IBM achieves highest ‘Quantum Volume’ to date

At the 2019 American Physical Society March Meeting, IBM unveiled a new scientific milestone, announcing its highest quantum volume to date. Quantum Volume is a measurement, a procedure developed by IBM, that determines how powerful a quantum computer is. It follows that the higher the Quantum Volume, the more real-world, complex problems quantum computers can potentially solve, such as simulating chemistry, modeling financial risk, and supply chain optimization.

IBM has doubled the power of its quantum computers annually since 2017. IBM first made quantum computers available to the public in May, 2016 through its IBM Q Experience quantum cloud service.

IBM's recently unveiled IBM Q System One quantum computer, with a fourth-generation 20-qubit processor, has produced a Quantum Volume of 16, roughly double that of the current IBM Q 20-qubit IBM Q Network devices, which have a Quantum Volume of 8.

Quantum Volume is a fundamental performance metric that measures progress in the pursuit of Quantum Advantage, the point at which quantum applications deliver a significant, practical benefit beyond what classical computers alone are capable. Potential use cases, such as precisely simulating battery-cell chemistry for electric vehicles, delivering a quadratic speedup in derivative pricing, and many others are already being investigated by IBM Q Network partners. To achieve Quantum Advantage in the 2020s, IBM believes that we will need to continue to at least double Quantum Volume every year.

"Today, we are proposing a roadmap for quantum computing, as our IBM Q team is committed to reaching a point where quantum computation will provide a real impact on science and business," said Dr. Sarah Sheldon, lead of the IBM Q Quantum Performance team, dedicated to quantum verification at IBM Research. "While we are making scientific breakthroughs and pursuing early uses cases for quantum computing, our goal is to continue to drive higher quantum volume to ultimately demonstrate quantum advantage."