Category Archives: Quantum Computer
IQM’s Quantum fabrication facility gets 35m from the EIB – evertiq.com
The loan is part of the European Guarantee Funds venture debt product introduced to provide liquidity to small and medium-sized companies affected by the pandemic.
The announcement follows IQMs disclosure in November of the opening of its first fabrication facility in Finland. The initial tranche of the EIB funds will be used for expanding the facility, accelerating material research and developing quantum processors.
"Todays chips shortage has exposed just how dependent the world is on semiconductor manufacturers in Asia. Quantum processors give us an opportunity to learn from this and become self-reliant first, and a global provider for quantum chips in the future," says IQMs Chief Executive Dr Jan Goetz in a press release. "This EIB loan supports us in building more balanced and resilient quantum development in Europe. We are already working on the most advanced quantum technology in Europe and this loan will also help us create the next-generation European quantum ecosystem."
This financing follows other news regarding IQMs open-source processor design software KQCircuits, the Q-Exa project for quantum acceleration for HPC centres, and the opening of the quantum fabrication facility. With this funding, IQM will have full control over quantum processor development and strengthen its European leadership.
IQM is building Finlands first commercial 54-qubit quantum computer with VTT, and an IQM-led consortium (Q-Exa) is building a quantum computer in Germany.
As we consider quantum computing as a sector of strategic importance, we are glad to support the Finland-based company IQM. With our financing, we not only sustain and create jobs within a highly innovative industry, but we also place ourselves squarely behind technological know-how. Europe has a strong tradition of quantum research, and funding IQM ensures that the results of this research will be put into practice in real-world innovations, adds EIB Vice-President Thomas stros.
Visit link:
IQM's Quantum fabrication facility gets 35m from the EIB - evertiq.com
After the IPO: IonQ takes on highly charged quantum computing challenge – VentureBeat
We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
Trapped-ion quantum computer manufacturer IonQ is on a roll. Recently, the company said its IonQ Aria system hit the 20 algorithmic qubit level a measure said to reflect a quantum computers qubits actual utility in real-world settings. The company also made IonQ Aria available on Microsofts Azure Quantum platform for what it describes as an extended beta program.
Moreover, IonQ reported its first quarter as a publicly traded company. It reportedly gained $2.1 million in revenue in 2021 and expects revenue for 2022 to be between $10.2 million and $10.7 million. For quantum computing, it is still early days when the players seek big partners to test out concepts.
A net loss of $106.2 million for 2021 belies the challenges ahead for IonQ, as well as other multi-state quantum computing players that look to surpass conventional binary computers someday. Early application targets for such machines include cryptography, financial modeling, electric vehicle battery chemistry and logistics.
By some measures, IonQ was late to the quantum computing race in 2019, when it first announced access to its platform via cloud partnerships with Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. An appearance on Google Cloud marketplace followed, thus making a Big 3 cloud hat-trick, one that other quantum players can also assert.
But, if IonQ was later to the quantum computing race, it was early to the quantum computing IPO.
Last year, IonQ claimed standing as the worlds first public pure-play quantum computing company. The IPO transpired as part of a SPAC, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company, which has come to be seen as an easier mechanism companies might use to enter the public markets.
The SPAC path is not without controversy, as companies taking this route have seen their shares slide after less than splashy intros. That doesnt bother Peter Chapman, CEO of IonQ. The company grossed $636 million in a SPAC-borne IPO that will go toward the long-awaited commercializing of quantum hardware, Chapman told VentureBeat.
I no longer have to think about raising money and we are no longer subject to market whims or external affairs, which seems, with [war in] Ukraine and everything else going on, like a really good decision, he said.
The IPO funding also gives IonQ staff a clear gauge on their stock options worth, he said, adding that this is important in the quantum talent war that pits IonQ versus some of the biggest tech companies in the world, many of which use superconducting circuits rather than ion trapping.
Clearly, raising large sums from VCs or public markets is a to-do item for quantum computing hardware makers like IonQ. The company arose out of academic labs at the University of Maryland that were originally propelled by a research partnership in quantum science with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Now, it must move lab prototypes into production, which is where much of the moneys raised will be spent as quantum computers seek to go commercial, Chapman indicated.
We knew that within roughly 18 months from IPO, we were going to be gearing up for manufacturing and that was going to require a lot more money. And so being able to run faster, was also a huge piece of what we wanted to be able to do, Chapman said.
