Quantum Error Correction on Willow at Google Quantum AI
Feb 26 (Thursday), 2026
11:30 am to 12:30 pm (EST)
Virtual via Zoom
Abstract: Quantum error correction (QEC) provides a path to reach practical quantum computing by combining multiple physical qubits into a logical qubit, where the logical error rate is suppressed exponentially as more qubits are added (when the physical error rate is below a critical threshold). In this talk, Dr. Eickbusch will present recent advancements in QEC from the Google Quantum AI team, specifically operating on the recently announced Willow superconducting quantum processor. The talk will also briefly cover, at a high-level, three other QEC demonstrations from the Willow processor, highlighting the crucial ingredients needed to realize universal fault-tolerant operations. These results present device performance that, if scaled, could realize the operational requirements of large scale fault-tolerant quantum algorithms.
Biography: Dr. Alec Eickbusch is a Senior Research Scientist on the processor team at Google Quantum AI. Alec is an experimentalist whose research focuses on Quantum Error Correction (QEC), the success of which is vital for quantum computers to reach the error rates required for useful, fault-tolerant computation. Alec completed his PhD in Applied Physics from Yale University in 2023. His thesis focused on QEC and the control of superconducting cavities and qubits in the group of recent Nobel Prize winner Michel Devoret. At Google, Alec’s research has focused on improving QEC performance through metrology and novel error correction experiments, as well as device modeling and error budgeting. Alec’s expertise lies in the design, measurement, and modeling of superconducting devices, and his mission is to realize logical operations with error rates of one-per-trillion or lower.