Demonstration of measurement-free universal logical quantum computation
The ability to perform quantum error correction (QEC) and robust gate operations on encoded qubits opens the door to demonstrations of quantum algorithms. Contemporary QEC schemes typically require mid-circuit measurements with feed-forward control, which are challenging for qubit control, often slow, and susceptible to relatively high error rates. In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a universal toolbox of fault-tolerant logical operations on error-detecting codes without mid-circuit measurements on a trapped-ion quantum processor. We present modular logical state teleportation between two four-qubit error-detecting codes without measurements during algorithm execution. Moreover, we realize a fault-tolerant universal gate set on an eight-qubit error-detecting code hosting three logical qubits, based on state injection, which can be executed by coherent gate operations only. We apply this toolbox to experimentally realize Grover's quantum search algorithm fault-tolerantly on three logical qubits encoded in eight physical qubits, with the implementation displaying clear identification of the desired solution states. Our work demonstrates the practical feasibility and provides first steps into the largely unexplored direction of measurement-free quantum computation.
Authors
- Robert S. Freund (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8401-2322)
- Ivan Pogorelov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5103-9410)
- Friederike Butt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8954-1274)
- Alex Steiner
- Marcel Meyer
- Markus Müller
- Thomas Monz
Institutions
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- Alpine Quantum Technologies (Austria) (AT)
- RWTH Aachen University (DE)
- FH Aachen (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-01-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68533-x
- Primary Topic
- Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Austrian Science Fund
- Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft
- RWTH Aachen University
- Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Army Research Office