what is noisy-immediate scale quantum

[quantumadmin]

"Noisy intermediate-scale quantum" refers to a class of quantum devices and algorithms that are more advanced than current noisy quantum systems but are not yet fully error-corrected, large-scale universal quantum computers. This term is often used to describe a practical and achievable level of quantum technology that falls between the capabilities of near-term, small-scale noisy quantum devices and the idealized, error-corrected, large-scale quantum computers that are the ultimate goal of quantum computing research.

Key characteristics of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) systems include:

Noise and Errors: NISQ devices are subject to noise and errors due to imperfections in their hardware components, such as qubits and gates. These errors limit the accuracy and reliability of computations.

Intermediate-Scale: NISQ systems are characterized by a medium number of qubits, typically ranging from a few tens to a few hundred qubits. This is more than what is currently available in near-term quantum devices but falls short of the thousands or millions of qubits needed for large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Quantum Volume: Quantum volume is a metric used to quantify the computational power of NISQ devices, taking into account factors like the number of qubits, gate fidelity, and error rates.

Applications: NISQ systems are capable of performing certain types of quantum computations and experiments, including quantum simulation, optimization, cryptography, and machine learning. These applications can provide value even in the presence of errors and noise.

Error Mitigation: Researchers are actively developing techniques to mitigate errors and improve the performance of NISQ devices. These techniques include error correction codes, error mitigation algorithms, and hybrid classical-quantum approaches.

As the field of quantum computing is rapidly evolving, and advancements are being made in hardware, algorithms, and error correction techniques. As a result, the capabilities of NISQ systems and the overall quantum computing landscape will improve overtime.