NQVL:QSTD:Pilot: Erasure Qubits and Dynamic Circuits for Quantum Advantage (ERASE)

Quantum computers have the potential to create a revolutionary form of information processing, however current hardware is very prone to errors. A grand challenge is to learn how to correct these errors so that one can build large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers. This ERASE project will address this challenge by developing an innovative quantum computing platform based on ‘erasure flag’ qubits that herald when and where errors occur.

Erasure flag information will make it easier to correct the errors and achieve fault tolerance. Researchers will have access to advanced tools for developing new algorithms and improving software systems, as well as the opportunity to experiment with quantum error correction and create new quantum algorithms that use mid-circuit measurements and program branching (decision making) based on the measurement results.

ERASE is a collaboration between academia and an industrial hardware partner, Quantum Circuits, Inc. (QCI), to drive research towards practical quantum information technologies. ERASE will promote educational initiatives to cultivate a skilled quantum workforce, in partnership with historically black colleges and universities. The aim is to build a vibrant national ecosystem for quantum research, paving the way toward achieving quantum advantage in computation and simulation.

Our goal is to deploy novel high performance superconducting hardware whose logical qubit states are defined by a single microwave photon shared between two long-lived resonators. This dual-resonator (‘dual-rail’) logical encoding can detect the dominant error (photon loss) converting leakage out of the code space into a flagged erasure error. Concatenating this dual-rail error detection code into a larger code will allow efficient correction of the dominant errors since their locations are flagged.

Because our proposed architecture has unique hardware characteristics, it will enable new types of algorithms and require a rethinking of the systems software toolflow. The ERASE team will form a national community of researchers in applications/algorithms, software, and systems architecture to develop a National Quantum Virtual Laboratory in collaboration with our hardware partner, QCI.

QCI will provide researchers with access to this new computational paradigm through an Application Programming Interface (API) into multiple levels of the system stack to: (1) develop and execute new algorithms designed for the error-detecting and error-correcting capabilities of our novel superconducting quantum computing testbed; (2) contribute to improved middleware design (e.g., error-aware compilers; efficient control flow for mid-circuit measurements and feedforward) ); (3) co-design of improvements in error correction protocols.

This project advances the objectives of Quantum Information Science and Engineering at NSF in response to the National Quantum Initiative Act for the continued leadership of the United States in QIS and its technology applications.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.