Error mitigation is a collection of techniques that reduce the impact of noise and errors on the results of a quantum computation without using full quantum error correction. Unlike error correction, error mitigation does not add redundant qubits but instead uses classical post-processing, repeated measurements, or circuit modifications to extract more accurate results from noisy hardware.Why it matters. Full quantum error correction requires significant qubit overhead and control capabilities that are not yet available at the scale needed for most useful computations. Error mitigation fills the gap by making today's noisy quantum processors more useful. Techniques include zero-noise extrapolation (running circuits at intentionally amplified noise levels and extrapolating to the zero-noise limit), probabilistic error cancellation (applying inverse noise operations based on a characterized noise model), and measurement error mitigation (correcting for known readout biases). These techniques come with their own overhead, typically requiring many more circuit repetitions, but they can significantly improve the accuracy of near-term quantum experiments. How it connects. Many error mitigation techniques require high experimental throughput: running the same circuit many times with slight variations and collecting large amounts of statistical data. The Qblox Q1 Sequence Processor's real-time looping and fast parameter updates enable efficient data collection. The Cluster's on-board averaging and binning (with up to three million IQ bins per readout module) support the high-statistics measurements that error mitigation demands. Learn more about the QRM.
