Germany launches IBM’s first quantum computer in Europe

The “Q System One” machine, set up near Stuttgart in collaboration with the German research firm Franhofer, is the IBM Group’s first quantum computer outside the United States, where its machines are available through the European cloud (cloud computing).

“Germany is the best in quantum technology research and hopes to do so,” Mr said.^{To me} Merkel wrote a thesis on quantum chemistry during her studies.

Quantum technology should enable the use of hyper-powerful computers, mocking the capabilities of the best current supercomputers, thanks to the exploitation of the incredible physical properties of infinite tiny particles.

Key: The quantum world uses “qubits” instead of the “bits” of classical computing that can take the values ​​of 0 and 1. These can have multiple values ​​at the same time, – in theory – allowing mathematical operations to be performed in parallel.

“It produces machines with million times or more processing capabilities than the machines we know today,” Oliver Hess, who is in charge of quantum operations at IBM France, told AFP.

Route calculation, development of development tools, interpretation: Quantitatively for the time being, Quantum is capable of solving very complex problems for current and future computers in a record time.

Sovereignty

France and Germany aim to become leaders in the sector: Paris announced an investment of 1.8 billion over five years in January and Berlin will inject $ 2 billion to build a quantum computer by 2025.

Currently, this technology is dominated by the United States.

“The rest of the world is not asleep,” he said^{To me} Merkel believes that quantum computers “play a role in the search for digital and technological sovereignty.”

“Germany and Europe will not miss this opportunity,” said Research Minister Anja Karlikzek.

The computer installed today, with a capacity of 27 cubits, is less powerful than the supercomputers used on a daily basis to solve the most complex equations.

But in theory, an extra qubit is enough to double the computing power.

Hess said the four-year collaboration between IBM and Franhofer, funded by 40 million euros of public money, will upgrade the computer and improve its efficiency. Companies can pay to use it.

This is a summary of Oliver Ezrati, an expert in the field with AFP, about the “test tool, program learning” in quantum, which he also sees in the opening “communication operation”.

“We have to hopefully wait between ten and twenty years for the practical use of quantum computers in the industrial context,” Franhofer director Manfred Housewirth explained on the institute’s website.

Objective for Franhofer: Learning to use a tool to try to reach “quantum dominance” cases when the quantum computer is more efficient for certain operations than the classical machine.

Currently, according to Ezrati, “it is very rare for you to be able to do anything on a conventional computer” on an impossible quantum machine “.