Demonstration of a small programmable quantum computer with atomic qubits

Understand

Quantum computers can solve certain problems more efficiently than any possible conventional computer.

• Small quantum algorithms have been demonstrated on multiple quantum computing platforms, many specifically tailored in hardware to implement a particular algorithm or execute a limited number of computational paths.
• Here, we demonstrate a five-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer that can be programmed in software to implement arbitrary quantum algorithms by executing any sequence of universal quantum logic gates.
• We compile algorithms into a fully-connected set of gate operations that are native to the hardware and have a mean fidelity of 98 %.