IBM and UC Berkeley have published a paper demonstrating that quantum computers can run circuits beyond the reach of classical simulations. They have hardware and software capable of executing quantum circuits at a scale of 100 qubits and 3,000 gates. IBM has introduced the IBM Condor, a 1,121 superconducting qubit quantum processor, and the IBM Quantum Heron processor, which has 133 fixed-frequency qubits. IBM Quantum System Two is now operational and is the platform for scalable quantum computation. IBM also plans to release Qiskit 1.0, a quantum computing SDK, in February 2024.
“We have introduced IBM Condor, a 1,121 superconducting qubit quantum processor based on our cross-resonance gate technology. Condor pushes the limits of scale and yield in chip design with a 50% increase in qubit density, advances in qubit fabrication and laminate size, and includes over a mile of high-density cryogenic flex IO wiring within a single dilution refigerator.”
Quantum Computing: A New Era
Quantum computing has been a focus of technological development for the past few decades. The community has been laying the groundwork, experimenting with quantum hardware, devising use cases, and educating people on how to use quantum computers. This year, a significant breakthrough was made with the demonstration that quantum computers could run circuits beyond the reach of brute-force classical simulations. For the first time, we have hardware and software capable of executing quantum circuits with no known a priori answer at a scale of 100 qubits and 3,000 gates. This development has opened up the field of quantum computing to a wider range of users, including quantum computational scientists.
From large-scale experiments, it has become clear that we must go beyond the traditional circuit model and take advantage of parallelism, concurrent classical computing, and dynamic circuits. Tools such as circuit knitting can enhance the reach of quantum computation, and new quantum algorithms are emerging that make use of multiple quantum circuits, potentially in parallel and with concurrent classical operations. A heterogeneous computing architecture consisting of scalable and parallel circuit execution and advanced classical computation is required.
The vision for the high-performance systems of the future is quantum-centric supercomputing. Major updates have been announced that bring us closer to this goal, as well as an extended roadmap that details the journey toward quantum-centric supercomputing over the next decade.
Quantum Processor Developments
A new quantum processor, IBM Condor, has been introduced. This 1,121 superconducting qubit quantum processor is based on cross-resonance gate technology. Condor pushes the limits of scale and yield in chip design with a 50% increase in qubit density, advances in qubit fabrication and laminate size, and includes over a mile of high-density cryogenic flex IO wiring within a single dilution refrigerator.
Building on four years of research, the first IBM Quantum Heron processor has been introduced. Featuring 133 fixed-frequency qubits with tunable couplers, Heron yields a 3-5x improvement in device performance over previous processors, and virtually eliminates cross-talk. This technology is expected to form the foundation of future hardware development.
Quantum System Two and Qiskit 1.0
IBM Quantum System Two is the bedrock for scalable quantum computation. It combines cryogenic infrastructure with third-generation control electronics and classical runtime servers. This system will be used to realise parallel circuit executions for quantum-centric supercomputing.
Quantum-centric supercomputing is not achieved by hardware alone. It requires performant software for generating and manipulating quantum circuits and middleware for executing hybrid quantum-classical workflows in a heterogeneous computing environment. Qiskit 1.0 marks the first stable release of Qiskit, the most popular quantum computing SDK. It delivers marked improvements in circuit construction, compilation times, and memory consumption compared to earlier releases.
AI Transpilation and Execution Modes
IBM has introduced the world’s first circuit compilation service using reinforcement learning running on the IBM Quantum Platform. This initial preview demonstrates a reduction in two-qubit gate count of 20-50% compared to standard heuristic methods.
To further optimize throughput when executing multiple independent jobs, a new execution mode has been introduced. This batch mode yields up to a 5x improvement in execution time relative to single-job submission. For utility-scale iterative workloads, extended Sessions have been released, which allow for combining multiple Sessions together to seamlessly enable advanced quantum-classical workloads.
Quantum Development Roadmap to 2033
An extended roadmap has been released to guide the mission to realise quantum-centric supercomputing. The roadmap highlights improvements in the number of gates that processors and systems will be able to execute. Starting with a target of Heron reaching 5,000 gates in 2024, the roadmap lays out multiple generations of processors, each leveraging improvements in quality to achieve ever-larger gate counts.
