Quantinuum announces quantum volume 4096 achievement
(HPCWire) Quantinuum reported it has reached another milestone in its quest to build the highest performing quantum computer in the world. IQT-News shares the report below:
This week, the System Model H1-2 doubled its performance to become the first commercial quantum computer to pass Quantum Volume 4096, a benchmark introduced by IBM in 2019 to measure the overall capability and performance of quantum computers.
It marks the sixth time in two years that Quantinuum’s H-Series hardware, Powered by Honeywell, has set an industry record for measured quantum volume.
The achievement also fulfills a March 2020 promise made by Honeywell Quantum Solutions, which combined with Cambridge Quantum in late 2021 to form Quantinuum, to increase the performance of its trapped ion technologies by an order of magnitude each year for the next five years.
“This is the second consecutive year we’ve delivered on that promise and our commitment to developing the highest performing quantum hardware available,” said Tony Uttley, president and chief operating officer at Quantinuum.
This week marks the second time in four months that the System Model H1-2, which came online late last year, has achieved a quantum volume milestone. It set a record in December 2021 when it passed Quantum Volume 2048.
Uttley attributed the doubling of performance to the consistent upgrades that are made.
Quantinuum currently operates two commercial quantum computers, the H1-1 and H1-2, which run projects for customers and then are taken offline for upgrades.
“This approach provides the opportunity for us to continuously add new updates and features to our systems, which enables us to improve performance,” he said. “We learn a lot about our machines by running projects and can make small upgrades or tweaks that keep our fidelities high.”
What’s next?
Uttley said the next step is to increase the number of qubits on both Quantinuum machines and to continue to improve gate fidelities.
“The System Model H1-2 used all 12 of its fully connected qubits to pass Quantum Volume 4096,” he said. “We have reached the limit of what we can do with 12 qubits. To continue to improve performance, we need to add qubits. So keep watching what happens soon.”
Sandra K. Helsel, Ph.D. has been researching and reporting on frontier technologies since 1990. She has her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.
