Breakthrough in quantum computing: logical qubit survival rate reaches 96% on the IBM Heron processor
Quantum computing takes another significant step forward. In a joint effort with IBM, my team of researchers from the University of Sydney has achieved a logical qubit survival rate of up to 96% on the advanced 156-qubit superconducting processor IBM Quantum Heron r2. This result was achieved through a fundamentally new approach to error correction.
The main obstacle to creating stable, fault-tolerant quantum computers (FTQC) is the so-called "idle noise." In current systems, to correct errors, the processor must regularly perform internal checks, pausing computations. During these pauses, the remaining qubits lose stability, generating new failures. This paradox—"error correction that creates new errors"—has long been considered one of the main barriers.
To overcome this problem, we completely redesigned the architecture of the correction circuits, radically reducing the computation pause time. Optimizing the algorithms allowed us to raise the logical qubit survival rate per correction cycle from less than 90% to an impressive 96%.
It is important to understand that this process occurs repeatedly at every stage of computation. The forced idle time of other elements becomes a serious obstacle to reliable operation. As project leader Stephen Bartlett emphasized, scalability and fault tolerance remain the main barriers for the quantum industry.
Although the result was obtained in laboratory conditions on a single processor, this research direction is critically important for the entire industry. Recall that IBM has already planned to achieve the first confirmed cases of quantum advantage by the end of 2026.
My analysis: Achieving a 96% survival rate is not just a number. It is a demonstration that the "idle noise" problem is solvable. If we can scale this approach to thousands of qubits, we will come very close to commercially useful quantum systems. For the crypto industry, this means that the threat of quantum hacking of current cryptographic standards is becoming not a theoretical, but a very tangible prospect. That is why the development of post-quantum encryption algorithms must be accelerated.