Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Published August 15, 2025 | Version v1
Journal article Metadata-only

Practical Introduction to Benchmarking and Characterization of Quantum Computers

Creators

  • 1. University of California, Berkeley
  • 2. Sandia National Laboratories
  • 3. Korea University
  • 4. Infleqtion
  • 5. University of Chicago
  • 6. Keysight Technologies Canada

Description

Rapid progress in quantum technology has transformed quantum computing and quantum information science from theoretical possibilities into tangible engineering challenges. Breakthroughs in quantum algorithms, quantum simulations, and quantum error correction are bringing useful quantum computation closer to fruition. These remarkable achievements have been facilitated by advances in quantum characterization, verification, and validation (QCVV). QCVV methods and protocols enable scientists and engineers to scrutinize, understand, and enhance the performance of quantum information-processing devices. In this tutorial, we review the fundamental principles underpinning QCVV, and introduce a diverse array of QCVV tools used by quantum researchers. We define and explain QCVV's core models and concepts—quantum states, measurements, and processes—and illustrate how these building blocks are leveraged to examine a target system or operation. We survey and introduce protocols ranging from simple qubit characterization to advanced benchmarking methods. Along the way, we provide illustrated examples and detailed descriptions of the protocols, highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each, and discuss their potential scalability to future large-scale quantum computers. This tutorial serves as a guidebook for researchers unfamiliar with the benchmarking and characterization of quantum computers, and also as a detailed reference for experienced practitioners.

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1103/prxquantum.6.030202
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:16227

Funding

Army Research Office
W911NF-23-1-0077
DARPA
HR0011-24-9-0359
National Science Foundation
OMA-1936118
U.S. Department of Energy
DE-AC02-05CH11231
Berkeley Initiative for Computational Transformation Fellows Program
Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research Early Career Award
ARO MURI
W911NF-21-1-0325
AFOSR MURI
FA9550-19-1-0399
NTT Research, Packard Foundation
DARPA
HR0011-24-9-0361
AFOSR MURI
FA9550-21-1-0209
AFOSR MURI
FA9550-23-1-0338
U.S. Department of Energy
DE-SC0021526
National Science Foundation
ERC-1941583
National Science Foundation
OMA-2137642
National Science Foundation
OSI-2326767
National Science Foundation
CCF-2312755

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering