So now can we say goodbye to Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computing ? Of course not, since today’s quantum computers are at the first level, rQOPS Zero, so a long way to go. The new roadmap contains a total of six steps though.
Anyway, Quantum systems that run on noisy physical qubits, have already been realized with quantum machines available in the cloud via Azure Quantum.
I think MS needs to focus on these two points first: reliable logical qubits, and engineering with scale, IMHO. So the next "logical" step for MS will be to engineer hardware-protected or topological qubits, to improve and finesse their quality, and to create a multi-qubit system.
Although, Microsoft estimates that the first quantum supercomputer will need to deliver at least one million rQOPS with an error rate of 10-12, or one in every trillion operations, to be able to provide valuable inputs, however, quantum computers of today only deliver an rQOPS value of zero, meaning that the industry as a whole has a LONG way to go before we see the first QS.
The ability to create and control "Majorana" quasiparticles is no way an easy task. I think Majorana qubits have the benefit of being highly stable, particularly when compared to conventional methods, but they are also quite challenging to produce.
So, in my opinion, the whole industry needs to not only operate with physical qubits but also take those physical qubits and put them into an error-correcting code while using them as a unit to serve as a logical qubit.
Since logical qubits, formed from many physical qubits, are required for a true quantum supercomputer, the more stable the qubit, the easier it is to scale up towards supercomputer levels as you need
fewer physical qubits per logical qubit, since other forms of qubits including spin, transmon, gatemon
don't scale effectively.
FWIW, for this topological qubits theory, Microsoft actually achieved this last year ( by creating and manipulating the matter in a topological state). And it appears that in this state, qubits are more easily manipulated, more stable as well, and have a smaller footprint allowing for greater scale, or that's what they claim.
There are two significant hurdles to overcome IMO. First, to achieve resiliency in the logical qubits, and then to achieve scale. But with stability of its "Majorana" qubits it might be much easier to reach the resiliency level, and that stability will also help to achieve scale.
There are also important basic problems to solve, such as interference factors that influence the controllability and reliability of qubits, such as temperature, electromagnetism and material defects.
So we can now have three categories of Quantum Computing implementation levels.
Level 1 — Foundational (Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum);
Level 2 — Resilient (reliable logical qubits);
Level 3 — Scale (Quantum supercomputers).
Btw, this paper is also worth giving a read:
Topological phases of matter can enable highly stable qubits with small footprints, fast gate times, and digital control. These hardware-protected qubits must be fabricated with a material combination in which a topological phase can reliably be induced. The challenge: disorder can destroy the...
journals.aps.org
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