Study finds added operations are necessary for fermionic quantum error correction

Researchers report a proof that strong error correction in quantum computers built around fermions requires operations beyond the simpler processes natural to those systems. For codes meeting the study's error-protection threshold, those simpler processes cannot by themselves prepare the needed encoded states. The team found that the minimum number of additional operations grows with both the strength of error protection and the amount of information stored. The result sets a resource requirement for designs using Majorana-based qubits or fermionic cold atoms. It is a theoretical finding about what such systems need, rather than a demonstration of a working error-corrected computer.