Quantum computers, which have the capability to outperform classical computers on specific computational tasks, heavily rely on high-performance two-qubit gates for the realization of quantum algorithms.  In superconducting circuits, two-qubit gates are typically based on a transversal qubit-qubit coupling, implemented either by rf-control or the in-situ frequency tunability of computational qubits.

Andreas Wallraff receives one of the 2020 Helmholtz International Fellow Awards of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. The award serves also to expand an existing cooperation with scientists at the Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany).

Quantum computers have the potential to solve problems that today’s computers cannot solve in a reasonable amount of time. However, their computations are not yet reliable, meaning that algorithms with many operations cannot be executed without significant errors. This article presents a method to reduce these errors by reducing the total number of operations required to execute a quantum optimization algorithm. This work thereby offers an approach to solving more complex problems on existing and near-term quantum computers.