two competing quantum computing technologies against each other for the first time

Post date: Feb 22, 2017 8:5:8 PM

A series of experiments that, for the first time, saw two quantum computing devices, built using different underlying technologies, run the same algorithms to establish which would win. The qubits—the quantum equivalent of binary bits—in IBM’s chip are made from superconducting metals, while the University of Maryland’s uses electromagnetic fields to trap ytterbium ions.

The experiment was made possible because the two chips, while using different underlying physics, both run algorithms in the same way. And because IBM has opened its chip up, allowing it to be programmed online by researchers, the University of Maryland team was able to give it the same challenge as its own device.

Ultimately, the IBM device was faster—but it was also less reliable.

An IBM quantum chip.

Ytterbium is a chemical element with symbol Yb and atomic number 70. It is the fourteenth and penultimate element in the lanthanide series, which is the basis of the relative stability of its +2 oxidation state.

Ytterbium