Terminology (Quantum Computing)

---

Quantum Volume

Quantum volume is a metric that measures the capabilities and error rates of a quantum computer. It expresses the maximum size of square quantum circuits that can be implemented successfully by the computer. The form of the circuits is independent from the quantum computer architecture, but compiler can transform and optimize it to take advantage of the computer's features. Thus, quantum volumes for different architectures can be compared.

IBM's redefinition

In 2019, IBM's researchers modified the quantum volume definition to be an exponential of the circuit size, stating that it corresponds to the complexity of simulating the circuit on a classical computer: \[ \log_2 V_Q = \underset{n \le N}{\operatorname{arg\,max}}\left\{\min\left[n, d(n)\right]\right\} \]

NISQ

The current state of quantum computing is referred to as the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era, characterized by quantum processors containing up to 1,000 qubits which are not advanced enough yet for fault-tolerance or large enough to achieve quantum advantage.

QAOA

Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm