IBM Quantum Platform

• The service was launched in May 2016 as the IBM Quantum Experience{{cite web|title=IBM Makes Quantum Computing Available on IBM Cloud to Accelerate Innovation|url=https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/49661.wss|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504214945/http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/49661.wss|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 4, 2016|date=2016-05-04}} with a five-qubit quantum processor and matching simulator connected in a star shaped pattern. At this time, users could only interact with the hardware through the quantum composer GUI. Quantum circuits were also limited to the specific two-qubit gates available on the hardware.

• In July 2016, IBM launched the IBM Quantum Experience community forum. This was subsequently replaced by a Slack workspace.

• In January 2017, IBM made a number of additions to the IBM Quantum Experience,{{cite web |title=IBM Quantum Experience Update |url=https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qstage/#/community/question?questionId=c7a17f4183104ea22ff8e3e8a95f794c |access-date=2017-04-06 |archive-date=2019-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129182024/https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qstage/#/community/question?questionId=c7a17f4183104ea22ff8e3e8a95f794c |url-status=dead }} including increasing the set of two-qubit interactions available on the five-qubit quantum processor, expanding the simulator to custom topologies up to twenty qubits, and allowing users to interact with the device and simulator using quantum assembly language code.

• In March 2017, IBM released Qiskit{{cite web|title= Quantum computing gets an API and SDK|url= https://developer.ibm.com/dwblog/2017/quantum-computing-api-sdk-david-lubensky/|date= 2017-03-06}} to enable users to more easily write code and run experiments on the quantum processor and simulator. A user guide for beginners was also added.

• In May 2017, IBM made an additional 16-qubit processor available on the IBM Quantum service.{{cite web |title=Beta access our upgrade to the IBM QX |url=https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qx/community/question?questionId=db5f64ac99c6edc78e34932dfe593f36&channel=news |access-date=2017-05-19 |archive-date=2019-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131201233/https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qx/community/question?questionId=db5f64ac99c6edc78e34932dfe593f36&channel=news |url-status=dead }}

• In January 2018, IBM launched a quantum awards program, which it hosted on the IBM Quantum Experience.{{cite web|title=Now Open: Get quantum ready with new scientific prizes for professors, students and developers|website=IBM |url=https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2018/01/quantum-prizes/|date=2018-01-14}}

• In May 2019 a large overhaul of the service was made, including the addition of web-hosted Jupyter notebooks and integration with the online and interactive Qiskit textbook.{{cite web|title=IBM Unveils Beta of Next Generation Quantum Development Platform|website=IBM |url=https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2019/05/next-gen-ibmqx/|date=2021-02-10}}

• After a redesign in March 2021, a greater distinction was made between the composer GUI and the Jupyter notebooks. The IBM Quantum Experience name was retired in favour of the separate names IBM Quantum Composer and IBM Quantum Lab.{{cite web|title=Announcement of IBM Quantum Composer and Lab|url=https://twitter.com/jaygambetta/status/1366787131151163395|date=2021-03-02}} Now, it's collectively called

• In May 2024, the IBM Quantum Lab was sunset in favor of a serverless model. Users were directed to approved transition providers to access cloud-based notebook environments. The two transition providers identified were qBraid and OVHCloud. {{cite web|title=Transitioning from IBM Quantum Lab.|url=https://www.ibm.com/quantum/blog/qiskit-notebook-environments|date=2024-05-15}}

File:GHZstate IBMQExperience results.png experiment using the IBM Quantum Composer]]

The Quantum Composer is a graphic user interface (GUI) designed by IBM to allow users to construct various quantum algorithms or run other quantum experiments. Users may see the results of their quantum algorithms by either running it on a real quantum processor or by using a simulator. Algorithms developed in the Quantum Composer are referred to as a "quantum score", in reference to the Quantum Composer resembling a musical sheet.{{cite web | url=https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qx/tutorial?sectionId=59d2538efa783368715d988e06607b8c&pageIndex=0 | title=IBM Quantum experience | website=Quantum Experience | publisher=IBM | access-date=3 July 2017 | archive-date=25 May 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525063152/https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qx/tutorial?sectionId=59d2538efa783368715d988e06607b8c&pageIndex=0 | url-status=dead }}

The composer can also be used in scripting mode, where the user can write programs in the OpenQASM-language instead. Below is an example of a very small program, built for IBMs 5-qubit computer. The program instructs the computer to generate a quantum state $|\backslash Psi\backslash rangle=\backslash frac\{1\}\{\backslash sqrt\{2\}\}\backslash left(|000\backslash rangle+|111\backslash rangle\backslash right)$, a 3-qubit GHZ state, which can be thought of as a variant of the Bell state, but with three qubits instead of two. It then measures the state, forcing it to collapse to one of the two possible outcomes, $|000\backslash rangle$ or $|111\backslash rangle$.

include "qelib1.inc"

qreg q[5]; // allocate 5 qubits (set automatically to |00000>)

creg c[5]; // allocate 5 classical bits

h q[0]; // Hadamard-transform qubit 0

cx q[0], q[1]; // conditional pauli X-transform (ie. "CNOT") of qubits 0 and 1

// At this point we have a 2-qubit Bell state (|00> + |11>)/sqrt(2)

cx q[1], q[2]; // this expands entanglement to the 3rd qubit

measure q[0] -> c[0]; // this measurement collapses the entire 3-qubit state

measure q[1] -> c[1]; // therefore qubit 1 and 2 read the same value as qubit 0

measure q[2] -> c[2];

Every instruction in the QASM language is the application of a quantum gate, initialization of the chips registers to zero or measurement of these registers.

• In 2025, IBM reported that there were over 400,000 users of the IBM Quantum Platform, generating over 2,800 papers with research performed on the devices.{{cite web|title=Research at IBM Quantum|website=IBM |url=https://www.ibm.com/quantum/research/|date=2025-06-02}}

