Microsoft and Quantinuum claim to have made significant progress in the field of quantum computing through their joint Azure Quantum project.
The companies say they have successfully created a new generation of highly reliable logical qubits, which are essential to achieving practical applications of quantum computing.
A few months ago, Microsoft and Quantinuum pioneered the creation of highly reliable logical qubits by applying Microsoft's qubit virtualization system to Quantinuum's H-series ion trap qubits.
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Initially, the companies managed to produce four logical qubits from 30 physical qubits. The production's logical error rate was 800 times better than the physical error rate. Although Microsoft considered this feat impressive, it continued to push its limits and it paid off.
Now, the collaboration has expanded, resulting in the creation of 12 logical qubits from 56 physical qubits on Quantinuum's H2 machine, showing a remarkable 99.8% fidelity in two-qubit operations.
The teams demonstrated the entanglement of these logical qubits into a complex arrangement known as the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state, which is more intricate than previous Bell state preparations. This entanglement resulted in a circuit error rate of 0.0011, significantly lower than the physical qubit error rate of 0.024. These advances not only highlight the potential for performing deeper quantum calculations, but also pave the way for fault-tolerant quantum computing, a crucial step toward realizing the full capabilities of quantum technology.
The collaboration between Microsoft and Quantinuum is also a milestone in the application of quantum computing to real-world problems, particularly in the field of chemistry. By integrating logic qubits with artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) in the cloud, they successfully tackled a complex scientific problem of estimating the ground state energy of an important catalytic intermediate.
The process began with the identification of the active space of the catalyst through HPC simulations. Logic qubits were then used to simulate the quantum behavior of the active space. The measurement results from these simulations were then used to train an AI model, which ultimately provided an accurate estimate of the ground state energy. This end-to-end workflow represents the first case where quantum computing, HPC and AI are combined to solve a scientific problem, demonstrating the practical utility of quantum technologies.
While the current results do not yet represent a full quantum scientific advantage (defined as the ability of quantum computers to solve problems beyond the reach of classical computers), they do show the potential for quantum systems to outperform classical methods in scenarios. specific. The hybrid approach employed in this study illustrates how quantum computing can improve the accuracy of chemical calculations, particularly for complex problems that challenge classical systems.
The successful demonstration of this hybrid workflow not only highlights the capabilities of logical qubits but also emphasizes the importance of integrating quantum computing with other advanced technologies. By combining the strengths of quantum, AI, and HPC, researchers can develop innovative solutions to pressing scientific challenges.
The Azure Quantum platform serves as a central hub where quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing (HPC) converge. This ecosystem is designed to facilitate seamless interactions between different hardware architectures, allowing researchers to leverage the strengths of each technology. By combining quantum capabilities with AI, researchers can use machine learning algorithms to analyze large data sets and extract meaningful insights, significantly speeding up the research and development process.
Looking ahead, Microsoft says it is committed to advancing its Azure Quantum platform to support a variety of qubit architectures, including neutral atom qubits and topological qubits. The integration of these various technologies aims to improve the reliability and scalability of quantum computing, which will ultimately lead to the development of systems capable of addressing some of the world's most important challenges.
“The ability of our systems to triple the number of logical qubits while doubling our physical qubits from 30 to 56 physical qubits is a testament to the high fidelity and full connectivity of our H-Series trapped ion hardware.” said Rajeeb Hazra, CEO of Quantinuum.
“Our current H2-1 hardware combined with Microsoft's qubit virtualization system is taking us and our customers fully into resilient Level 2 quantum computing. This powerful collaboration will unlock even greater advancements when combined with AI tools and Cutting-edge HPC delivered through Azure.”
