Selecting perfect photons at the front end reduces costly error correction later, enabling large-scale universal quantum computing

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-error-method-photon-requirements-quantum.html

"error-correction requires 100s physical photons to make single reliable qubit... overcome by replacing part of required error correction, requiring far fewer photons, yielding more computing power... optical circuit with programmable light guides/ detectors switches filters out bad photons without having to know exactly what causes the errors, exploiting Schrödingers cat-like quantum light properties of light where measurement ultimately determines whether a photon has retained desired properties"