(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)
Google on Monday said it is launching qsim, a new open-source quantum simulator to help researchers develop quantum algorithms.
The search-giant has unveiled a new website to get started with qsim and other open-source quantum software.
Researchers can access Google’s tools, research initiatives, educational material, latest publications and research repositories from the website.
While students can find educational resources or apply for internships, and developers interested in quantum computing can also join.
Simulators are important tools for writing and debugging quantum code for developing quantum algorithms.
Google said, as currently available quantum processors are prone to noise and don’t correct errors, simulators like qsim will allow researchers to explore quantum algorithms under idealized conditions. They also help prepare experiments to run on actual quantum hardware, it added.
According to the Mountain View-based company, qsim can simulate around 30 qubits on a laptop, or up to 40 qubits in Google Cloud.
Google pointed that it uses qsim frequently to test and benchmark quantum algorithms and processors. For instance, it used qsim with Cirq and TensorFlow Quantum, to train quantum Machine learning models involving hundreds of thousands of circuits.
qsim is part of Google’s open source ecosystem of software tools that include Cirq, quantum programming framework, ReCirq, a repository of research examples, and TensorFlow Quantum for quantum machine learning.
Researchers who have developed quantum algorithms with Cirq can use qsim by changing one line of code in Colab. Once done, they will experience an instant speedup in their circuit simulations, Google said.