Quantum Benchmark Announces First Scalable Protocol for Assessing the Practical Capabilities of Leading Quantum Computers
November 26, 2019, WATERLOO, ON — Quantum Benchmark Inc., the leading provider of software solutions for error characterization, error suppression and performance validation for quantum computing hardware, announces the successful implementation of a breakthrough tool for assessing and improving the capability of current and next-generation quantum computers to solve real-world problems.
The breakthrough was reported in an article published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, titled “Characterizing large-scale quantum computers via cycle benchmarking.”
The quantum computing race is heating up and the cloud quantum computing industry is rapidly expanding, as evidenced by major recent announcements: Microsoft launched Azure Quantum with three different quantum hardware platforms; IBM launched a 53 qubit chip on IBM Q Experience; and Google Quantum AI achieved quantum supremacy with their own 53 qubit chip.
However, the capabilities of today’s competing quantum hardware platforms are poorly understood, controversial, and hard to assess.
“Thanks to Google’s recent achievement of quantum supremacy, we are now at the dawn of what I call the ‘quantum discovery era’ where quantum computers can solve problems beyond the reach of high-performance computers,” says Joseph Emerson, CEO and Chief Scientist at Quantum Benchmark. “However, the true capabilities of each quantum computer is difficult to assess because errors are intrinsic and inevitable for all hardware platforms. Each platform has a distinct error signature which places distinct limits on its capability to run specific applications.”
Quantum Benchmark’s cycle benchmarking solution brings new transparency to the quantum computing industry by providing quantum computing stakeholders with the means to compare and validate the performance of the leading quantum computing platforms.
“Cycle benchmarking enables users to assess and compare the capability of each quantum computing hardware platform to deliver reliable solutions for their applications of interest,” says Kristine Boone, Head of Business Development at Quantum Benchmark.
Quantum Benchmark’s cycle benchmarking technology is currently available in the company’s True-Q™ software system. The True-Q™ compiler enables users to improve the capability of quantum computers to solve these new problems by suppressing the errors that otherwise severely limit run-time performance. The cycle benchmarking tool further enables users to assess these performance gains and validate the accuracy of the output, providing reliability that is critical for real-world use-cases.
The publication of the protocol in Nature Communications furthers Quantum Benchmark’s marketplace momentum.
IBM recently announced Quantum Benchmark’s True-Q™ solutions for Qiskit and IBM Q Experience users through the IBM Q Showcase launch earlier this fall.
Google Quantum AI announced the integration of Quantum Benchmark’s True-Q™ solutions with their Cirq framework for quantum computing last year, and recently announced its plans for renewal of the True-Q™ license for its internal development efforts earlier this month.
Quantum Benchmark’s industry-leading solutions are helping quantum hardware developers diagnose and overcome the error barrier, to improve the design of the larger-scale quantum computers that are required for truly-disruptive quantum computing applications.
Dr. Thomas Monz, CEO of the quantum computing start-up AQT spun-out from the University of Innsbruck, says “Before using True-Q, we simply lacked the tools for verifying that we are on the right track towards scalable quantum computing.” The article reports the University of Innsbruck’s successful implementation of the cycle benchmarking tool to assess and improve the design and performance of their ion-trap quantum computer.
“Our ability to detect and suppress errors in large-scale quantum systems is fundamental to the development of commercially viable, world-changing quantum applications.” says Dr. Joel Wallman, CTO of Quantum Benchmark.
About Quantum Benchmark
Quantum Benchmark is the leading provider of software solutions that enable error characterization, error suppression, and performance validation for quantum computing hardware. The company is led by a team of the world’s top research scientists and engineers in quantum computing with the mission of enabling quantum computers to solve real-world problems. Quantum Benchmark is venture-backed, with headquarters in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada.
Media contact:
Joseph Emerson, PhD
CEO & Chief Scientist, Quantum Benchmark
(519) 574 3189