Moving to larger scale production is a hurdle for all quantum players. Ion-trapping technology advocates may claim some edge there, in that parts of their base technology employ methods have long been used in atomic clocks.
With atomic clocks, you take ions and suspend them in a vacuum, levitate them above the surface using an RF field and you isolate them perfectly. Theyre very stable and theyre extremely accurate, Chapman said, touching on a factor that leads ion-trapping advocates to claim qubits with better coherence that is, ability to retain information than competitive methods.
Chapman notes that important atomic clock components have undergone miniaturization over the years and versions now appear as compact modules in navigational satellites. That augurs the kind of miniaturization that would help move the quantum computer out of the lab and into data centers. Of course, there are other hurdles ahead.
For IonQ, another bow to manufacturability is seen in the companys recent move from ytterbium ions to barium ions. This is said to create qubits of much higher fidelity.
In February, IonQ announced a public-private partnership with Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) to build a sustainable source of barium qubits to power its IonQ Aria systems.
Chapman said the ions of barium qubits are controlled primarily with visible light, rather than the ultraviolet light that ytterbium set-ups require. Such UV light can be damaging to hardware components, so visible light has benefits over UV light.
More important, according to Chapman, is the fact that so many commercial silicon photonics work in the visible spectrum. Using the same technology found in a range of existing commercial products is useful as quantum computing looks to miniaturize and boost reliability.
Along with IonQs partnerships with cloud players, comes a series of partnerships with industry movers such as Hyundai Motor (for electric battery chemistry modeling), GE Research (for risk management) and Fidelitys Center for Applied Technology (for quantum machine learning for finance). More such deals can be expected, as IonQs quantum computing efforts ramp up and roll out.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn more about membership.
Here is the original post:
After the IPO: IonQ takes on highly charged quantum computing challenge - VentureBeat
$10 Million Donation Aids the Exploration of Quantum Physics – Cornell University The Cornell Daily Sun
After receiving a $10 million donation from David Meehl 72, Cornell is looking to make big strides in the field of quantum physics by increasing their resources on campus including faculty and laboratory equipment in efforts to become the leading university in this research area.
In the past, Cornells quantum physics research has largely focused on advancing some of the fundamental challenges of solid-state quantum technologies.
Meehl, however, made the donation because he says that the world needs more funds going into STEM programs.
We do not need more economists, but we do need more doctors, more nurses and more engineers, Meehl said.
Lynden Archer, dean of the College of Engineering, is also confident that this gift provides a push for early efforts to define the direction of quantum physics by funding the physics and engineering departments.
The students that are educated in these domains end up becoming the leaders [of the fields] and this donation creates excitement among graduate students who will be able to use the infrastructure provided by the gift, Archer said.
The ultimate goal of the donation is to develop quantum computers for Cornell.
Quantum computers offer secure information transfer as well as rapid solutions of complicated computational problems, Archer said. These problems include modeling the behavior of a singular atom.
Unlike regular computers that use binary code of zeros for OFF and ones for ON as switchable circuits, quantum computers are made to code using physical systems.
The unit of quantum computers is qubits, or quantum bits, which allow a computer to have the ON and OFF state at the same time, which allows the computer to make many more combinations of numbers to research beyond what a supercomputer is capable of.
The secret behind any quantum device are the materials that constitute that voice, Archer said. Materials such as electronic chips and superconductors are what the donation will be put towards primarily for Cornell.
The gift will be dedicated to building the large equipment fund that will be used to generate quantum computers. There will be two different equipment funds one for science and one for engineering. The remaining money will be used to hire experts to operate these complex instruments.
This equipment requires specific measures to function, which makes it difficult to operate.
Performing research at a scale as small as the size of an atom and at precise temperatures colder than outer space, which are below -273C, makes conducting experiments with quantum computers much more challenging.
Quantum phenomenon occurs on subatomic scales that are sensitive to thermal variations.
For an experiment to be accurate, there must be dilution refrigerators that allow to perform measurements at extremely low pressures in noise free environments.
Having such measures allows a more precise environment to study the phenomena of atoms in a state of no disorder and no motion. In November, Meehl gifted Cornell with a dilution refrigerator which is required to do research in this area because it cools atoms to their motionless state.
Archer said he was excited by the fact that this is a growing research area that involves such cutting edge materials.
Funding quantum is going to allow us to be part of something really unique and growing, Archer said.
