Quantinuum H-Series Quantum Computer Sets Three More Quantum Volume Performance Records

In the past six months, H-Series Quantinuum hardware has demonstrated an extraordinary performance leap, recording three major leaps in quantum volume, according to latest blog post by the team.

According to the post, their flagship system, System Model H1-1 Powered by Honeywell, has seen a progression from a quantum volume (QV) of 16,384 in February 2023 to a recent figure of 524,288. The team has shared all the details and data on their GitHub repository, emphasizing their commitment to transparency.

“At a quantum volume of 524,288, H1-1 exceeds the next best reported quantum volume by 1000 times,” wrote the blog post, highlighting their achievement.

This achievement is in line with the ambitious goals set in 2020 with the launch of their first quantum computer, HØ. At that time, HØ had six qubits and a quantum volume of 64. They boldly committed to increasing the quantum volume of their commercial machine by 10 times per year for five years, with a target of 8,388,608 (or 223) quantum volumes by the end of 2025.

Quantinuum has issued several quantum volume advancement announcements in the first half of 2023. In February, they revealed that H1-1 had exceeded 214, reaching a quantum volume of 215. Then, in May 2023, they introduced H2-1, a second-generation system equipped with 32 qubits and a quantum volume of 216. Now, the team is happy to unveil successive increases of 217, 218, and 219, all achieved in H1-1.

Most importantly, the reported results are not artificially enhanced but are obtained from commercial systems working on real customer jobs. The team emphasizes that their customers are experiencing the same performance as reflected in the quantum volume data.

The pace of upgrades has accelerated beyond their five year projection.

The demonstration also reveals the versatility of the Quantinuum system: “While this demonstration was made using the H1-1, the similarities in the design of the H1-2 (now upscaled by 20 qubits) and the H2-1, our recently released second-generation system, make it easy to share upgrades from one machine to machine and achieve the same result.”

The choice of quantum volume as their primary benchmark is rooted in its rigorous nature and wide applicability, according to the post. Developed by IBM, quantum volumes can be measured on any gate-based machine, following well-defined assumptions and processes. Consistently reducing errors is critical to advancing quantum volumes, as it directly translates to increased performance across a wide range of applications. Notably, the team achieved an industry-leading two qubit average gate error of 0.13% with their latest quantum volume demonstration.

The team acknowledges the ongoing debate around benchmark preference in the industry, but underlines the importance of year-over-year improvements in strict benchmarking. These advances are not accidental, but the result of the hard work of their dedicated scientists and engineers, who have a deep understanding of error models and the expertise to drive overall performance improvements.

“Taking nothing from those talented scientists and engineers, but having perfect and identical qubits and using our quantum charge coupled device (QCCD) architecture does give us an advantage that all other architectures and modalities don’t have,” the team reports.