We’re on the threshold of quantum advantage: Q-Ctrl

The quantum computing space is on the verge of its next major milestone as CEO and founder Q-Ctrl, Michael Biercuk believes “we’re right on the threshold” of quantum advantage. 

CEO and founder Q-Ctrl, Michael Biercuk

Quantum advantage is where a quantum computer can crack problems faster and “outperform its best peers”. 

“We've seen hints of this, we've seen more technical, nuanced versions called quantum supremacy. 

“But we're getting just to the point now, where the machines available, are just about big enough and are just about good enough to solve the problems that matter,” Biercuk said. 

Speaking at the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations and Cloud Strategies Conference in Sydney, Biercuk discussed the specialised technology, stating the quantum sector could begin to solve real-world problems. 

“As we look forward, what we see is that by focusing on the applications that matter most to end users, the applications that are the hardest for regular engineers - we've identified that transport and logistics [is a] $200 to $500 billion opportunity, according to McKinsey.

Biercuk, who is also the director of the quantum control laboratory at the University of Sydney added that this “is the most likely place where we'll first deliver value”. 

“We think according to the industry roadmaps, that quantum advantage will be achieved by 2028.

“Where any of you, as an end user, will actually choose the quantum solution over its classical counterpart.” 

During the talk, Biercuk also said despite quantum computing’s potential, it does “suffer from an Achilles heel” and is “extremely prone to error.”

“When you encode information into a quantum object, like an individual atom, or a special circuit that obeys the rules of quantum physics, over time that information interacts with the environment and becomes randomised. 

“This randomisation is something called decoherence, the loss of ‘quantumness’. Decoherence is a huge bottleneck in our field, it leads to errors,” Biercuk said. 

As errors in the hardware lead to algorithmic failure which leads to the loss of value, Biercuk said the whole community has been driven by the need to solve this issue. 

One potential method to amend the issue is quantum virtualization, which can help correct errors.

He said “quantum virtualization has started” with various work already underway in the sector.  

He said virtualization helps "virtualize the hardware" and “break the link between the intrinsic properties of the device … or other quantum devices and what the end user application developers want.”

As quantum computing still holds high error rates, Biercuk said it’s possible to reduce the failure levels. 

“The idea of building virtualization on top of a cloud infrastructure-as-a-service in the form of IBM Quantum or some of the other providers has led us to build solutions that fix this problem of error. 

“You can get an order of magnitude more complicated algorithm to run the same hardware from other changes. You can reduce the costs for end users by 100 or even 1000 times by simply making the outputs of each execution on the machine that much better.”

The native integration of Q-Ctrl infrastructure software into IBM Quantum was completed last November.

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