Ta-You Wu Lecture

This lecture is part of the Ta-You Wu Memorial Lecture series, given by John M. Martinis, winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics and Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Ta-You Wu was a key founder of modern physics in China, and this lecture series aims to carry on his scientific spirit by inviting leading scholars to share frontier advances. Professor Martinis is a pioneer in the field of quantum computing, and this talk focuses on the engineering implementation of superconducting qubits and quantum error correction, combining both physical depth and experimental detail. The core highlight is how he tackles the “noise” bottleneck in quantum computing from the hardware level and outlines future pathways toward scalable quantum systems. The lecture is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students and researchers who have a foundation in quantum mechanics and an interest in quantum information or experimental physics, and it may also offer engineers a cross-disciplinary perspective. Before watching, it is recommended to briefly review the basic principles of superconducting qubits and to have paper and pen ready to note down key architecture diagrams. If time is limited, priority can be given to the middle-to-later sections on specific quantum error correction schemes, as these best showcase the Nobel laureate’s original thinking.