New agreement gives Swedish academia and industry unique access to even larger quantum computers

Through funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish academia and industry will have the opportunity to learn how to run quantum algorithms in two steps. Development and optimisation can first be carried out on the quantum computing test bed at Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden. Thanks to a new agreement with IBM, additional problem solving on a larger scale will be made possible on IBM's quantum systems and resources over the cloud.

Under the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT) research programme, since 2018 a large project to develop and build a Swedish quantum computer has been running at Chalmers University of Technology. The WACQT quantum computer now has 25 quantum bits, or qubits, and the target is 100 qubits by 2029. 

To help develop and ensure Swedish expertise within quantum technology, and to facilitate the use of quantum computers within academia as well as industry, a copy of the current quantum computer will be made available as a testbed with a support desk to help researchers and industry boil down real problems to executable quantum algorithms. Meanwhile, the original computer is being developed to 100 qubits.

A new agreement between Chalmers and IBM positions the WACQT research programme to offer a new opportunity for Swedish academia and industry to take the next step in exploring and using quantum computers. 

Organisations can test their algorithms on Chalmers’ quantum test bed, and also have the opportunity to continue their work on IBM’s quantum computing systems, which include utility-scale 127-qubit IBM Eagle processors and the latest 133-qubit IBM Heron processors. 

“Because we are completely transparent about what is under the hood of our own, on-premises quantum computer, the idea is to make it easier and cheaper to optimise the algorithms run on the hardware in our system, which increases the chance of successful computation. At the same time, we want to allow researcher within Swedish academia and industry to learn how to use and work with larger and more powerful quantum processors through our collaboration with IBM” said Per Delsing, Professor of quantum technology, microtechnology and nanoscience at Chalmers University of Technology and Director of WACQT.

“We look forward to working with the WACQT programme at Chalmers, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, to support their quantum mission of helping to lower the threshold for companies and researchers in Sweden to explore how quantum computing could help tackle their industries’ challenges,” said Vahid Zohali, Country General Manager of IBM Sweden. 

The agreement with IBM is supported through a SEK 50 million grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. 

SOURCE: CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY