Q# Blog

We are pleased to announce the winners and finalists from April’s 2026 Quantum Pioneers Program – Hardware Track  

Quantum computing is entering a new phase. Across the industry, we are seeing meaningful progress on multiple fronts at once: higher-fidelity hardware, better control systems, more practical error correction, richer software tooling, and increasingly sophisticated hybrid workflows that combine quantum, AI, and high-performance computing (HPC). Useful quantum computing will not arrive from a single breakthrough in isolation; it will come from advances that work together across the full stack.   Logical qubits made from trapped ions Microsoft continues to make progress on the path to utility-scale quantum computing, as reflected in today’s publication in Nature on logical qubits. The paper, titled “Improved quantum processor logical error rates via correction and detection,” captures a set of results that marked a significant step forward for the field. By applying the Microsoft Quantum platform to Quantinuum’s trapped-ion hardware, the teams demonstrated logical error-rate improvements ranging from 11x to 800x over corresponding physical circuit baselines. In a Bell-state preparation, the logical circuit error rate was reduced from roughly 0.8% for the physical baseline to 0.001%, yielding the now well-known 800x improvement. The work also demonstrated repeated error correction with an error rate per round 51x lower than a physical baseline, along with a 22x improvement for preparing a 12-qubit cat state.  

Majorana 2 contains qubits that are 1,000x more reliable than those in our previous quantum processing unit. The new material stack, which swaps aluminum for lead, creates highly reliable topological qubits with operations on the microsecond scale and lifetimes with a mean of 20 seconds, occasionally exceeding one minute. This rapid progress, enabled by AI, has cut our timeline in half for delivering a scalable quantum computer—now anticipated by 2029.  

As quantum algorithms grow more sophisticated, teams need powerful tools that support practical, scalable quantum development. With this release, Microsoft’s Quantum Development Kit takes a major step forward. QDK v1.27.0 delivers stronger insight into program behavior, richer developer tooling, and first-class program composability across Q#, Python, OpenQASM, and leading frameworks such as Qiskit and Cirq. QDK v1.27.0 improves how developers build, inspect, and assemble quantum programs, making it easier to iterate on complex algorithms using reusable components.   AI‑assisted quantum development is now a first‑class experience in the QDK, elevating quantum development across the entire workflow. Deep integration with Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot brings intelligent assistance to every stage, from code generation and circuit reasoning to debugging, visualization, hardware submission, and resource estimation. Enhanced circuit diagrams, quantum state inspection, and a streamlined VS Code experience make iteration and exploration faster, more reliable, and more interactive across Python, Jupyter, and Q#.   Alongside these core advances, QDK for chemistry v1.1.0 expands what can be explored on today’s early fault‑tolerant hardware. In response to strong user demand, the release adds support for a broad family of model Hamiltonians, introduced through a systematic workflow that connects real molecular systems to reduced models such as the Fermi‑Hubbard Hamiltonian. Combined with stronger core primitives, deeper ecosystem integration, and a significantly faster classical pipeline, QDK for chemistry enables practical chemistry and materials science experimentation today while laying the groundwork for larger‑scale quantum capabilities ahead.   Together, these updates advance quantum computing from basic research toward practical, hardware-aware quantum engineering.   Download Microsoft’s QDK and QDK for chemistry   In the video below, hear directly from David and Stefan as they discuss the key updates in this release and what they unlock for practical quantum development.    

