quantum computing, potentially bringing scientists closer to fully realizing the technology's capabilities.

Yuan-Yu Jau, an atomic physicist at Sandia and principal investigator of the experiment team, stated: “We can now detect the loss of an atom without disturbing its quantum state.” The team's method achieved 93.4% accuracy as reported in PRX Quantum journal. Supported by Sandia’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, this detection technique allows researchers to identify and correct errors.

Matthew Chow led the research which addressed atom loss—a manageable issue in small-scale machines but a significant problem for future systems requiring millions of qubits. "This is super important because if we don’t have a solution for this, I don’t think there’s a way to keep moving forward," said Jau.

Researchers at Sandia and UNM developed a method to monitor neutral atom qubits without collapsing their quantum states. Their technique was likened to placing Schrödinger’s cat on a scale inside its box—determining presence without revealing its state.

Chow discovered this breakthrough while debugging code during his dissertation work at Sandia Labs. His observations indicated whether neighboring atoms were present without direct observation. Vikas Buchemmavari from UNM helped formalize this idea into code capable of detecting atom loss indirectly using another atom.

Sandia Labs verified the new routine by comparing it with direct observation methods. Bethany Little from Sandia mentioned: “We had the capability at Sandia to verify it was working because we have this measurement where we can say the atom is in one state or zero state or it’s gone.”

Buchemmavari hopes that their work guides other groups in implementing similar techniques to overcome errors in their systems while encouraging deeper research into these techniques' advantages and trade-offs.

Chow expressed pride in solving the problem of atom loss, even if future quantum computers do not adopt his exact method.