Caltech creates a 6,100-Qubit Array, Demonstrating Breakthrough in Quantum Computing Scale and Precision
In a field where it poses a phenomenal technical challenge, this breakthrough opens up a new horizon for quantum computing. The team managed to combine quantity and fidelity in the same experiment, something that seemed unattainable until now. The result is not just a record, but proof that quantum computers, capable of solving impossible problems for classical machines, are much closer.
## A record that changes the rules
Until recently, [….]. In comparison, this leap to 6,100 qubits places the Caltech team in a new dimension: a grid of neutral atoms trapped with lasers that functions as a gigantic quantum chessboard.
The challenge was not only to increase in number but to maintain fidelity. The researchers found that they could sustain themselves in superposition for up to 13 seconds, ten times longer than in previous attempts, with a manipulation accuracy of 99.98%. Quantity and quality, two historically opposing factors, come together here for the first time.
## The path to useful quantum computing
Quantum error correction requires tens of thousands of stable qubits to correct errors and perform calculations impossible for classical machines. The problem is that qubits are fragile: they lose coherence in milliseconds, and any slight disturbance renders them useless.
With this significant advance, [….]. The authors of the study themselves summarize it succinctly: “Qubits are not useful without quality. Now we have quantity and quality.”
## How they achieved it
[….]. On the control screen, each qubit appears as a point of light. It is an almost poetic image: thousands of tiny lights aligned with surgical precision, ready to perform quantum operations.
Furthermore, the researchers have demonstrated that atoms could move [….]. This accomplishment brings us closer to the possibility of building dynamic and reconfigurable processors.
The next step: entanglement and nature simulation
[….]. Only then can complete quantum calculations be carried out.
This entanglement is what will give these computers their true power: simulating nature itself, from chemical reactions to the behavior of exotic materials, in a level of detail that no classical supercomputer can achieve.
An open frontier
[….]. But this record marks a turning point: for the first time, massive scale does not imply sacrificing quality.
Quantum hardware is no longer a distant promise. The path towards truly functional quantum computers seems to have found its foundation.
