Google's Quantum Computer Just Achieved a Major Breakthrough With 'Magic States'

But the quantum states behind their incredible computing power are also exceptionally fragile, and keeping errors under control is a monumental task.

To address this problem, physicists invented something called "magic states" – quantum states prepared in advance that allow computers to perform difficult quantum operations without compromising their error correction.

In 2024, Google researchers started working on an idea called magic state cultivation.

The idea isn't necessarily to produce a better magic state than conventional methods can, but to produce one of comparable quality using fewer resources.

Using magic state cultivation, the researchers reduced errors in the preparation process by a factor of around 40, producing magic states with a fidelity of at least 99.99 percent.