Riverlane has successfully demonstrated the world’s first low-latency quantum error correction (QEC) experiment, solving a critical challenge in quantum computing—real-time quantum error decoding. Using their advanced quantum error decoder within their QEC stack, Riverlane tackled the ‘backlog’ problem, where errors accumulate too quickly, preventing computations from running efficiently.

The experiment, conducted with Rigetti Computing’s superconducting quantum processor, showcased the ability to suppress logical errors by integrating a scalable FPGA decoder. Key achievements include an 8-qubit stability experiment with 25 decoding rounds and a mean decoding time of under 1 microsecond per round. The experiment demonstrated logical error suppression as decoding rounds increased and a response time of 9.6 microseconds for nine measurement rounds.

This breakthrough sets the stage for future developments like lattice surgery and magic state teleportation, both critical operations for building fault-tolerant quantum computers. It paves the way for keeping logical qubits stable and alive in practical quantum computing.

For more details, check out their published paper on arXiv here.

October 9, 2024