Honeywell hardware souped up with Cambridge Quantum software is already making scientific and technical progress, just weeks after the two agreed to combine to form the largest stand-alone quantum company in the world.
Honeywell Quantum Solutions just released details on three key quantum milestones. On the hardware side, researchers were able to demonstrate multiple rounds of real-time quantum error correction (QEC) and doubled its own record for achieved quantum volume, hitting 1,024.
Quantum Volume is a means of measuring quantum performance used by companies like Honeywell and IBM that takes error rates into account rather than just counting the sheer number of qubits.
For their part, the Cambridge team has developed a new, more efficient algorithm that requires few, precious and expensive qubits to solve problems related to optimization.
“Big enterprise-level problems require precision and error-corrected logical qubits to scale successfully,” Tony Uttley, President of Honeywell Quantum Solutions said. “These technical milestones of quantum error correction and quantum volume, together with advanced software from Cambridge Quantum, will allow us to increase the viability of quantum computing in the real-world.”
The hope is that with the two sides of quantum computing working together under the same company will speed up development, particularly in the areas of improved accuracy and cheaper, more accessible hardware. Ultimately, the goal is to “make it easier for businesses to do their job effectively,” according to Ilyas Khan, CEO and co-founder of Cambridge Quantum.
“Faster quantum algorithms can have a profound impact on a variety of industries that face complicated optimization problems,” Khan said. “Take for example a steel manufacturer which produces a variety of products. To manufacture all products on-time at minimal cost requires complex scheduling of several production processes. By optimizing these processes, companies — and, ultimately, their customers and consumers in general — can see the positive effects.”