At Microsoft, our quantum mission is clear: to build a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer capable of solving problems that are intractable for classical systems. Achieving this requires more than incremental progress—it demands breakthroughs in physics, engineering, and computer science. Our approach is rooted in topological quantum computing, a paradigm that promises inherent error resilience by encoding information in global properties of matter rather than local states.   Topological quantum computing offers a fundamentally different path to scalability, but realizing its full potential requires innovation across every layer of the stack. One promising direction is measurement-based quantum computing, which leverages adaptive measurements on entangled resource states to implement quantum logic. This approach could simplify control, enhance robustness, and accelerate the path to fault tolerance.   Introducing the 2026 Quantum Research Pioneers Program – Hardware Track To advance this frontier, we are launching the 2026 Quantum Pioneers Program (QuPP). Through this program, we invite leading academic researchers to explore the next generation of measurement-based techniques for topological quantum computing.       Microsoft Quantum Pioneers Program – Hardware Track Contest Official Rules   1. SPONSOR These Official Rules (“Rules”) govern the operation of the Microsoft Quantum Pioneers Program Contest (“Contest”). Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052, USA, is the Contest sponsor (“Sponsor”).      2. DEFINITIONS In these Rules, “Microsoft”, “we”, “our”, and “us” refer to Sponsor and “you” and “yourself” refers to a Contest participant, or the parent/legal guardian of any Contest entrant who has not reached the age of majority to contractually obligate themselves in their legal place of residence. By entering you (your parent/legal guardian if you are not the age of majority in your legal place of residence) agree to be bound by these Rules.     3. ENTRY PERIOD The Contest starts at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on April 13, 2026, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on April 27, 2026 (“Entry Period”). The entry period is divided into two (2) Prize Periods, as follows:    Prize Period Start Date End Date 1 November 1, 2025, at 12:00 a.m. PT January 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT 2 April 13, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. PT April 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT     4. ELIGIBILITY This is a trade Contest open only to students (doctoral students, post-doc students, etc.) and professors (assistant, associate, etc.) at a university or degree-granting research institutions in the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico). Applicants may only serve as principal investigator (“PI”) or co-PI on one (1) proposal submitted to Microsoft as part of the Quantum Pioneers Program each year. There can be a maximum of two (2) PIs per proposal. You must be twenty-one (21) years of age or older to be eligible. 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PLEASE NOTE: If you are a public sector employee (government and education), all prize awards will be awarded directly to your public sector organization and subject to receipt of a gift letter signed by your agency/institution’s ethics officer, attorney, or designated executive/officer responsible for your organization’s gifts/ethics policy. Microsoft seeks to ensure that by offering items of value at no charge in promotional settings it does not create any violation of the letter or spirit of the entrant’s applicable gifts and ethics rules.      5. HOW TO ENTER To create an entry, create a five (5) page written proposal for research related to measurement-based quantum computing that includes:    Exploring at least one (1) of the following subject matter areas:  Novel simulation approaches to topological qubit dynamics  Explorations of novel readout and control techniques and components  Quantum error correction and circuit compilation for measurement-based approaches  Early fault-tolerant and NISQ experiments for measurement based approaches  Measurement-based methods for quantum characterization, verification, and validation (MB-QCVV)  A statement of need describing the specific outstanding challenge that is addressed by the research activity, that is, what the award funding will be used for;  The type and amount of collaboration needed or desired from Microsoft to perform the research activity;  Desired outcome of the research activity with expected impact on the field;  Facilities, materials, equipment, or other support available and/or needed to complete the proposed research; and  A short CV of the Principal Investigators (PI), not to exceed one (1) – tow (2) pages for each PI, should also be included in the proposal.    To submit an entry, send your written proposal by email to QPP@microsoft.com via an email with “ 2026 Quantum Pioneers Program” in the subject line during one of the Prize Periods.    The entry limit is one (1) per person overall. 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WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION Pending confirmation of eligibility, potential prize winners will be selected by Microsoft, our designated agent, or a qualified judging panel from among all eligible entries received based on the following judging criteria:     33% – Faculty Merit: Faculty is accomplished in research and community engagement.  33% – Research Merit: Faculty’s proposed research is aligned with Microsoft Quantum interests, innovative, and likely to have a significant impact on the field.  33% – Proposal Quality: The research proposal is clear, focused, and well-organized, and it demonstrates the team’s ability to successfully execute the research and achieve a significant impact.    Potential winners will be selected within twenty-one (21) days following the Entry Period from among all eligible entries received. In the event of a tie between any eligible entries, an additional judge will break the tie based on the judging criteria described above. 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While the documentation (https://aka.ms/qdk) is a great resource to learn in detail about the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (or “the QDK” for short), seeing it in action really helps convey just how simple it is to get started, the breadth of features it includes, and the power of the Q# language for developing quantum code.   With that in mind, the team that builds the QDK has put together a video where Mine Starks will give a brief tour of some of the main features of the QDK.   Enjoy!  

While the documentation (https://aka.ms/qdk) is a great resource to learn in detail about the Microsoft Azure Quantum Development Kit (or “the QDK” for short), seeing it in action really helps convey just how simple it is to get started, the breadth of features it includes, and the power of the Q# language for developing quantum code.   With that in mind, the team that builds the QDK has put together a video where Stefan Wernli will go more in-depth and walk through implementing an error correction algorithm using the quantum-specific Q# programming language included with the QDK.   Enjoy!  

While the documentation (https://aka.ms/qdk) is a great resource to learn in detail about the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (or “the QDK” for short), seeing it in action really helps convey just how simple it is to get started, the breadth of features it includes, and the power of the Q# language for developing quantum code.   With that in mind, the team that builds the QDK has put together a video where Mine Starks will give a brief tour of some of the main features of the QDK.   Enjoy!  

