Agnostiq releases benchmark research on quantum computing hardware

(HPCWire) Agnostiq, Inc., the first-of-its-kind quantum computing SaaS startup, has announced its latest benchmark research which analyzed the state of quantum computing hardware to determine its current and future practicality as a mainstream solution. The findings show that quantum computing hardware has improved over time and that application-specific benchmarks can serve as a more practical yardstick for comparing the capabilities of alternative types of quantum hardware.
“This is clear evidence that things are heading in the right direction for quantum optimization,” says Jack Baker, a quantum algorithms researcher at Aqnostiq. “With quantum hardware receiving increasing interest and investment every year, these performance increases are poised to accelerate,” he added.
With the steady increase of quantum bits (qubits) made available by hardware providers in recent years, the relative performance and practical value of quantum computers has been difficult to assess. General benchmark studies have been conducted and deemed inconclusive, as they are not predictive of performance.
High quality portfolios were produced using quantum circuits requiring larger numbers of gates (operations on the qubits) than previously demonstrated. Since increasing the number of gates produces more noise, this shows the quality of hardware has improved for performing combinatorial optimization.

• The peak solution quality was observed at higher depth (p=4) on 3 qubits on an IonQ trapped ion machine.
• As a non-trivial effect of studying application dependent performance, an IBM machine with the lowest qubit quality (quantum volume = 8) performed best of all the IBM machines tested.
• Quantum computers presently give variable results depending on the time they were accessed. Variability needs to be considered with all benchmarking numbers, as it can be as high as 29 percent.