By 2029, the roadmap predicts an inflection point: executing 100 million gates over 200 qubits with the Starling processor employing error correction based on the novel Gross code. This is followed by Blue Jay, a system capable of executing 1 billion gates across 2,000 qubits by 2033. This represents a nine order-of-magnitude increase in performed gates since the first device was put on the cloud in 2016.
“But earlier this year, we published an experiment that changed the status quo. We demonstrated that quantum computers could run circuits beyond the reach of brute-force classical simulations. For the first time, we have hardware and software capable of executing quantum circuits with no known a priori answer at a scale of 100 qubits and 3,000 gates. Quantum is now a computational tool, and what makes me most excited is that we can start to advance science in fields beyond quantum computing, itself.” – Author not specified
“Building on four years of research, we introduced the first IBM Quantum Heron processor on the ibm_torino quantum system. Featuring 133 fixed-frequency qubits with tunable couplers, Heron yields a 3-5x improvement in device performance over our previous flagship 127-qubit Eagle processors, and virtually eliminates cross-talk.” – Author not specified
“IBM Quantum System Two is the bedrock for scalable quantum computation, and is now operational at our lab in Yorktown Heights, NY. It is 22 feet wide, 12 feet high, and today features three IBM Quantum Heron processors. It combines cryogenic infrastructure with third-generation control electronics and classical runtime servers.” – Author not specified
“Quantum-centric supercomputing is not achieved by hardware alone. It requires performant software for generating and manipulating quantum circuits and middleware for executing hybrid quantum-classical workflows in a heterogeneous computing environment.” – Author not specified
“IBM brings the power of AI to quantum computing with the world’s first circuit compilation service using reinforcement learning running on the IBM Quantum Platform. This initial preview demonstrates a reduction in two-qubit gate count of 20-50% compared to standard heuristic methods.” – Author not specified
“In order to guide our mission to realize quantum-centric supercomputing, we are expanding our industry-defining roadmap out to 2033 for a decade worth of quantum innovation.” – Author not specified
“Entering the era of utility means a shift of focus to providing a Qiskit Runtime service designed for utility-scale experiments and availability to utility-scale systems across all of our access plans.” – Author not specified
“This progress in quantum technology also means that to keep our data secure, we need new cryptography based on mathematical problems that are challenging to both quantum and classical computers. IBM Quantum Safe helps enterprises assess their cryptographic posture and modernize their cybersecurity landscape for the era of quantum utility.” – Author not specified
Summary
Quantum computing has entered a new era, with hardware and software now capable of executing quantum circuits at a scale of 100 qubits and 3,000 gates, opening up the technology to a wider range of users and advancing science in fields beyond quantum computing itself.
IBM has introduced a 1,121 superconducting qubit quantum processor, IBM Condor, and the IBM Quantum Heron processor, which offer significant improvements in device performance and scalability, marking a significant step towards the goal of quantum-centric supercomputing.
- IBM and UC Berkeley have published a paper demonstrating that quantum computers can run circuits beyond the reach of classical simulations. This marks a significant advancement in quantum computing.
- IBM has introduced a new quantum processor, IBM Condor, with 1,121 superconducting qubits. This processor pushes the limits of scale and yield in chip design.
- IBM Quantum Heron, a new processor featuring 133 fixed-frequency qubits, has been introduced. It offers a 3-5x improvement in device performance over previous processors.
- IBM Quantum System Two, a platform for scalable quantum computation, is now operational at IBM’s lab in Yorktown Heights, NY.
- IBM has announced Qiskit 1.0, the first stable release of the popular quantum computing SDK, which offers improvements in circuit construction, compilation times, and memory consumption.
- IBM has also introduced Qiskit Patterns, a programming template for building quantum algorithms and applications at scale.
- IBM is pioneering the use of generative AI for quantum code programming through watsonx, its enterprise AI platform.
- IBM has extended its roadmap to 2033, outlining its mission to realize quantum-centric supercomputing.
- Several universities and research institutions, including the University of Tokyo, Harvard University, and UC Berkeley, have demonstrated new research exploring the power of quantum computing.
- IBM is expanding its enterprise offerings to advance industry use cases for utility-scale quantum computing and is also advancing research into quantum-safe cryptography.