Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 2 hrs ago
Quantum computer demonstrates repeated checks and resets to control errors
Quantum computers use qubits, which can hold multiple possible states until they are measured.
This can make them powerful, but also leaves their information vulnerable to heat, hardware problems and stray signals that cause errors.
Researchers tested a way for a quantum computer to check for problems and reset affected parts while the rest of the processor kept working.
Using an IBM quantum processor, they carried out almost 5,000 operations and 5,000 checks and resets.
They found that more frequent checks could move the system from chaotic behaviour into a more ordered state.
The experiment is a step towards a fault-tolerant quantum computer, which would correct errors as they occur rather than eliminate them.
Researchers say much more repeated checking and correction is needed, and no one has yet built such a machine.
Researchers demonstrated a quantum computer repeatedly checking and resetting parts of itself while it continued to operate.
The experiment used an IBM quantum processor and involved almost 5,000 operations and 5,000 checks and resets.
The researchers said it was the largest successful demonstration of this approach.
As checks became more frequent than scrambling, the system shifted from chaotic behaviour to an ordered, controllable state.
The approach aims to correct errors as they occur, a step towards fault-tolerant quantum computers.
- Who
- Researchers using an IBM quantum processor. Study authors included Jebediah Pixley of Rutgers University and Maika Takita of IBM.
- What
- They demonstrated repeated checks and resets of qubits while the processor continued operating.
- When
- The article was published on 12 October 2026. The experiment date is not stated.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- To demonstrate an approach to detecting and correcting quantum errors during a calculation.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
To build a fault-tolerant quantum computer, we have to make these checks and corrections not just once or twice, but a huge number of times during a calculation
The challenge was not simply to measure a qubit, but to do it repeatedly while the rest of the processor continued to operate
This experiment is a landmark on that road
This experiment shows that present-day hardware can coordinate quantum operations, measurements and resets thousands of times across a large system
The processor switched between scrambling information and checking scrambled qubits and resetting those that needed it.
The team carried out almost 5,000 operations and 5,000 checks and resets.
The system stayed chaotic when scrambling occurred more than half the time and became ordered when checking was more frequent.
- Processor maker
- IBM
- Operations
- Almost 5,000
- Checks and resets
- 5,000
- Study co-author
- Jebediah Pixley of Rutgers University
- Study co-author
- Maika Takita of IBM
Sources
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