Evidence for the utility of quantum computing before fault tolerance

Abstract Quantum computing promises to offer substantial speed-ups over its classical counterpart for certain problems. However, the greatest impediment to realizing its full potential is noise that is inherent to these systems. The widely accepted solution to this challenge is the implementation of fault-tolerant quantum circuits, which is out of reach for current processors. Here we report experiments on a noisy 127-qubit processor and demonstrate the measurement of accurate expectation values for circuit volumes at a scale beyond brute-force classical computation. We argue that this represents evidence for the utility of quantum computing in a pre-fault-tolerant era. These experimental results are enabled…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 2137603, and 2138296, 2138259, 2138296, 2138307, DE-AC02-05CH11231, 2138286
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: -AC02-05CH11231, 05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02, DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02-
• NE
  National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center

  Awards: 05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231
• OO
  Office of Science

  Awards: AC02-05CH11231, -AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02
• OO
  Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure

  Awards: 2138286, 2138259, 2137603, 2138307, 2138296
• BE
  Basic Energy Sciences

  Awards: DE-AC02, AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02-05CH11231, -AC02-05CH11231
• LB
  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  Awards: DE-AC02-05CH11231, 05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231