Please join us for a special guest lecture from Dr. Jay M. Gambetta. Dr. Gambetta is the Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow, where he leads the company’s global research initiatives, spearheading the company’s strategy and vision to develop the future of computing, which includes artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing.
Time: 4:00 p.m. coffee reception; 4:30-5:30 p.m. lecture
Location: Pulitzer Hall World Room
Lecture: Realizing quantum advantage before fault tolerance
Abstract: Today’s quantum computers are noisy and imperfect. However, they are already accessing regimes that challenge classical computation. In this talk, I will explore whether current quantum processors can perform computations exhibiting separations over classical computing that can be rigorously validated. To do so, I will discuss how improvements in quantum hardware and integration with classical resources are not only enabling error mitigation and post-selected error correction techniques to yield verifiable quantum outputs at scales beyond exact classical verification—but are also pushing the limits of leading classical approximations. Then I will address how these experimental results can be benchmarked, highlighting the Quantum Advantage Tracker as a means of monitoring progress across three key problem types: observable estimations, variational problems, and classically verifiable problems. Finally, I will look at how hybrid classical-quantum algorithms and heterogeneous architectures are the key to scaling these advantages. Ultimately, these examples suggest there is a credible path to quantum advantage before fault tolerance.
