May 2022

Mitigating errors in quantum computing

A Berkeley Lab team applies new approach with three other techniques to obtain reliable results on an IBM Q quantum system.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed a new approach to quantum error mitigation that could help make quantum computing’s theoretical potential for solving complex problems much faster than classical computers a reality: noise estimation circuits. A circuit is a series of operations or a program executed on a quantum computer to calculate the answer of a scientific problem. The team used a modified version of the circuit to estimate errors and correct the output measured for the real scientific simulation circuit they wanted to run. Although the noise estimation circuit approach corrects some errors, it does not correct them all. By combining the new approach with three other error mitigation techniques, the researchers were able to obtain reliable results on an IBM Q quantum system.