Produced by the Photon Box Research Institute
Last December, Rigetti Computing, a leading hybrid quantum-classical computing company, announced the launch of a private beta version of its next-generation "Aspen-M" 80-qubit system. On February 15, Rigetti announced the full launch of Aspen-M. The system has been launched on both the Rigetti Quantum Cloud Service (QCS) and the Amazon Braket platform.
In addition, Aspen-M will launch on Microsoft's Azure Quantum, Strangeworks QC and Zapata Orquestra platforms in the coming months.
The topology of Rigetti's 80-qubit processor
Rigetti unveiled several performance metrics for the machine. They used the LOOPS (Circuit Layer Operations Per Second) metric proposed by IBM last year. According to IBM's original definition, based on 100 circuit executions, Rigetti measured a CLOPS of 844 on a 40-qubit Aspen-11 system and an 892 on an 80-qubit Aspen-M-1 system. This is not much different from IBM's 127 qubit processor's 850, 65 qubit processor's 1500 and 27 qubit processor's 2400.
As the number of circuit executions increased to 1000 (consistent with typical operating conditions for QCS users), THE NUMBER OF THE LOOP WAS 7512 ON THE ASPEN-11 AND 8333 ON THE ASPEN-M-1. Rigetti notes that their CLOPS doesn't decrease as the machine scales up, offering speeds comparable to or better than 40 qubits at 80 qubits.
With 1000 executions, Rigetti's two quantum processors are CLOPS
In addition, Rigetti has achieved continuous improvements in coherence and fidelity, as shown in the table below (as of February 2022).
Comparison of various performance indicators of Rigetti's 40 and 80 qubit processors
In a separate announcement, Rigetti announced that they have reached a partnership agreement with NASDAQ to explore quantum applications to help solve high-impact computing problems in the financial industry. The research will leverage Rigetti's QCS and 80 qubit processor.
The collaboration combines the capabilities of Rigetti's scalable quantum computers and proven applied quantum algorithms, along with NASDAQ's market perspective, domain expertise and data, to challenge machine learning, optimization and simulation problems.
Chad Rigetti, founder and CEO of Rigetti, said: "We believe that quantum computing has great potential for the financial industry, and our Aspen-M series processors are able to provide the performance, speed and scale necessary to help forward-thinking companies such as Nasdaq adopt quantum computing technology and apply it to key computing problems." NASDAQ is an extremely innovative company that has been using new technologies to stay ahead of the curve and transform its business. Their leading position in the industry is a perfect match for us. ”
Rigetti and Nasdaq will jointly evaluate financial applications that could benefit from the ability of quantum meters to solve computational problems with greater precision, speed, or lower cost. Potential applications include fraud detection, order matching, and wind and management challenges. The two companies will continue to develop algorithms and software with the goal of demonstrating the advantages of hybrid quantum-classical computers in solving identified problems.
To date, Rigetti has partnered with businesses and the public sector such as Microsoft, Nasdaq, Deloitte, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, Strangeworks, and Zapata.