One of the main challenges in quantum computing is the vulnerability of quantum systems to errors, which leads to unreliable ‘noisy’ computations. These errors arise from decoherence, environmental noise, and imperfect quantum gates, and can quickly make computations unreliable.

‍

Fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) addresses this susceptibility with quantum error correction (QEC). By correcting errors without disturbing the encoded quantum information, ‘noisy devices’ can become reliable computers capable of executing complex algorithms.

‍

Achieving FTQC requires not only advance in hardware, such as increasing the number and quality of physical qubits and keeping error rates below the required thresholds, but also the creation of more efficient error-correcting codes and fault-tolerant algorithms.

‍

In the coming years, efforts to evolve today’s Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices into fully fault-tolerant systems are expected to increase, with growing investment in research and development on error mitigation, quantum error-correction techniques, and algorithms designed for fault-tolerant execution.