This spring, we partnered with Quantum Coalition to offer a challenge at QRISE 2024. This six-week-long event aimed to connect students with quantum computing industry research challenges and help them get started doing research projects of their own.   The challenge we offered to the participants focused on resource estimation of quantum algorithms. Resource estimation helps us answer the question “How many physical qubits and how much time is necessary to execute a quantum algorithm under specific assumptions about the hardware platform used?” Getting these kinds of estimates serves multiple purposes: It allows us to deduce the conditions that quantum hardware needs to meet to offer practical quantum advantage. It helps us clarify which algorithms truly give quantum advantage over their classical counterparts, and which ones do not, and if they do, what problem instances get the advantage. It allows us to compare the efficiency of different algorithms that solve the same problem long before they become viable to run on quantum machines, thus enabling work on improving quantum algorithms. The goal of the challenge was to implement a quantum algorithm of participants’ choice and obtain and analyze the estimates of resources required for running it on future fault tolerant quantum computers using the Microsoft Azure Quantum Resource Estimator. This is exactly the kind of questions quantum algorithms researchers work on!   Let’s meet the winning teams and learn about their projects in their own words!   Team Qu-Cats Katie Harrison Muhammad Waqar Amin Nikhil Londhe Sarah Dweik Quantum approximate optimization problem (QAOA) is a quantum algorithm used to solve optimization problems. However, QAOA can only solve an optimization problem that can be formulated as a quadratic unconstrained bounded optimization (QUBO) problem. In this project, we have chosen to solve the Number Partitioning Problem (NPP) using QAOA. NPP involves partitioning a given set of numbers to determine whether it is possible to split them into two distinct partitions, where the difference between the total sum of numbers in each partition is minimum. This problem has applications in various fields, including cryptography, task scheduling, and VLSI design. This problem is also recognized for its computational difficulty, often described as the Easiest Hard Problem. In this project, we have accomplished two primary objectives. Initially, we determined the optimal QPU configuration to run QAOA. Subsequently, we conducted an analysis of resource estimates as we scaled the input size.   To determine the best setup for the quantum processing unit (QPU), we evaluated resources for eight different hardware setups, tracking variables like physical qubits, the fraction of qubits used by T-factories, and runtime, among others. The table below details results for the eight different configurations.     In addition, we conducted an analysis of resource estimates across a range of input variables. The plot below represents a segment of the analysis, primarily illustrating how the number of physical qubits varies with increasing input size.     Besides that, we have plotted other variables, such as algorithm qubits, partitions (in NPP), and T-factory qubits. We see that all variables increase as the input size increases. This is expected because from the QUBO cost function we require one bit for every element in the set. We also plotted the number of partitions that represents the scale of the problem for a particular input size. Interestingly, we notice that up to 12 elements, the number of partitions is higher than the number of physical qubits. This indicates that QAOA is at a severe disadvantage compared to the brute-force approach. However, as the number of elements continues to increase beyond 12, the growth in the number of physical qubits slows down.   Check out the team’s project!   Team Exponential Niraj Venkat   Integer factorization is a well-studied problem in computer science that is the core hardness assumption for the widely used RSA cryptosystem. It is part of a larger framework called the hidden subgroup problem which includes the discrete logarithm, graph isomorphism and the shortest vector problem. State-of-the-art classical algorithms that exist today, such as the number field sieve, can perform factorization in subexponential time. Shor’s algorithm is a famous result that has kicked off the search for practical quantum advantage. It showed that a sufficiently large, fault-tolerant quantum computer can factor integers in polynomial time. Recently, Regev published an algorithm that provides a polynomial speedup over Shor’s, without the need for fault-tolerance. Regev’s result leverages an isomorphism between factoring and the shortest vector problem on lattices, which had remained elusive for more than two decades.   This project provides resource estimates for different variants of Regev’s quantum circuit, by comparing state preparation routines and evaluating recent optimizations to quantum modular exponentiation. In scope for future work is the classical post-processing of the samples from the quantum circuit (more below).   The initial step of Regev’s quantum circuit prepares control qubits in a Gaussian superposition state. For n qubits, this is achieved by discretizing the domain of the Gaussian (normal) probability distribution into 2n equally spaced regions and encoding those cumulative probabilities as amplitudes of the quantum state. For example, here is a visualization of successive sampling of a Gaussian state over n = 4 qubits, plotted using the Q# Histogram:     As we add more shots, the histogram gradually adopts the shape of a bell curve. Such a visual test can be useful during development, especially when running on actual quantum hardware where the quantum state is not available for introspection. This project explores three different algorithms for Gaussian state preparation: Q# library PreparePureStateD Arbitrary state preparation by Möttönen et al., similar to above where the amplitudes for each basis state are specified Grover-Rudolph state preparation which is meant specifically for probability distributions like the Gaussian, and does not require amplitudes as input In the resource estimation of the overall quantum circuit, we use the fastest method from the three listed here, namely inlinecode PreparePureStateD inlinecode, to initialize the Gaussian state.   The next step of Regev’s quantum circuit is modular exponentiation on small primes. This project implements two different algorithms: Binary exponentiation used in Regev’s original paper Fibonacci exponentiation with the Zeckendorf representation of integers, using a fast algorithm for Fibonacci number calculation Regev’s algorithm uses the quantum computer to sample a multidimensional lattice. In terms of complexity analysis, Gaussian states have properties that work well on such lattices. However, it is unclear whether a Gaussian state is actually required in practice. For this reason, our test matrix looks like this:     Quantum modular exponentiation algorithm used Control register state preparation algorithm used Fibonacci exponentiation with uniform superposition Binary exponentiation with uniform superposition Fibonacci exponentiation with Gaussian superposition Binary exponentiation with Gaussian superposition   Here are the resource estimation results for different variants of the factoring circuit for N = 143:     The overall winner is Fibonacci exponentiation with a uniform distribution over the control qubits. In this analysis, the size of the control register is fixed to 20 logical qubits for all the four profiles being tested. Preparing a uniform superposition is just a layer of Hadamard gates, which is the same for all problem sizes N. This is clearly advantageous over Gaussian state preparation, where the radius of the Gaussian state required increases exponentially with N.   This project is focused on quantum resource estimation, and for these purposes the classical post-processing of the samples from the quantum circuit is not required. However, this is required for a complete implementation of Regev’s algorithm. Current work includes investigation of lattice reduction techniques, followed by filtering of corrupted samples and fast classical multiplication in order to compute a prime factor. Other state preparation algorithms in the literature – including ones specific to Gaussian states – may also prove beneficial by reducing the gate complexity and number of samples required from the quantum circuit.   Check out the team’s project!

