Topological qubit

A proposed qubit that stores information non-locally in exotic states of matter, making it inherently resistant to local noise.

• Information would be shared between paired 'Majorana' quasiparticles at opposite ends of a nanowire, so a local disturbance can't read or flip it.
• If realised, far less error correction would be needed, perhaps an order of magnitude fewer physical qubits per logical one.
• Microsoft is the main backer and announced its Majorana 1 chip in 2025; many independent physicists say the evidence is not yet conclusive.
• The field has had setbacks: a prominent 2018 claim of detecting Majorana states was retracted in 2021.