Q-CTRL and IBM have announced that Q-CTRLs error suppression technology, named Q-CTRL Embedded, has been integrated into the IBM Qiskit runtime system. This feature is currently only available for users on the Pay-As-You-Go plan. There is no additional cost for those users who utilize this capability. This is the first time that IBM has integrated third party software into their system in this manner. The software can be invoked with a single line of code. This software can provide users with a significant improvement in the quality of the calculated results versus a run using standard settings. The chart below shows a comparison of a hardware algorithm run with the Q-CTRL software versus one without. It provides for a 1000X improvement in success probability.
It is important to note that Q-CTRL’s software performs Error Suppression and it requires no additional overhead involving multiple shots in order to do its work. IBM has developed several Error Mitigation algorithms including Zero Noise Extrapolation (ZNE) and Probabilistic Error Cancellation (PEC) which work by performing multiple shots of an program and using a classical computer to analyze the final result to reduce the errors. The approaches are not mutually exclusive and can be used together.
Q-CTRL has posted a press release on its web site announcing the available of Q-CTRL Embedded which can be seen here. Also, a technical paper is available on the Physical Applied Review web site and can be found here.
November 29, 2023