Visualizing Quantum Computing with Google Researcher Trond Andersen

Research scientist Trond Andersen joined us on the SayoStudio Science Podcast to discuss how we address this challenge: creating visuals that cut through the noise while establishing Google’s position at the frontier of quantum computing. The work needed to be technically rigorous enough for colleagues, while engaging enough to capture attention beyond the quantum physics community.

You can listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app or on our YouTube Channel. Below, we’ve gathered highlights from the conversation, paired with examples of the visuals we created in collaboration with Andersen and his colleagues.

Meet Physicist Trond Andersen

Andersen calls himself a “hands-on quantum physicist.” At Google Quantum AI, he works on developing and testing real quantum processors — devices that run at millikelvin temperatures and rely on fragile states of matter to compute in ways no classical machine can. His role bridges theory, experiment, and engineering, which makes him especially attuned to how visuals help explain complex ideas. In our conversation, we explored not only how quantum computers function, but also why images and metaphors are essential to sharing research that often sounds abstract or even absurd.

Quantum Computing’s Present, Not Just Its Future

We asked Andersen about a common perception: that quantum computers are a far-off goal, something that might transform technology decades from now. He pushed back immediately. While there’s certainly a long road to reaching quantum computing’s full potential, the processors running today are already transforming what’s possible to test in physics.

“You can really have an idea in the morning, have it tested by 3 p.m. and have sort of nice plots of it by the time you go to bed. And that’s a very unique research situation,” Andersen explained.

Unlike telescope time or accelerator runs that require years of planning, today’s quantum processors allow researchers to test and adjust ideas daily. That speed creates its own communication challenge: explaining results that evolve quickly and describe phenomena that don’t fit everyday intuition.

“Very often when we try to come up with good analogies for quantum… sometimes you hurt yourself by doing that because you simplify it too much and you lose the magic of it.” — Andersen

At SayoStudio, we aim to preserve that “magic.” Instead of flattening quantum concepts into grayscale, our illustrations make interference, superposition, and entanglement visible while keeping their counterintuitive qualities intact.

Qubits, Color, and Why “Gray” Isn’t Enough

When we discussed how to visualize qubits, we suggested thinking of quantum possibilities as a rainbow rather than greyscale. Andersen agreed this is the right framework, despite most people using the black and white binary to greyscale analogy. As he explained, most people describe quantum computing as somewhere between black and white, but the phase property of qubits actually wraps around a circle. It’s not a slider; it’s a spectrum.

That circular picture allows for interference, where positive and negative contributions can amplify or cancel. For quantum computing, this is key: many possibilities can be explored at once, but measurement collapses everything down to a single outcome.

“Measurement only happens at the end. If you ‘look’ mid-computation, you break the quantumness.” — Andersen

Even a tiny disturbance, like a stray electron, can trigger this collapse. Physicists call it decoherence. To convey this fragility, our visuals often draw on cooling imagery and isolated circuits, metaphors for the constant effort to shield qubits from their environment.

Visual Spotlight 1: Braiding the Un-Braided — Non-Abelian Anyons

We worked with Andersen on a series illustrating non-Abelian anyon braiding: moving exotic quantum excitations around each other so that, when they return, the system has changed. For every particle humans had seen until recently, swapping two identical ones and swapping them back does nothing. With non-Abelian anyons, the swap is an operation.

• What the art shows: interwoven paths (“braids”) whose patterns are the logic.
• Why it matters: in principle, braids could yield topologically protected operations, creating more robust building blocks for quantum computing.

Sometimes abstraction tells this story best: paths, crossings, and a state space transformed by motion.

Visual Spotlight 2: The Hybrid Clock — Analog + Digital on One Chip

Another favorite SayoStudio + Google collaboration depicts a quantum processor that blends analog evolution with digital gates. Think fast, natural many-body dynamics (analog) plus the flexibility of step-wise control (digital). Our image centers on a clock that’s half seven-segment readout, half sweeping hand, with a qubit Bloch sphere hovering like a compass.

• Analog gets you there fast, before noise “looks” at you.
• Digital lets you choose the destination, any calculation you can gate together.
• Hybrid combines both to reach rich quantum states and do useful work with them.

Visual Spotlight 3: Cooling the Unseeable — Reset-Based Refrigeration

Noise control is a fundamental challenge in quantum computing—and across the multiple projects we’ve worked on with Google Quantum AI, we’ve illustrated various approaches to tackling it. We asked Andersen to walk us through one of the more elegant approaches: reset-based refrigeration. He described  their system where auxiliary qubits absorb energy, reset, and repeat, steadily cooling the system.

In our visualization, these helper qubits act like heat pumps, gradually freezing the working qubits into quieter, more reliable states. It is a simple metaphor for a subtle protocol and a reminder that progress often comes from clever engineering.

Quantum Collaboration

We were curious how the ecosystem worked—theorists, experimentalists, engineers all operating at different scales and goals.

From our experience working across physics research environments, we’ve met many theorists that are dreamers—imagining multi-dimensional spaces. On the other hand, engineers and experimentalists are grounded in what the device actually does at millikelvin temperatures. We asked Andersen how these different mindsets come together in practice at Google Quantum AI.

He described how Cornell theorists mapped braiding ideas while Google experimentalists ran devices and engineers maintained chips at temperatures colder than outer space. For us, that ecosystem reinforces why visualization is critical: creating images abstract enough to capture the theorist’s vision, concrete enough to represent physical reality, and clear enough to bridge the gap between them.”

Within this ecosystem, SayoStudio’s role is to translate spectra, circuits, and evolving states into visuals that remain technically faithful while being easy to understand.

Our conversation with Trond also explored the interplay between quantum and AI. “Quantum for AI” is a future promise, offering faster solutions for certain workloads. But “AI for quantum” is already here, helping with error detection and smarter calibration. It is a two-way exchange: tools accelerating tools.

Illustrating the Quantum Realm

Near the end of our conversation, Andersen reflected on why visualization matters for his own research. Equations alone don’t always capture intuition—while he can write the math, he finds it more powerful to picture what qubits are doing, how one spin pulls on another, how interactions ripple through the system.

This is exactly why we focus on science visualization in quantum: providing form to invisible interactions, helping researchers test intuition, and making abstract concepts shareable. The challenges Google faces, making breakthrough research accessible without sacrificing technical credibility, aren’t unique to quantum computing. They’re fundamental to any deep tech company trying to communicate complex innovation. Read our full Google Quantum Visuals case study on how scientific media assets amplified Google’s quantum research across Nature, IEEE Spectrum, and social media.

Quantum on the SayoStudio Podcast

Catch the full conversation with Trond Andersen on the SayoStudio Science Podcast. Whether you’re a physicist, a designer, or just quantum-curious, we hope this episode gives you both a clearer picture and a deeper appreciation for the strangeness that makes quantum powerful. 

Thanks to Trond Andersen and our collaborators at Google Quantum AI. Whether you’re here for the quantum physics or the communication strategy behind it, we hope this conversation gave you new perspectives on making complex research visible. Listen to the full episode on [platform links].