InstituteQ Colloquium: Alexandre Bourassa of Google Quantum AI

This InstituteQ Colloquium features Senior Research Scientist Alexandre Bourassa from Google Quantum AI. The title of his talk is “Quantum error correction below the surface code threshold.”

Alexandre Bourassa is a Senior Research Scientist at Google Quantum AI working on building a scalable quantum computer based on superconducting qubits. Alex’s work focuses on implementing quantum error correction experiments on hardware. Before joining Google, he also worked with other quantum systems including optomechanics, NV centers in diamonds, and defect centers in semiconductor material.

Event details

When: 14.00-15.00, 29.10.2024
Where: U142: U4, Otakaari 1, Aalto University
Register: Webropol link to register
Host: Professor Mikko Möttönen
Refreshments will be served.

From Alexandre Bourassa: What will your talk discuss?

Quantum error correction (QEC) is critical for achieving useful quantum computers, since it allows us to combine many noisy physical qubits into one high-quality logical qubit with exponentially decreasing logical error rate. Here [1] we demonstrate below threshold surface code experiment with logical qubits at distances=(3, 5, 7), where errors are more than halves for each increase in distance. Additionally, we report the ability to decode these QEC experiments in real-time for up to 1 million rounds. Finally, we present a 10,000x reduction in correlated errors by measuring a d=29 repetition code in the very low error regime. Ultimately, our results present device performance that, if scaled, could realize the operational requirements of large scale fault-tolerant quantum algorithms.

[1] Quantum error correction below the surface code threshold, Google Quantum AI, arXiv:2408.13687 (2024)