Computing firm Quantinuum has provided the hardware for many outstanding feats in quantum computing over the past few years. It looks like that winning streak will continue with its latest model, Helios—which, as of today, is the most powerful quantum computer in the world.
The firm officially announced the commercial release of Helios on November 5, describing it as “a technological marvel redefining the possible.” Helios features 98 qubits—the most basic units of information in quantum computers—a near twofold increase from its predecessor, H2. Helios has a fidelity, or accuracy, of 99.9% across all qubit pairs, making it the most accurate quantum computer as well.
These hardware improvements will greatly advance scientific endeavors in quantum computing, the company said. Already, several research teams from Quantinuum’s private partners have used Helios’s computing power for complex projects, according to the release.
The company shared a paper on the technical details of Helios, as well as a preprint of a project that used it to perform large-scale simulations of superconductivity technology.
A stellar device
Very simply put, the circuits of a quantum computer are made up of multiple “gates” that contain physical qubits. Unlike the binary “bits” of classical computers, qubits can have an infinite number of possible orientations under certain conditions. This allows quantum computers to process an exponential amount of data at faster rates.
A close-up of the Helios chip. © Quantinuum
That said, the sensitivity that makes quantum computers so powerful also leaves a lot of room for pesky errors to enter the system—including faulty qubit gates. According to Quantinuum, however, Helios achieved a fidelity of 99.9975% for single-qubit gates and 99.921% for two-qubit gates across the system’s 98 physical qubits.
As a result, Helios was able to perform a benchmark task previously used by Google to demonstrate quantum advantage that would take 10 septillion years for a classical computer to replicate, the company reported.
“You would need to harvest every star in the universe to power a classical machine that could do the same calculations we did with Helios,” said Anthony Ransford, Helios’s lead architect, in the release. Impressively, Helios only needed about the same amount of power as a single data rack.
Reminder: quantum computers are here
A lively discourse in quantum computing involves coming up with ways powerful quantum computers can support—rather than necessarily upend—classical computers in completing complex tasks. Quantinuum is no exception, reporting in a separate blog post that researchers used Helios as a “qubit-based laboratory” to explore light-induced superconductivity.
In this case, Helios was able to calculate an astounding load of data simulating electron pairs for a famous crystal model—sometimes called the “Rosetta Stone” of achieving superconductivity at higher temperatures. The sheer size of Helios’s computing capacity enabled researchers to fine-tune various aspects of the simulation to their liking, according to Quantinuum.
An actual image of the 98 single atoms used for computation inside Quantinuum’s Helios quantum computer for an experiment on superconductivity. © Quantinuum
“These results prove that our computers can help us understand light-induced superconductivity [with] a new level of control and insight,” the post noted. “In the long run, Helios and its successors will become essential tools for materials science—not just confirming theories but generating new ones.”
If you’ve been following quantum computing, you’re probably no stranger to Quantinuum’s H2 model—as I previously mentioned, this processor has been behind some of the most noteworthy developments in quantum computing of late. So, if Helios is as fantastic of an upgrade as Quantinuum suggests, I’m very excited to see what researchers will find using the new, shiny computer.