• A sample of the papers published using IBM Quantum hardware can be found here.{{cite web|title=QX Community papers|url=https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qx/community?channel=papers|access-date=2018-05-24|archive-date=2019-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322211226/https://quantumexperience.ng.bluemix.net/qx/community?channel=papers|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Research of the IBM Quantum Hub at the University of Melbourne|date=20 April 2021|url=https://www.unimelb.edu.au/quantumhub#research}}{{cite journal|arxiv=1605.08922|last1=Rundle|first1=R. P.|last2=Tilma|first2=T.|last3=Samson|first3=J. H.|last4=Everitt|first4=M. J. |year=2017|title=Quantum state reconstruction made easy: a direct method for tomography|doi=10.1103/PhysRevA.96.022117|volume=96|issue=2|pages=022117|journal=Physical Review A|bibcode=2017PhRvA..96b2117R}}{{cite arXiv|eprint=1606.09225|last=Corbett Moran |first=Christine |date=29 June 2016|title=Quintuple: a Python 5-qubit quantum computer simulator to facilitate cloud quantum computing |class=quant-ph }}{{cite journal|last1=Huffman|first1=Emilie|last2=Mizel|first2=Ari|title=Violation of noninvasive macrorealism by a superconducting qubit: Implementation of a Leggett-Garg test that addresses the clumsiness loophole|journal=Physical Review A|date=29 March 2017|volume=95|issue=3|pages=032131|doi=10.1103/PhysRevA.95.032131|bibcode=2017PhRvA..95c2131H|arxiv=1609.05957}}{{Cite journal|arxiv=1609.07459|last=Deffner|first=Sebastian|date=23 September 2016|title=Demonstration of entanglement assisted invariance on IBM's Quantum Experience|journal=Heliyon|volume=3|issue=11|pages=e00444|doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00444|doi-access=free |pmid=29159322|pmc=5683883}}{{cite journal|arxiv=1612.02886|date=9 December 2016|title=Homomorphic Encryption Experiments on IBM's Cloud Quantum Computing Platform|last1=Huang|first1=He-Liang|last2=Zhao|first2=You-Wei|last3=Li|first3=Tan|last4=Li|first4=Feng-Guang|last5=Du|first5=Yu-Tao|last6=Fu|first6=Xiang-Qun|last7=Zhang|first7=Shuo|last8=Wang|first8=Xiang|last9=Bao|first9=Wan-Su|journal=Frontiers of Physics|volume=12|issue=1|page=120305|doi=10.1007/s11467-016-0643-9|bibcode=2017FrPhy..12l0305H|s2cid=17770053}}{{cite journal|last1=Wootton|first1=James R|title=Demonstrating non-Abelian braiding of surface code defects in a five qubit experiment|journal=Quantum Science and Technology|date=1 March 2017|volume=2|issue=1|pages=015006|doi=10.1088/2058-9565/aa5c73|arxiv=1609.07774|bibcode=2017QS&T....2a5006W|s2cid=44370109}}{{cite arXiv|eprint=1607.02398|date=8 July 2016|last=Fedortchenko|first=Serguei|title=A quantum teleportation experiment for undergraduate students|class=quant-ph}}{{cite journal|last1=Berta|first1=Mario|last2=Wehner|first2=Stephanie|last3=Wilde|first3=Mark M|title=Entropic uncertainty and measurement reversibility|journal=New Journal of Physics|date=6 July 2016|volume=18|issue=7|pages=073004|doi=10.1088/1367-2630/18/7/073004|arxiv=1511.00267|bibcode=2016NJPh...18g3004B|s2cid=119186679}}{{cite journal|arxiv=1611.07851|date=23 November 2016|title=Approximate Quantum Adders with Genetic Algorithms: An IBM Quantum Experience|last1=Li|first1=Rui|last2=Alvarez-Rodriguez|first2=Unai|last3=Lamata|first3=Lucas|last4=Solano|first4=Enrique|doi=10.1515/qmetro-2017-0001|volume=4|issue=1|journal=Quantum Measurements and Quantum Metrology|pages=1–7|bibcode=2017QMQM....4....1L|s2cid=108291239}}{{Cite journal|arxiv=1701.02970|date=11 January 2017|title=Compressed quantum computation using the IBM Quantum Experience|journal=Phys. Rev. A|volume=95|issue=5|pages=052339|last1= Hebenstreit|first1=M.|last2= Alsina|first2=D.|last3= Latorre|first3=J. I.|last4= Kraus|author4-link=Barbara Kraus|first4=B.|doi=10.1103/PhysRevA.95.052339|s2cid=118958024}}{{cite journal|last1=Alsina|first1=Daniel|last2=Latorre|first2=José Ignacio|title=Experimental test of Mermin inequalities on a five-qubit quantum computer|journal=Physical Review A|date=11 July 2016|volume=94|issue=1|pages=012314|doi=10.1103/PhysRevA.94.012314|arxiv=1605.04220|bibcode=2016PhRvA..94a2314A|s2cid=119189277}}{{cite journal|last1=Linke|first1=Norbert M.|last2=Maslov|first2=Dmitri|last3=Roetteler|first3=Martin|last4=Debnath|first4=Shantanu|last5=Figgatt|first5=Caroline|last6=Landsman|first6=Kevin A.|last7=Wright|first7=Kenneth|last8=Monroe|first8=Christopher|title=Experimental comparison of two quantum computing architectures|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=28 March 2017|volume=114|issue=13|pages=3305–3310|doi=10.1073/pnas.1618020114|pmid=28325879|pmc=5380037|arxiv=1702.01852|bibcode=2017PNAS..114.3305L |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Devitt|first1=Simon J.|title=Performing quantum computing experiments in the cloud|journal=Physical Review A|date=29 September 2016|volume=94|issue=3|pages=032329|doi=10.1103/PhysRevA.94.032329|arxiv=1605.05709|bibcode=2016PhRvA..94c2329D|s2cid=119217150}}{{Cite journal|arxiv=1612.08091|last1=Steiger|first1=Damian|last2=Haner|first2=Thomas|last3=Troyer|first3=Matthias |year=2018|title=ProjectQ: An Open Source Software Framework for Quantum Computing|journal=Quantum|volume=2|pages=49|doi=10.22331/q-2018-01-31-49|bibcode=2018Quant...2...49S |s2cid=6758479}}{{cite journal|last1=Santos|first1=Alan C.|title=O Computador Quântico da IBM e o IBM Quantum Experience|journal=Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física|date=2017|volume=39|issue=1|doi=10.1590/1806-9126-RBEF-2016-0155|arxiv=1610.06980}}{{Cite journal|last1=Caicedo-Ortiz|first1=H. E.|last2=Santiago-Cortés|first2=E.|date=2017|title=Construyendo compuertas cuánticas con IBM's cloud quantum computer|trans-title=Building quantum gates with IBM’s cloud quantum computer|url=http://jci.uniautonoma.edu.co/2017/2017-7.pdf|journal=Journal de Ciencia e Ingeniería|language=es|volume=9|pages=42–56|doi=10.46571/JCI.2017.1.7|doi-access=free}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• [https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/ IBM Quantum Platform]

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IBM Quantum Experience

Category:Quantum computing

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