Introduction Some quantum computers can do more than execute a static sequence of gates. The most advanced ones can perform mid-circuit measurements, conditionally execute gates, perform real-time classical computations and re-use qubits. If you want to experiment with these state-of-the-art capabilities, we have good news for you. The Microsoft Quantum Development Kit now supports running hybrid quantum programs on hardware targets. This kind of program combines classical and quantum computations; thus, we refer to them as hybrid quantum programs.   Last year, we released Azure Quantum’s Integrated Hybrid feature, enabling users to develop their hybrid quantum programs using Q# and the QDK. Since then, we have modernized the QDK, but the initial release did not have support for this feature. After months of dedicated development, we are excited to announce that the QDK again has support for implementing hybrid quantum programs!   Not only have we added support for these advanced capabilities, but we have also made significant improvements to the development experience, and users now have: More detailed and comprehensive design-time feedback. Support for a wider range of Q# features when creating hybrid quantum programs. Optimized compilation for running on quantum hardware. Increased execution reliability on programs submitted to run on quantum computers via the Azure Quantum service. Integrated Hybrid Unlocks New Possibilities Hybrid quantum computing refers to the process and architecture of a classical computer and a quantum computer working together to solve a problem. Integrated hybrid quantum computing is a specific kind of architecture that allows classical computations to be performed while qubits are coherent. This capability in combination with mid-circuit measurement enables features like branching based on measurement and real-time integer computations. These features represent a step forward in the use of high-level programming constructs in quantum applications, opening the door to a new generation of hybrid algorithms such as adaptive phase estimation, return-until–success, and some quantum error correction schemes.   At its most basic form, integrated hybrid quantum computing enables you to perform different operations based on the results from a qubit measurement. For example, the following code snippet conditionally applies an X operation to one qubit if the result of the measurement of another qubit is One:   namespace MyQuantumHybridProgram { @EntryPoint() operation Main() : Result { use qs = Qubit[2]; H(qs[0]); if MResetZ(qs[0]) == One { X(qs[1]); } return MResetZ(qs[1]); } }   Conditionally applying quantum gates based on measurement results is a feature that can be used for error correction. You can imagine how you can perform syndrome measurement and based on it apply the appropriate corrections.   You can also use other familiar Q# constructs such as loops and even integer computations that are performed while qubits are coherent. For example, the following program keeps track of how many times a measurement resulted in One and returns a Bool representing whether the count is an even number. Moreover, the program also takes advantage of another hybrid quantum computing feature, qubit re-use, which allows us to just use one qubit instead of the five that would be otherwise required. Note that all of this is automatically handled by the Q# compiler.   namespace MyQuantumHybridProgram { @EntryPoint() operation Main() : Bool { use q = Qubit(); mutable count = 0; let limit = 5; for _ in 1..limit { // Here we take advantage of an integrated // hybrid capability, qubit re-use, so we // can repeat this logic many times without // having to use a different qubit each time. H(q); if MResetZ(q) == One { set count += 1; } } return count % 2 == 0; } }   The ability to perform different computations, either classical or quantum, opens the door to the development of new innovative algorithms that are inherently hybrid.   