Quantum Computing Closer After Scientists Build a Fredkin Gate

Previous articles have detailed the ways in which they represent the next great leap in computer technology, allowing the possibility of things like vastly improved machine learning, artificial intelligence, and a number of other things straight out of science fiction. The problem has always been building them, but one major breakthrough just made getting there much easier. But to begin, you need to understand a bit about how quantum computers work. Now, research published in Science Advances details the creation of the first quantum Fredkin gate, a key component in making the quantum circuits that are required for quantum computers. Researchers from Griffith University and the University of Queensland used linear optics to perform the first demonstration of the quantum Fredkin gate. The Fredkin gate, or the controlled swap gate, is a three-qubit gate where, depending on the state of the control qubit, the quantum states of the two target qubits are swapped.The Fredkin gate typically requires a circuit of five logic operations to be implemented.