ExxonMobil and research laboratories CERN, Argonne, Fermilab, and Lawrence Berkeley are joining the IBM quantum computing network, says IBM.

The IBM quantum computing or Q Network, is a community of companies, startups, academic institutions and research labs working with IBM on quantum computing and practical applications for business and science.

The organizations joining the IBM Q Network include:

ExxonMobil will become the first energy company to join the IBM Q Network. Together, ExxonMobil and IBM will explore how quantum computing may address computationally challenging problems across a variety of applications. For example, quantum computing could more effectively solve large systems of linear equations, which will accelerate the development of more realistic simulations.

CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, will work with IBM to explore how quantum computing may be used to advance scientific understanding of the universe. The project will bring together IBM and CERN scientists to investigate how to apply quantum machine learning techniques to classify collisions produced at the Large Hadron Collider.

IBM Q Hub, announced in 2017, now includes member labs: Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Argonne National Laboratory will develop quantum algorithms to help tackle challenges in chemistry and physics. New algorithms will also be used to model and simulate quantum network architectures and develop hybrid quantum-classical architectures.

Fermilab will use quantum computers for machine learning to classify objects in large cosmology survey applications, as well as optimization techniques to better understand the results of hadron collisions, and quantum simulation to research the potential of studying neutrino-nucleon cross-sections.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will use IBM Q systems as part of its quantum information science research to develop and simulate algorithms for studying strong correlation, environmental coupling, and excited state dynamics in molecular complexes and materials; novel error mitigation and circuit optimization techniques; and theories resembling the standard model in high-energy physics.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will use quantum computers along with high-performance supercomputers to benchmark new methods for studying strongly correlated dynamics in quantum materials, chemistry, and nuclear physics.

[Image courtesy: IBM]