What is Azure Quantum?

Azure Quantum is Microsoft Azure's cloud quantum computing service. Azure Quantum provides an open, flexible, and future-proofed path to quantum computing that adapts to your way of working.

Azure Quantum offers a range of quantum computing solutions, including quantum hardware from industry-leading providers, quantum software, and quantum services. With Azure Quantum, you can run quantum programs on real quantum hardware, simulate quantum algorithms, and estimate the resources needed to run your quantum programs on future scaled quantum machines.

To learn more about how you can use quantum computing and quantum algorithms, see What is Quantum Computing?

How to get started with Azure Quantum

How you get started with Azure Quantum depends on your current setup and requirements. Whether you're a developer, and whether you already have an Azure account, there are different ways to begin your journey with Azure Quantum. The following table provides guidance based on the type of user that you are:

You don't need to have an Azure account to use Azure Quantum. But, if you want to submit your quantum programs to real quantum hardware in Azure Quantum, then you need to have an Azure account and an Azure Quantum workspace.

To get an Azure account, register for free and sign up for a pay-as-you-go subscription. If you're a student, then you can take advantage of a free Azure account for students.

The Microsoft Quantum website

The Microsoft Quantum website is a central resource where you can explore quantum computing. You can engage with Copilot in Azure Quantum, a quantum-focused AI agent that helps you write code and better understand quantum concepts. You can also learn from experts and enthusiasts through blogs, articles, and videos.

You can try out Q# code samples in the online code editor, submit your code to the cloud-based Quantinuum Emulator, and open your code in VS Code for the Web to work in a pre-configured quantum environment.

The Microsoft Quantum website is free to use and doesn't require an Azure account. To get started, you need only a Microsoft (MSA) email account. For more information, see Explore Copilot in Azure Quantum.

Visual Studio Code

Azure Quantum offers the Quantum Development Kit (QDK), a software development kit designed specifically for quantum development. With the QDK, you can write programs in different quantum programming languages, debug your code, get real-time code feedback, and submit jobs to real quantum hardware through Azure Quantum. The QDK supports Microsoft's Q# programming language, along with other languages like Qiskit, Cirq, and OpenQASM.

The Quantum Development Kit is free and open source. To get started, install the QDK extension in Visual Studio Code (VS Code). For more information, see Set up the QDK extension.

The Azure portal

If you have an Azure account, then use the Azure portal to create an Azure Quantum workspace. An Azure Quantum workspace is a collection of assets that are associated with running quantum programs. For more information, see Create an Azure Quantum workspace.

With the Azure portal, you can submit your quantum programs to real quantum hardware, manage your Azure Quantum workspace, view information about your quantum jobs, and monitor your quantum programs.

What is Q#?

Q# is an open-source quantum programming language created by Microsoft to develop and run your quantum programs.

You can think of a quantum program as a set of classical subroutines that interact with a quantum system to perform a computation. A Q# program doesn't directly model the quantum state, but rather describes how a classical control computer interacts with qubits. In other words, Q# is hardware-agnostic, so you don't need to consider actual qubit technologies when you write Q# programs. Your Q# code will run on any quantum hardware technology.

Q# is a standalone language that offers a high level of abstraction. There's no notion of a quantum state or circuit. Instead, Q# implements programs in terms of statements and expressions, much like classical programming languages. You can seamlessly integrate classical and quantum computing structures in your Q# code.

For more information, see Introduction to Q#. To start writing Q# code, see Create your first Q# program.

What can I do with Azure Quantum?

Azure Quantum offers a wide range of services and tools to help you develop quantum solutions.

For the latest information about Microsoft's quantum computing research, see the Microsoft Research Quantum Computing page.

Hybrid quantum computing

Hybrid quantum computing refers to the processes and architecture of a classical computer and a quantum computer working together to solve a problem. With the latest generation of hybrid quantum computer architecture available in Azure Quantum, you can get started with a classical-quantum hybrid approach to programming.

For more information, see Hybrid quantum computing.

Resource estimation in quantum computing

In quantum computing, resource estimation is the ability to understand the resources that are required to run an algorithm on a quantum computer. When you understand the resource requirements to run your programs on different types of quantum hardware, you can prepare and refine your quantum solutions to run on future scaled quantum machines. For example, resource estimation can help you determine the feasibility of breaking a particular encryption algorithm on a quantum computer.

The Azure Quantum Resource Estimator allows you to assess architectural decisions, compare qubit technologies, and determine the resources that you need to run a given quantum algorithm. You can choose from pre-defined fault-tolerant protocols, or set your own estimation parameters. The Resource Estimator computes post-layout physical resource estimates given a set of inputs such as qubit parameters, the quantum error correction (QEC) code, the error budget, and other parameters.

To get started, see Run your first resource estimate.

Quantum chemistry simulations with Azure Quantum

Quantum mechanics is like the underlying operating system of our universe, and describes how the fundamental building blocks of nature behave. Chemical reactions, cellular processes, and material properties are all quantum mechanical in nature, and often involve interactions between a huge number of quantum particles. Quantum computers have promise to simulate intrinsically quantum mechanical systems, such as molecules, because qubits can be used to represent the natural quantum states in these systems. Examples of quantum systems that we can model include photosynthesis, superconductivity, and complex molecular formations.

The QDK and Azure Quantum are purpose-built to accelerate scientific discovery. Reinvent your research and development productivity with simulation workflows that are optimized for scaling on Azure high-performance computing (HPC) clusters, AI-accelerated computing, integration with quantum tools and quantum hardware, and future access to Microsoft’s quantum supercomputer.

For more information, see Unlocking the power of Azure for Molecular Dynamics.

Quantum speedup

Quantum computers do exceptionally well with problems that require calculations of a large number of possible combinations. These types of problems can be found in many areas, such as quantum simulation, cryptography, quantum machine learning, and search problems.

One of the goals of quantum computing research is to study what kinds of problems can be solved by a quantum computer faster than a classical computer, and how large the speedup can be. One well-known example is Grover's algorithm, which yields a polynomial speedup over the classical counterparts.

Grover's algorithm speeds up the solution to unstructured data searches, running the search in fewer steps than any classical algorithm could. Indeed, any problem that allows you to check whether a given value is a valid solution (a "yes or no problem") can be formulated in terms of the search problem.

For an implementation of Grover's algorithm, see Tutorial: Implement Grover's search algorithm in Q#.

Quantum providers available on Azure Quantum

Azure Quantum offers some of the most compelling and diverse quantum resources available today from industry leaders. Azure Quantum currently partners with the following providers to enable you to run your quantum programs on real hardware, and the option to test your code on hardware simulators.

Choose the provider that best suits the characteristics of your problem and your needs.

• IONQ: Dynamically reconfigurable trapped-ion quantum computers for up to 36 fully connected qubits, that lets you run a two-qubit gate between any pair.
• PASQAL: Neutral atom-based quantum processors that operate at room temperature, with long coherence times and impressive qubit connectivity.
• Quantinuum: Trapped-ion systems with high-fidelity, fully connected qubits, low error rates, qubit reuse, and the ability to perform mid-circuit measurements.
• Rigetti: Powered by superconducting qubit-based quantum processors, these systems offer fast gate times, low-latency conditional logic, and fast program execution times.

For more information on the specifications of each provider, see the full Quantum computing target list.

For information about job cost, see Pricing in Azure Quantum and FAQ: Understanding Job Costs and Billing in Azure Quantum.

Related content

To start using Azure Quantum, explore the following links:

• Create an Azure Quantum workspace
• Get started with Q# and Visual Studio Code
• Install the Quantum Development Kit
• Run a Qiskit circuit in Azure Quantum