Latest updates

Last updated 24 June 2024

Keep up with the latest and greatest from Qiskit and IBM Quantum! Gathered here are the the most recent Qiskit package release summaries, documentation updates, blogs, community events, and more.

Latest release summaries

Qiskit SDK v1.1.0

To see the release notes for all versions, visit the Qiskit SDK release notes.

Qiskit SDK v1.1.0 has arrived, marking the first minor version release of the Qiskit SDK’s first major version. On the IBM Quantum™ blog, we review some of the key highlights — including top new features and improvements, as well as some important deprecations. Read the blog here(opens in a new tab).

The updates and improvements include the following:

Updated QuantumCircuit objects that now support typed classical variables
Improvements to the preset transpiler pass managers
Speedups in transpilation runtime, thanks to our continued work re-writing transpiler passes in Rust
A number of new transpiler passes, including ElidePermutation and StarPreRouting

Remember, because this a minor release, it will not introduce breaking changes for users moving from Qiskit SDK v1.0. Any deprecations announced with this release refer only to things that will now start throwing deprecation warnings. None of these will be removed until the release of Qiskit v2.0, pursuant to Qiskit’s official deprecation policy(opens in a new tab).

For more details on any of the topics covered in the blog, be sure to check the v1.1 release notes.

Qiskit Runtime IBM Client 0.24.0

To see the release notes for all versions, visit the Qiskit Runtime IBM Client release notes.

Highlights from the 0.24.0 (2024-06-10) version release

Deprecation notes

The backend and session parameters in SamplerV2 and EstimatorV2 are deprecated. You can use the new mode parameter instead.
qiskit_ibm_runtime.QiskitRuntimeService.get_backend() is deprecated. You can use qiskit_ibm_runtime.QiskitRuntimeService.backend() instead.
The V1 fake backends, FakeBackend, and FakeProvider are deprecated in favor of the V2 fake backends and FakeProviderForBackendV2.

New features

The ZneOptions.amplifier option was added, which can be one of: gate_folding (default), gate_folding_front, and gate_folding_back. See the API reference for more details.
You can now use the experimental option in qiskit_ibm_runtime.options.EstimatorOptions to enable the Probabilistic Error Amplification (PEA) error mitigation method.

Upgrade notes

Qiskit SDK v1.1 is now supported and required.

Bug fixes

Fixed an issue where retrieved jobs would only return RuntimeJob instances, even if the job was run with a V2 primitive. Now, V2 primitive jobs will be returned correctly as RuntimeJobV2 instances.
Fixed the combination of insert_multiple_cycles and coupling_map options in PadDynamicalDecoupling. This combination allows to select staggered dynamical decoupling with multiple sequence cycles in each delay that crosses the threshold set by sequence_min_length_ratios.
Fixed measurement twirling docstring that incorrectly indicated it’s enabled by default for Sampler.
Fixed issues related to target generation and calibration data.

See the full 0.24.0 release notes.

Qiskit Transpiler Service Client v0.3.0

We’re pleased to share that the beta release of the Qiskit Transpiler Service is now available to all IBM Quantum™ Premium Plan users.

The Qiskit Transpiler Service leverages the resources of IBM Cloud® to provide users with the latest transpilation capabilities from the Qiskit SDK. It offers a Python library that helps users seamlessly integrate the service into their current Qiskit patterns and workflows. Perhaps most importantly, the service invites users to experiment with new and improved AI-powered transpiler passes — cutting-edge tools that might be faster and produce better results than traditional transpilation methods.

On the IBM Quantum blog, we take a deep dive into the new beta release with a special focus on the new AI-powered passes. The blog includes detailed explanations showing how to use the Qiskit Transpiler Service for both full circuit transpilation and standalone AI-powered passes, with code examples for each. Take a look.(opens in a new tab)

Qiskit IBM Runtime service updates

This summary of the latest changes to the Qiskit Runtime service applies to anyone using Qiskit Runtime, regardless of how you communicate with the service (using qiskit-ibm-runtime or otherwise), or which version of the client SDK you use.

28 March 2024

Qiskit Runtime primitives now support OpenQASM 3 as the input format for circuits and standard JSON output format. See Qiskit IBM Runtime REST API for examples.

3 June 2024

Probabilistic error amplification (PEA) error mitigation method is now available as an experimental option for Estimator V2. See the EstimatorOptions API reference for more details.

18 June 2024

The optimization_level option is deprecated for Estimator V2 and will be removed no sooner than 30 September 2024.

Qiskit blog: How execution modes enable efficient, utility-scale workloads

Browse all blogs at the Quantum Research blog page(opens in a new tab).

In a recent post on the IBM Quantum™ blog, we introduce three new and improved execution modes that make running utility-scale workloads more reliable, more predictable, and more efficient than ever before.

Execution modes are the rules and procedures that govern how a user’s quantum circuits run on classical and quantum resources. When IBM put the first quantum computer in the cloud in 2016, users could only execute circuits as individual jobs. Since then, we’ve been working to see how execution modes can optimize the user experience even further.

After previewing them at the IBM Quantum Summit, we're thrilled to share more details on three execution modes that give users more flexibility in choosing how their circuits should be grouped together or divided up for optimal execution. These include job mode for running standalone jobs, batch mode for running non-iterative multi-job workloads, and session mode for running iterative workloads as a single experiment.

For more details on the new and improved execution modes, including example code that demonstrates batch mode and session mode, see the full blog post(opens in a new tab).

What's new in the documentation

IBM Quantum documentation recently added a number of user-facing improvements, including content updates and new features. Many of these changes are a result of specific user requests! Check out the highlights below.

Updated content

A new guide to Execution mode changes, as well as updated information across the platform on the new and improved execution modes
Hello world and Install pages have been updated with brand new content from the Coding with Qiskit(opens in a new tab) YouTube series
All content and examples have been updated to use V2 primitives and Qiskit SDK v1.0
Information on Hardware considerations for simulating in local testing mode have been added
The Fixed and dynamic repetition rate execution page has been updated with a new example for specifying rep_delay for a primitive job

User experience improvements

Two new ways to submit feedback! Click the "Report a bug or request content on GitHub(opens in a new tab)" link on every page - or use the new anonymous feedback form(opens in a new tab) to share your ideas, experiences, and suggestions

Improvements to API reference documentation readability:

Module pages make better use of headers to express the information hierarchy
The Qiskit SDK table of contents was reorganized into logical groups
API docs now more clearly display modifiers like class, static, and abstract in front of code objects

A huge thank you goes out to everyone in the open-source community who contributed and gave feedback! Please open an issue(opens in a new tab) if you find a bug, have a suggestion, or want to share your experience.

Qiskit global community events

Join, participate, contribute! See what events are coming up on the Qiskit community events calendar(opens in a new tab).

See all product updates

Visit the Product announcements(opens in a new tab) to browse all product updates and news.

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