Quantum computers that use ‘cat qubits’ may make fewer errors

Special quantum bits called “cat qubits” could make it possible for quantum computers to make fewer errors and more efficiently break common encryption algorithms.

Conventional computers process information by manipulating bits, which take on values of 0 or 1, based on whether a transistor is “on” or “off”. For quantum computers, however, a standardised counterpart for the transistor has not yet been settled upon. Quantum bits, or qubits, can be made from charged atoms, particles of light that have …