IBM is one of the companies that is betting more forcefully on the development of quantum computing. In fact, its roadmap is extraordinarily ambitious. So much so that it seems reasonable to assume that he will not be able to respect her. For example, a button: in 2026 he plans to have a quantum processor ready with at least 10,000 qubits and the ability to make amends for their own mistakes. There are only three years left, and, of course, it does not seem easy at all.
However, there is something important that plays in favor of this company: so far in the field of quantum computing it has fulfilled all its promises. In 2021, the development of Eagle, its 127-qubit quantum processor, was completed. In 2022 he completed Osprey, his 433-qubit quantum chip. And this year, if everything follows its course, it will have Condor ready, a quantum processor of no less than 1,121 qubits. But the most exciting thing will come in 2024. That will be the year in which it begins to flirt with the long-awaited error correction.
The Quantum Computing Center of the Basque Country, at the forefront of Europe
IBM and the Basque Foundation for Science have reached an agreement to install a Quantum Computing Center in San Sebastián that will be equipped with a System One quantum computer. This machine incorporates one of the processors that we have talked about in the first lines of this article, a 127 qubit Eagle chip. It is not the most advanced quantum hardware that IBM currently has, but even so, it is a very sophisticated machine that can have a beneficial impact on the development of quantum computing both in Spain and in Europe.
The San Sebastián Quantum Computing Center aims to contribute to the development of new materials
IBM will be in charge of managing this quantum computer, and it will be used in research projects that are being developed both in Spain and in other European countries. One of the areas in which on paper it can contribute significantly is the development of new materials, an area of engineering that currently has enormous projection. In fact, IFMIF-DONES, the materials research project being developed in Granada, aims to fine-tune the elements that will be used in the internal lining of the vacuum chamber of future nuclear fusion reactors. It is possible that this quantum computer will make some important contribution in this area.
However, the purpose of IBM and the Basque Foundation for Science is that it also make contributions in the field of research in physics and information processing, among other scientific areas. It sounds very good, but we must not overlook the fact that there is still a long way to go before the prototypes of quantum computers that we currently have make really significant scientific contributions. The Quantum Computing Center of the Basque Country will be finished by the end of 2024 and it will coexist with the 30-qubit quantum computer that in 2025 will be housed at the BSC (Barcelona Supercomputing Center).
Cover image: IBM
In Xataka: Spain has proposed to have a quantum computer of 30 qubits in 2025: this is its plan to achieve it