Other Cornell faculty members are also driven to conduct research in realm quantum physics.
Prof. Euna Kim, physics, researches quantum condensed matter theory, which studies the phenomena of electrons. With quantum computers, Kim will be able to control atoms to mimic the behavior of the electrons of the atom.
According to Kim, Cornell has always been a leader and early adopter in nanoscience and physics, but is now slowly gravitating toward engineering. Kim says she is confident that quantum science and technology is the next wave.
These donations are going to allow Cornell to enable strong ideas [and] strong talent to come together, [to] do something that is truly remarkable, Kim said.
Meehls donation will allow physics and engineering students at Cornell to collaborate and generate research that has not been a possibility in the past due to the generation of quantum computers on campus.
Frankly, this is just the beginning, Archer said. This is a field that we expect as a college to become a leader in relatively quickly, and so well continue to invest in this domain.
Conspiracy theories, tribal hatreds and primal envy: Are these the dark ages? – The Register-Guard
Don Kahle| Register-Guard
I wonder if people living in the Dark Ages knew thats what it was. Did they miss books and learning? Did they guess that their destruction wasnt complete? Did they expect a new societal order to eventually emerge? Or did they just tend their plot of vegetables, hoping not to lose their harvest to marauding barbarians before winters onset?
If were living in a dark age right now, would we know it? How could we tell? We arent starved for food, but we do seem to be tilling our own tiny, shiny rectangles. We seem to be searching for something that will get us through each day. We seek warmth from the glow of our screens, but they dont sustain us. Were stuck in Narnia, where it was always winter but never Christmas.
We feed ourselves daily with conspiracy theories, tribal hatreds and primal envy. The American Library Association counts more book bans in 2021 than ever. The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to library, school and university materials and services last year. Superstition has replaced learning and curiosity.
We can blame Facebook or Twitter, but most of those concerns rehash earlier warnings about television. The generation before was warned about newsreels and radio. Human passivity is the continual culprit. The phonograph replaced front porch music-making.
If were in the dark, its been dark for a long time a century or more. The darkness may be spreading, but it isnt getting darker. Its reach is progressing but its pitch is not. If history is any guide, humans eventually adapt. We may yet see through this darkness.
In my view, it all started during World War I with the popularization of the wristwatch. Americans always had a timepiece in their pocket. Field generals moved it to the wrist so their soldiers could synchronize attacks. Civilians picked up on the trend. Wearing a wristwatch signaled support for the troops. Information has been stalking us ever since.
With pocket watches, we werent told the time unless we asked. Once on our wrists, we stopped seeking information. Information started seeking us. Yes, church bells did that centuries earlier, but those bells didnt target individuals.
Who has ever accidentally looked at their watch, instantly assessed their situation and reflexively felt anything but small and feeble? Follow that trend through the later technologies. Crooning lovers, filmed heroics, radio dramas, television glamour, Instagram vacation photos. Do any of these make us feel better about ourselves? Nope.
Stir the pot with advertising that subsidizes these technologies, making them popular to the point of becoming irresistible. Advertisers are the Greek Chorus, always reminding us that doom awaits. We feel insufficient without their product, helpless and hapless until we succumb. Those voices are now everywhere pervasive, polarizing and personalized.
Its not a cheery picture, I know. What feels like our fate might still be averted. What will lift the pall? Heres a hunch.
Were just a few years away from a quantum leap in computing power literally. Quantum computers will be unimaginably powerful. What we use today will look like Texas Instruments calculators. Thats really all they are. They can only answer questions, not solve problems. We tell our machines what we dont know. Our ignorance propels the machine.
Future computers will be fueled by our curiosity, not by our ignorance. A computer that is able to assign precise GPS coordinates for every grain of sand on a beach wont be used to answer questions. It will instead explore every possible solution to a particular problem. It will extend and accelerate what first lifted humanity our curiosity.
How soon? How well? For whose benefit? No one knows those answers yet.
Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday and Sunday for The Register-Guard. Past columns are archived atwww.dksez.com.
Go here to see the original:
Conspiracy theories, tribal hatreds and primal envy: Are these the dark ages? - The Register-Guard
Jabalpur boy wins Crimson Access Opportunity to study in Pennsylvania – Times of India
A scholarship can make a huge difference for any student aspiring to study overseas. The boy from Bhopal Vaasu Chandra, 17, got selected for the popular US Crimson Access Opportunity (CAO) scholarship, this year and is now set to fly to the US to study Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Vaasu received a $300,000 scholarship and will pursue a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science to create useful codes in AI at Franklin and Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
You have successfully cast your vote
"I was inclined to explore both science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related projects along with social sciences," says Vaasu.
