Quantum computing pioneer D-Wave Systems announced access to a lower noise version of its 2000Q system as part of its Leap quantum computing cloud service. The advance is part of an 18-month technology road-map detailed in February during which the company plans to introduce new underlying fab technology, reduced noise, increased connectivity, 5000-qubit processors, and an expanded toolset for creation of hybrid quantum-classical applications.
D-Wave says the new noise reduction technology produces a 25x performance on one type of problem (spin glass application) and released a white paper – Improved coherence leads to gains in quantum annealing performance – discussing the improvement. (For more information on the D-Wave roadmap, see HPCwire article, D-Wave Previews Next-Gen Platform; Debuts Pegasus Topology; Targets 5000 Qubits.) MXLLS
By putting the lower-noise 2000Q processor into Leap, says D-Wave, users will benefit from access to both processors, offering two versions of the same quantum computer architecture with different levels of noise within a common quantum cloud environment. “For the first time, users can probe and quantify the impact of reduced noise on performance, expanding the early benefits of lower noise to thousands of developers, researchers, and forward-thinking businesses around the globe,”
D-Wave reports its customers have developed more than 150 early applications in areas as diverse as airline scheduling, election modeling, quantum chemistry simulation, automotive design, preventative healthcare, logistics, and more. More practically, these are prototype applications, but the expectation is that production quality applications will emerge in concert with development of more robust quantum computer systems.
“Many have also developed software tools that simplify application development. These existing applications, tools, and community give developers a wealth of examples to learn from and build upon. The release of the lower-noise 2000Q processor and the next-generation platform promises to continue expanding the variety, performance, precision, and breadth of quantum applications,” according to D-Wave.
Leap is D-Wave’s quantum cloud service and Quantum Application Environment (QAE), providing real-time access to a live quantum computer. In addition to access, Leap provides open-source development tools, interactive demos and coding examples, educational resources, and knowledge base articles to build and run applications in the cloud. Like other early quantum computing technology providers, D-Wave is working to jump start a software developer and user ecosystem using a portal.