As companies in the quantum computing sector increasingly look to measure the utility of their computers in a way that will make sense to prospective customers and users, IonQ said its newest quantum computer, Aria, achieved a record 20 algorithmic qubits (#AQ), an application-oriented metric that IonQ itself first proposed in 2020.
The company said #AQ is an effort to evaluate quantum computers’ “utility in real-world settings.”
Aria for now is available only through a private beta program. IonQ President and CEO Peter Chapman told Fierce Electronics via email that IonQ is not ready to announce general availability of Aria, but said to "stay tuned" for update. He also noted that Aria is the system beng used by IonQ and partner Hyundai in a previously-announced quantum simulation project intended to improve the efficiency of electric vehicle batteries.
In a blog post, IonQ outlined its benchmarking results and provided a more detailed explanation of #AQ, which it said is based on algorithmic benchmarks pioneered by the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) to evaluate the number of algorithmically-relevant qubits in a system–meaning those qubits that are practically useful for executing quantum circuits and carrying out computations.
The company said the benchmarking showed that Aria successfully executed quantum circuits “containing more than 550 gates, as compared to the superconducting systems that can only execute circuits containing dozens.” A chart within the blog post showed how Aria favorably compared to systems from IBM, Quantinuum and Rigetti in this regard. (IonQ intends to submit the benchmarking data and the techniques behind them to a peer-reviewed journal in the coming months.)
Whether or not the rest of the quantum computing sector will accept these results and buy into #AQ as a valuable metric remains to be seen. IonQ said it intends to submit the benchmarking data and the techniques behind them to a peer-reviewed journal in the coming months.
The company is putting forth #AQ amid a crowd of other metrics the quantum computing sector has been relying on to various degrees. Initially, hardware innovators touted total number of qubits as a measurement of a system’s value, and while that still has the same allure as comparing processor performance or speed in classical computing, companies have intensified their search for metrics that could prove more relevant to people who actually use quantum computers on their own projects.
For example, quantum volume, or qubits translated into a measurement of viable quantum circuits, has been widely discussed, and IBM last year proposed circuit layer operations per second (CLOPS), which measures how many circuits. Also, Quantum Brilliance has talked about the general notion of “Quantum Utility.” As quantum computing is still in its early stages, it could be some time before we know which metrics and value philosophies will reign.
Chapman said the quantum computing sector would benefit from "having one straightforward number to compare, share and read. However, that metric should focus on immediate utility and value to users. #AQ examines how good the entire system is at solving problems. That means running basic algorithms that will be the building blocks for solving real-world problems, like advancing financial services and chemistry solutions for electric vehicle batteries."
He added that while IBM's CLOPS measures a specific aspect of performance, the sector needs a metric that measures "what algorithmically- or commercially-relevant problems" a system can solve.
This week’s claim comes after an earlier instance of IonQ Aria was demonstrated to be the most powerful quantum computer on the market in an independent industry-wide benchmarking study performed in summer 2021, according to IonQ.
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This story was updated Feb. 25 with comments from Peter Chapman.