Quantum error correction can constantly recalibrate a processor - Ars Technica Skip to content Ars Technica home Sections Forum Subscribe Search AI Biz & IT Cars Culture Gaming Health Policy Science Security Space Tech Feature Reviews AI Biz & IT Cars Culture Gaming Health Policy Science Security Space Tech Forum Subscribe Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Pin to story Theme HyperLight Day & Night Dark System Search Sign In Sign in dialog... Sign in Real time drift Quantum error correction can constantly recalibrate a processor Reinforcement learning uses error information to adjust control algorithms. John Timmer – Jul 10, 2026 7:02 pm | 25 Google's Sycamore processor. Credit: Google Google's Sycamore processor. Credit: Google Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav There are some obvious big picture issues that stand between us and useful quantum computing. Issues like whether we can make enough high-quality hardware qubits to connect into the error-corrected logical qubits we need, and how we generate the states needed to perform universal computation on those logical qubits.
But there are also many less prominent challenges that will need to be solved before we can perform calculations. One of those challenges, which only affects some types of hardware, is calibration. For devices we manufacture, like superconducting qubits, there are always subtle variations among individual qubits. (This is not true when we use something like an atom to hold the qubit, but the lasers that control them can drift.) As a result, this hardware is put through a process called calibration, where we test different frequencies and amplitudes of the microwave pulses that control them to find the combination that produces the lowest error rates, and then save those settings for use in calculations.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/quantum-error-correction-can-constantly-recalibrate-a-processor/
But there are also many less prominent challenges that will need to be solved before we can perform calculations. One of those challenges, which only affects some types of hardware, is calibration. For devices we manufacture, like superconducting qubits, there are always subtle variations among individual qubits. (This is not true when we use something like an atom to hold the qubit, but the lasers that control them can drift.) As a result, this hardware is put through a process called calibration, where we test different frequencies and amplitudes of the microwave pulses that control them to find the combination that produces the lowest error rates, and then save those settings for use in calculations.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/quantum-error-correction-can-constantly-recalibrate-a-processor/