Measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC) is a model of quantum computing in which a highly entangled quantum state, called a cluster state, is prepared in advance and computation proceeds by measuring its qubits one after another. It was proposed by Robert Raussendorf and Hans Briegel in 2001. Whereas gate-based computation applies quantum gates step by step to an initial state, MBQC computes by dismantling an entangled collection of qubits through measurement. Because measurement irreversibly consumes entanglement and cannot be undone, MBQC is also called one-way quantum computation.
Examples
Akihiro Kubota's Collapsed Constellations (2026) measures, and thereby collapses, a one-dimensional cluster and a two-dimensional lattice cluster based on the drawing rules of kolam, the South Indian floor drawings, and builds ambiguous figure-poems made only of straight lines from the results. It connects the indeterminacy of quantum measurement with the figures of Josef Albers's Structural Constellations (1948–66), which appear to project forward or recede depending on how they are read. The computation used a superconducting quantum computer at Osaka University's QIQB through the open-source quantum cloud software OQTOPUS. Kubota's Poesia Povera also composes poetry following the steps of measurement-based computation. Both were shown in "An Exhibition of Auto-Destructive Art" at NEORT++ in October 2026.