Deep Dive into Cirq

In this episode of the Qubit Value Podcast, we dive into the "Early Utility Scale" era of quantum computing as we break down the critical release of Cirq 1.6.1. We explore how this new stable baseline addresses noise modeling issues and introduces "Willow Pink," a digital twin configuration designed to validate routing and error strategies on 100+ qubit devices without booking expensive hardware time. The discussion also covers essential developer updates, including the mandatory migration to Python 3.11 and practical tutorials on implementing Zero Noise Extrapolation (ZNE) using circuit folding techniques to mitigate errors in this new hardware-first landscape.