SYDNEY, March 9, 2022 – Q-CTRL, a global leader in developing useful quantum technologies, today announced the results of hardware benchmarking experiments demonstrating its autonomous error-correction techniques increased the likelihood of quantum computing algorithm success over 1000x on real hardware, surpassing a 25x improvement reported last November.
With these exceptional improvements, Q-CTRL is closing the performance gap between the promise of the growing quantum computers emerging on the market and the actual computational capabilities they deliver to end users.
Q-CTRL will unveil the technology behind these demonstrations at this year’s APS March Meeting, the world’s largest physics conference, in Chicago, March 14-18. The underlying software tools for hardware stabilization, error reduction, and automation are available to quantum computing researchers and developers through Q-CTRL’s technology including its flagship product, Boulder Opal.
Currently, most quantum computers are so error prone that only the shortest and simplest algorithms can be run; this challenge has inhibited the delivery of useful quantum computations to end users.
Through its research activities, Q-CTRL identified pathways to use AI and automation to dramatically improve not only the errors plaguing isolated quantum logic elements (the building blocks of quantum application), but also those appearing only in the execution of complete algorithms.
Q-CTRL measured how its software tools could improve important industry metrics when executed on real hardware, including algorithmic benchmarks as pursued by the U.S. Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C). The team showed that they could achieve up to 9000x improvements in the success of these benchmarks and deliver real utility gains in customer algorithms, such as those from the researchers at European quantum startup BEIT who were early users of Q-CTRL’s technology.
“BEIT has been pushing the limits on quantum algorithms but has faced the same barriers as everyone else in hardware performance,” said Paulina Mazurek, CEO of BEIT. “We were impressed by how Q-CTRL has opened totally new frontiers in our research and is bringing quantum advantage closer, enabling results better than classically possible for one of the cornerstone quantum algorithms. In some cases, this software fundamentally transformed hardware, allowing results deemed impossible by previous benchmarks."
Q-CTRL’s results were achieved entirely through conventional cloud access to commercial quantum computers, with no special access to hardware required. This proves these capabilities can be delivered to any user with an internet connection and a desire to achieve more from today’s quantum computers.
“Our benchmarking experiments demonstrate that there’s hidden performance inside today’s quantum computers that can become available with the right error-correcting software tools - no changes to hardware are needed,” said Q-CTRL founder and CEO Professor Michael J. Biercuk. “We’re excited to offer this technology to researchers, end users, and manufacturers worldwide to accelerate the path to quantum advantage and bring real-world applications closer to fruition.”
Q-CTRL will host a workshop at APS, which will teach attendees how to use its software tools, including Boulder Opal, to improve and automate their own quantum hardware, save time, and increase their research outcomes.
Attendees interested in learning more about how they can get access to the automated software behind these algorithmic benchmarking results on cloud quantum computers can find the team at Booth 404 of the exhibition.
In addition, the company will be presenting six technical talks at the conference across a range of topics - from the use of machine learning to autonomously improve quantum logic and algorithms to accelerating vehicle routing problems on quantum computers, and more.
Following are details on Q-CTRL’s sessions at APS:
Automated precise multi-parameter estimation for quantum devices led by Dr Thomas M Stace, Principal Scientist, Quantum Error Correction
10:00 a.m. –10:12 a.m., Monday, March 14, 2022
A36.00011, Room: McCormick Place W-194A
Measurement efficient automated multi-level qudit pulse optimization on quantum devices led by Dr Pranav S Mundada, Senior Scientist, Quantum Integration
1:18 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 15, 2022
G35.000010, Room: McCormick Place W-193B
Accelerating vehicle routing problems on quantum computers led by Dr Christopher Bentley, Lead Solution Engineer, Quantum Control
1:42 p.m. – 1:54 p.m., Tuesday, March 15, 2022
G36.00010, Room: McCormick Place W-194A
Workshop: Boost performance, improve characterization and accelerate simulation of your quantum hardware led by Michael Hush PhD, Chief Scientific Officer
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Room: McCormick Place- Exhibit Hall Theater 2
Improving the sensitivity of cold-atom inertial sensors using robust control led by Dr Russell Anderson, Lead Scientist, Quantum Sensing
5:00 p.m. – 5:12 p.m., Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Q34.00009, Room: McCormick Place W-193A
Improving quantum computer performance with machine learning [Invitation-only, Focus Session] led by Dr Yuval Baum, Lead Scientist, Quantum Control
11:30 a.m. - 12:06 p.m., Thursday, March 17, 2022
T28.00001, Room: McCormick Place W-190A
Improving the performance of algorithms on NISQ-Devices through automated control design and implementation led by Dr Anurag Mishra, Lead Software Engineer, Quantum Product
9:12 a.m. – 9:24 a.m., Friday, March 18, 2022
Y41.00005, Room: McCormick Place W-196C
The computational power of quantum computing is expected to deliver transformational capabilities in applications ranging from drug discovery and enterprise logistics to finance. However, the underlying hardware is extremely unstable and fragile, hampering these machines from reaching their full potential. Q-CTRL is uniquely focused on delivering hardware-agnostic, error-correcting enterprise software that will enable useful quantum computing for organizations around the world.
To learn more about Q-CTRL, visit q-ctrl.com.
About Q-CTRL
Q-CTRL is building the quantum technology industry by overcoming the fundamental challenge in the field – hardware error and instability. Q-CTRL’s quantum control infrastructure software for R&D professionals and quantum computing end users delivers the highest performance error-correcting and suppressing techniques globally, and provides a unique capability accelerating the pathway to the first useful quantum computers. This foundational technology also applies to a new generation of quantum sensors, and enables Q-CTRL to shape and underpin every application of quantum technology.
Q-CTRL has assembled the world’s foremost team of expert quantum-control engineers, providing solutions to many of the most advanced quantum computing and sensing teams globally. Q-CTRL has been an inaugural member of the IBM Quantum Startup network since 2018, and recently announced a partnership with Transport for NSW, delivering its enterprise infrastructure software to transport data scientists exploring quantum computing. Q-CTRL is funded by SquarePeg Capital, Sierra Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Data Collective, Horizons Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Airbus Ventures, and Ridgeline Partners. The company has international headquarters in Sydney, Los Angeles, and Berlin.