Configuring the QDK You can run hybrid quantum programs both from Visual Studio Code and Python. In both cases, when working with a Q# program, select QIR Adaptive RI as the Q# target profile. This will enable the QDK to provide accurate design-time feedback. Diving into the details of the QIR Adaptive RI profile: QIR stands for Quantum Intermediate Representation, which is the program representation that the Q# compiler produces. Adaptive is the specific QIR profile. Profiles are defined in the QIR specification and represent a coherent subset of functionality that quantum targets support. RI stands for qubit re-use and integer computations respectively, which are extensions to the QIR Adaptive profile. Currently, Quantinuum is the only provider in Azure Quantum that supports integrated hybrid quantum computing, so make sure you submit your programs to their targets.   The Q# Compiler Guides You Once you have set up the Q# target profile, the QDK provides design-time feedback about Q# patterns that are not supported by the chosen quantum target.   Let’s look at an example of the kind of feedback the QDK provides. Consider the following code snippet:   namespace MyHybridQuantumProgram { @EntryPoint() operation Main() : Int { use q = Qubit(); H(q); let result = MResetZ(q); // We use the measurement result to determine // the value of variables of different types. // We refer to these variables and values as dynamic. // Dynamic Bool and Int values are supported by the // QIR Adaptive RI profile. let dynamicBool = result == One ? true | false; let dynamicInt = result == Zero ? 0 | 1; // Dynamic Double values are not supported by the // QIR Adaptive RI profile so the following line // will result in a compilation error. let dynamicDouble = result == Zero ? 0. | 1.; // The QIR Adaptive RI profile supports returning // dynamic values of type Result, Bool and Int. return dynamicInt; } }   In this program, we use a qubit measurement to determine the value of Bool, Int, and Double variables. Since both dynamic Bool and Int values are supported by the QIR Adaptive RI profile, the compiler does not produce any errors in the lines of code where the dynamicBool and dynamicInt variables are bound. However, since dynamic Double values are not supported by this same profile, the compiler produces an error like the following in the line of code where the dynamicDouble variable is bound:     This is just one example of how the Q# compiler provides design-time feedback to guide you on what kind of programs integrated hybrid targets can execute. The accuracy and usefulness of the feedback has significantly improved compared to the previous QDK, in which the compiler could not determine whether it was possible to execute a program on a quantum target before its submission. With the latest version of the QDK, programs execute more reliably when submitted to Azure Quantum targets.   The Q# Compiler Optimizes Your Program for Running on Quantum Hardware Another improvement that we have made is that we heavily optimize classical computations that do not need to be executed during coherence time. For example, in the following code snippet the loop limit calculation is relatively complex. Even though integer computation support makes it possible to perform this calculation while qubits are coherent, the program does not strictly require it. Since computing resources on current quantum computers are limited, the Q# compiler pre-computes anything that it can to reduce the number of computations that the quantum computer needs to perform, no matter the data type. In this program, the compiler computes the value of the limit variable, unrolls the loop and computes the value of angle for each iteration.   namespace MyHybridQuantumProgram { open Microsoft.Quantum.Convert; open Microsoft.Quantum.Math; @EntryPoint() operation Main() : Result { use q = Qubit(); let seed = 42; let limit = ((seed + 10) % 5) * (seed ^ 2); for idx in 0 .. limit { let angle = IntAsDouble(idx) * PI(); Rx(angle, q); } return MResetZ(q); } }   Give It a Try If you want to experiment with the most advanced capabilities quantum devices currently offer, install the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit VS Code Extension or install the qsharp Python package, and start implementing your own quantum hybrid programs. You can get inspiration to develop your own hybrid quantum algorithms from our samples and experiments. We are excited to see what you can accomplish!