Japan’s first quantum computer is made available to researchers

Japan’s Riken Centre for Quantum Computing has announced that its quantum computer – the first developed in the country – is now available for researchers starting in late March 2023. Based in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, the quantum computer has 64 qubits.

In early April 2023, Riken scientists published research showing that a quantum-computational algorithm could be used to ‘efficiently and accurately calculate atomic-level interactions in complex materials’. They have developed a new protocol for quantum computers that could reproduce complex dynamics of quantum materials, thus opening the door to an ‘unprecedented level of understanding to condensed-matter physics and quantum chemistry’.