Quantum news: Advances in error correction and startup of the year award in France

Q-CTRL claims that it has achieved a 2,500% improvement while French quantum startup Pascal adds funding and employees.

Australia’s Q-CTRL announced this week a successful test of a new way to suppress errors when running quantum algorithms. According to the company, scientists changed the building blocks of quantum logic gates to reduce computational errors by 2,500%.

The company said researchers didn’t make any changes to the test algorithm or the hardware to gain this improvement. The benchmarking experiments were done on multiple IBM quantum computers. Q-CTRL also announced that these new logic gates were more than 400 times more efficient in preventing computational errors compared to current techniques.

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Q-CTRL tested these changes in a series of algorithms, including the Quantum Fourier Transform and the Bernstein Vazirani algorithm. The company explained the error correction advancements in a blog post:

“We repeatedly saw peak improvements in algorithmic success over an order of magnitude at the largest system sizes available to us — benefits that grow with circuit width (qubit number). …the result wasn’t just improved performance, but in some cases, a total transformation of the hardware to extend its reach.”

The company uses advanced AI agents to automatically design logic gates to combat the limiting sources of error in the hardware. Q-CTRL specializes in quantum control infrastructure software for researchers and quantum computing end users. Q-CTRL is developing a new toolset — Fire Opal — and expects to release it soon.

Pascal’s quantum work wins recognition

Pascal, a two-year-old quantum company based in Paris, won the Startup of the Year award from the business magazine L’Usine Nouvelle this week for its contributions to the country’s hub for deep tech innovation. The company raised about $28 million in a Series A funding round this summer and has added 30 new employees from eight regions over the last year.

Pascal uses a neutral atom-based quantum technology that can operate at room temperature, according to the company. The company’s full-stack, software-agnostic quantum processing units use atomic qubits in 2D and 3D arrays. The company’s open-source library Pulser allows the control of neutral atom-based processors at the level of laser pulses.

Currently Pascal is working with a utility company to optimize charging schedules for electric vehicles and with a bank to build algorithms for risk management.

Pascal’s road map includes providing cloud access to its quantum computing services by the end of 2022 and delivering a full quantum computing device operating on the cloud by 2023.

CEO and founder Georges-Olivier Reymond said in a press release that he looks forward to putting our quantum technology to real-world use throughout the region. The company is a spin-off from the Institut d’Optique.