IBM announces 1121 qubit processor 'Condor' and qubit processor 'Heron' with greatly improved error rate

IBM announced quantum processors ' IBM Quantum Condor ' and ' IBM Quantum Heron '. Condor is equipped with 1121 qubits, the most of any IBM quantum processor, and Heron is IBM's quantum processor with the lowest error rate. In addition, the next generation quantum computing system ' IBM Quantum System Two ' equipped with this Heron was also announced.

IBM Quantum System Two: the era of quantum utility is here | IBM Research Blog
https://research.ibm.com/blog/quantum-roadmap-2033

IBM Debuts Next-Generation Quantum Processor & IBM Quantum System Two, Extends Roadmap to Advance Era of Quantum Utility - Dec 4, 2023
https://newsroom.ibm.com/2023-12-04-IBM-Debuts-Next-Generation-Quantum-Processor-IBM-Quantum-System-Two,-Extends-Roadmap-to-Advance-Era-of-Quantum -Utility

IBM's 'Condor' quantum computer has more than 1000 qubits | New Scientist
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2405789-ibms-condor-quantum-computer-has-more-than-1000-qubits/

Unveiling IBM Quantum System Two - YouTube


Unlike conventional computers (classical computers) that calculate using binary numbers of 0 and 1, quantum computers utilize quantum superposition and quantum entanglement , which are phenomena of quantum mechanics, to perform parallel calculations on a scale that is impossible with classical computers. A computer that makes it possible. Scientists and engineers around the world have high expectations for quantum computers, as they have the potential to quickly solve problems that are impossible to solve in time with classical computers.

As the number of installed qubits increases, the computational performance of quantum computers can be expected to improve. At the time of article creation, the only company other than IBM that is developing a processor equipped with more than 1000 qubits is an American company called Atom Computing, which announced a processor equipped with 1180 qubits in October 2023.

IBM and Atom Computing have different ways of building qubits. IBM uses the ``superconducting method,'' which uses superconducting electrons by cooling electronic circuit chips to extremely low temperatures, and Atom Computing uses the ``cold atom method,'' which uses neutral atoms by fixing them in a vacuum with optical tweezers. ” is adopted.

Although the superconducting method used by IBM makes it easy to integrate quantum bits, it is susceptible to noise and becomes unstable, leading to an increase in errors. Therefore, IBM has been working to improve the performance of quantum computers by increasing the number of qubits while improving this error rate.

To develop Condor, IBM said it focused on improving the quantum computer's input mechanism and how its output is read, and reports that it has improved yield rates by increasing qubit density by 50%. Masu.

IBM published a development roadmap for quantum processors in 2020, stating that it would ``announce the Condor processor equipped with 1121 qubits in 2023.'' In other words, this announcement shows that IBM is proceeding with development according to its roadmap and achieving milestones on schedule.

IBM releases ``Quantum Computer Roadmap'', plans to finally reach 1000 qubits in 2023 - GIGAZINE

Also, Heron, which was announced at the same time, is equipped with 133 qubits, making it a much smaller chip than Condor. However, according to IBM, compared to the world's first 127-qubit processor `` Eagle '' announced in 2021, Heron's error rate has been reduced to one-fifth. IBM claims this will allow it to run longer and more complex programs, enabling experiments such as finding the best quantum computing programs for different problems.

IBM also announced the ``IBM Quantum System Two,'' which incorporates these three Heron processors. In addition to IBM, researchers and engineers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Tokyo, the University of Washington, the University of Cologne, Harvard University, and the University of California, Berkeley participated in the development of the IBM Quantum System Two. I am. According to IBM, the IBM Quantum System Two can perform 5000 calculations at a time per module.

Furthermore, a major feature of the IBM Quantum System Two is that it is ``the world's first modular, practical-scale quantum computing system,'' which allows it to build a single quantum circuit by connecting multiple modules, allowing up to one quantum circuit to be connected at a time. It will be possible to perform billions of operations. IBM has declared that in the future a single quantum circuit will be able to perform one billion operations at a time.

IBM Quantum Condor says that by combining the open source framework for quantum computers ``Qiskit'' and the generation AI available on IBM's AI platform ``Watsonx'', it will be easier to program quantum software.

'Generative AI and quantum computing are both at an inflection point, and we are using WatsonX's trusted underlying model framework to build quantum algorithms at practical scale,' said Jay Gambetta, IBM researcher and vice president. 'This is an important step toward expanding the ways users can explore science with quantum computing.'