EQUS launches 1kQubit flagship research program

We were very excited to launch EQUS' 1kQubit Flagship on 4 February 2022.  Work on this flagship began at the start of 2021, but the official launch was delayed by COVID-19.  The launch event saw around 30 EQUS members gather, either in-person in Sydney or online, to discuss the 1kQubit Flagship.  The launch revisited the genesis of this flagship, and the key objectives and milestones that could be achieved over the remaining three years of the Centre.

The 1kQubit Flagship aims to develop the theoretical foundations for a useful fault-tolerant quantum processor.  Such a device requires around 1,000 logical qubits to be built, using around 1,000 physical qubits and based on technology that is expected to be available in the next five to ten years.

This theory-focused flagship emerged from EQUS' Designer Quantum Materials research program and builds on the Centre's strengths in quantum error correction.  It has three main streams: (1) next-generation qubits; (2) practical high-rate codes and fault-tolerant logic gates; and (3) high-threshold efficient decoders.

We have already seen many great results out of this flagship, including:

• The XZZX surface code and an associated proposal for fault-tolerant quantum error correction
• Low-overhead approaches to quantum error correction and fault-tolerant quantum computing using LDPC codes
• A near-ideal degenerate parametric amplifier
• A new type of gate based on transmon qubits, inspired by the Zeno effect

We look forward to sharing more about the 1kQubit Flagship throughout the year!