The Road to Useful Quantum Computers

Quantum Physics arXiv:2602.22540 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 26 Feb 2026] Title:The Road to Useful Quantum Computers Authors:Timothy Proctor, Robin Blume-Kohout, Andrew Baczewski View a PDF of the paper titled The Road to Useful Quantum Computers, by Timothy Proctor and 2 other authors View PDF Abstract:Building a useful quantum computer is a grand science and engineering challenge, currently pursued intensely by teams around the world. In the 1980s, Richard Feynman and Yuri Manin observed independently that computers based on quantum mechanics might enable better simulations of quantum phenomena. Their vision remained an intellectual curiosity until Peter Shor published his famous quantum algorithm for integer factoring, and shortly thereafter a proof that errors in quantum computations can be corrected. Since then, quantum computing R&D has progressed rapidly, from small-scale experiments in university physics laboratories to well-funded industrial efforts and prototypes. Hype notwithstanding, quantum computers have yet to solve scientifically or practically important problems -- a target often called quantum utility. In this article, we describe the capabilities of contemporary quantum computers, compare them to the requirements of quantum utility, and illustrate how to track progress from today to utility. We highlight key science and engineering challenges on the road to quantum utility, touching on relevant aspects of our own research. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Emerging Technologies (cs.ET); Performance (cs.PF) Cite as: arXiv:2602.22540 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2602.22540v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.22540 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Journal reference: The Bridge 55, 4, 29-36 (2026) Submission history From: Timothy Proctor [view email] [v1] Thu, 26 Feb 2026 02:27:54 UTC (583 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled The Road to Useful Quantum Computers, by Timothy Proctor and 2 other authorsView PDF view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-02 Change to browse by: cs cs.ET cs.PF References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)