A volumetric framework for quantum computer benchmarks

Journal Article · Sun Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Quantum

DOI:https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2020-11-15-362· OSTI ID:1725835

Blume-Kohout, Robin ^[1]; Young, Kevin C. ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States). Quantum Performance Lab.

We propose a very large family of benchmarks for probing the performance of quantum computers. We call them volumetric benchmarks (VBs) because they generalize IBM's benchmark for measuring quantum volume \cite{Cross18}. The quantum volume benchmark defines a family of square circuits whose depth d and width w are the same. A volumetric benchmark defines a family of rectangular quantum circuits, for which d and w are uncoupled to allow the study of time/space performance trade-offs. Each VB defines a mapping from circuit shapes — (w,d) pairs — to test suites C ( w,d) . A test suite is an ensemble of test circuits that share a common structure. The test suite C for a given circuit shape may be a single circuit C , a specific list of circuits { C1 … CN } that must all be run, or a large set of possible circuits equipped with a distribution Pr(C) . The circuits in a given VB share a structure, which is limited only by designers' creativity. We list some known benchmarks, and other circuit families, that fit into the VB framework: several families of random circuits, periodic circuits, and algorithm-inspired circuits. The last ingredient defining a benchmark is a success criterion that defines when a processor is judged to have ``passed'' a given test circuit. We discuss several options. Benchmark data can be analyzed in many ways to extract many properties, but we propose a simple, universal graphical summary of results that illustrates the Pareto frontier of the d vs w trade-off for the processor being benchmarked.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 1725835
• Report Number(s): SAND--2020-12589J; 692081
• Journal Information: Quantum, Journal Name: Quantum Vol. 4; ISSN 2521-327X
• Publisher: Quantum Science Open Community
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING