IBM just announced some pretty fascinating news pertaining to the quantum computing space! The Nighthawk processor, with its 120-qubit architecture, enhances its qubits’ connectivity and efficiency of quantum operations exponentially. The refreshed processor marks a historic leap from IBM’s prior Heron processor. In addition to this breakthrough, the company has established itself as a leader in the development of quantum technology.
The Nighthawk architecture uses quantum low-density parity check (qLDPC) codes, familiar from quantum error correction, for more robust error correction. This cutting-edge method behind the world’s most powerful quantum supercomputer lets the system run with around one-tenth of the qubits needed by standard surface codes. By decreasing error correction’s qubit demand, the innovation dramatically increases the efficiency and impact of error correction. It reduces the overall architecture and compute load, making it more feasible in practical real-world applications.
Matthias Steffen, an IBM Fellow and director of quantum research, oversees the team developing its quantum processor technology. He noted the huge transformative potential of this new architecture. He noted how Nighthawk’s longer-range couplers enhance connectivity. This simplification, in turn, allows qubits to communicate with each other over much longer distances on the same chip. This first improvement is a significant step to help scale quantum computations and improve the performance of quantum circuits as a whole.
“This is one of the reasons why we’re so excited about these qLDPC codes because it also reduces all of the non-quantum processor overhead,” – Matthias Steffen
Congratulations to Nighthawk on all the wonderful successes. These innovations will be developed in a new quantum data center in Poughkeepsie, New York. This modeling lab will be used to develop the Nighthawk architecture. Finally, it will set the stage for IBM’s lofty roadmap target of a 2,000 logical qubit machine, codenamed Blue Jay.
IBM’s goal is to demonstrate a live link of three modules by 2027. This groundbreaking configuration will serve as the foundation for Cockatoo, a new electronic device. In addition, the company plans to produce and provide a commercially available, fault-tolerant quantum computer, Starling, to customers at scale by 2029. Together, these milestones are a testament to IBM’s leadership in advancing the frontiers of quantum technology and broaden the accessibility of quantum for commercial deployment.
As shown here, Nighthawk improves your experience and connectivity dramatically. Not only that, it enables customers to run quantum circuits with up to 15x more logical gates than the peak capacity of the Heron processor. This enormous ramp up in capacity heralds unprecedented opportunities for advancements in almost every discipline. Look for breakthroughs in cryptography, materials science, and the modeling of complex systems.
Yet even with these advancements, hurdles still exist on the road to useful quantum computing. Another major hurdle is achieving high gate fidelities throughout the device. According to current estimates, we will need many hundreds of physical qubits to produce even a handful of logical qubits. This shows just how difficult it will be to scale these systems up.
Among the projects, IBM has made plans to connect three Nighthawk processors together in a system dubbed Kookaburra next year. This decision will get them one step closer to achieving their goal of a diverse, thriving quantum computing ecosystem.
“We’ve cracked the code to quantum error correction and it’s our plan to build the first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer,” – Jay Gambetta
“I think it will eventually work. It’s just, it’s a lot further off than people think it is,” – Mark Horvath