No matter how much an algorithm is optimized or how fast a quantum computer processes, there is always a scope for improvement. "This is the key to innovation in technology," adds Vaasu.
"Numerous useful codes are waiting to be written, studied, and expanded to evolve the dynamic pieces of society. I am intrigued by the codes and want to spend my life exploring them extensively," he adds.
Here is the original post:
Jabalpur boy wins Crimson Access Opportunity to study in Pennsylvania - Times of India
University’s SnT to build the first testbed for quantum communication infrastructure in Luxembourg – EurekAlert
image:Prof. Dr. Symeon CHATZINOTAS view more
Credit: University of Luxembourg
The University of Luxembourg's Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), in collaboration with the Department of Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy (SMC) of the Ministry of State, today announces the development of the Luxembourg Quantum Communication Infrastructure Laboratory (LUQCIA). The 5-year project is funded by the European Unions Recovery and Resilience Facility in the context of the NextGenerationEU initiative, and will aim to build a national testbed in 2023 to enable advanced and applied research in quantum key distribution and quantum internet a vital stage in the next generation of computing and internet usage.
Luxembourg wants to remain the state-of-the-art communication hub it has become over the last decade. That is why we have taken it upon ourselves, through SnTs scientific leadership, to lay the groundwork for tomorrows quantum communication infrastructure, stated Prime Minister and Minister for Communication and Media, Xavier Bettel.
The Minister of Finance, Yuriko Backes, commented: I would like to pay particular tribute to the pioneering role of SnT, in collaboration with the SMC, in the development of quantum communication technologies. It is one of the national Recovery and Resilience Plans key measures for the digital transition. The EU funds will actively support Luxembourg to improve the security of public sector communications as part of a wider European project.
The LUQCIA infrastructure will give University of Luxembourg researchers unique tools to optimise cybersecurity for the upcoming quantum communication technology, stated the rector of the University of Luxembourg, Stphane Pallage.
Future-proofing secure communication
Most of the data we exchange over the internet is secured through keys that encrypt and decrypt information. As computers are made with increasingly greater computing power, the time it takes for a hacker to be able to break this encryption becomes shorter and shorter. However, an emerging field of cybersecurity called quantum key distribution (QKD) aims to better secure our data even against quantum computers an upcoming generation of extremely powerful computers that, when launched on a wide scale, could leave our information wide open to attackers.
LUQCIA aims to develop and implement an ultra-secure communication infrastructure based on quantum technology. The aim is to connect at least two geographical sites within the LUQCIA research infrastructure. LUQCIA will rely primarily on a terrestrial network and will integrate the space segment through follow-up activities.
Developing a robust quantum communication infrastructure leveraging both terrestrial and satellite optical links will guarantee the security of our data in our communications network well into our future. It will also help to realise the future of a quantum internet by interconnecting high-performance quantum computers, said Principal Investigator of the project, Prof. Symeon Chatzinotas.
Once up and running in 2023, the LUQCIA lab will be open to national and international stakeholders for joint research activities in the framework of SnTs Partnership Programme.
About SnT
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) at the University of Luxembourg conducts internationally competitive research in information and communication technology. In addition to long-term, high-risk research,SnTengages in demand-driven collaborative projects with industry and the public sector through its PartnershipProgramme. The resulting concepts present a genuine, long-lasting competitive advantage for companies in Luxembourg and beyond.www.snt.uni.lu
About the University of Luxembourg
The University of Luxembourg is an international research university with a distinctly multilingual and interdisciplinary character. The University was founded in 2003 and counts nearly 7,000 students and over 2,000 employees from around the world. The Universitys faculties and interdisciplinary centres focus on research in the areas of Computer Science and ICT Security, Materials Science, European and International Law, Finance and Financial Innovation, Education, Contemporary and Digital History. In addition, the University focuses on cross-disciplinary research in the areas of Data Modelling and Simulation as well as Health and System Biomedicine. The University of Luxembourg offers 17 Bachelors, 46 Masters Degrees and custom-made training programmes for Ph.D. candidates in 4 doctoral schools. Times Higher Education ranks the University of Luxembourg #3 worldwide for its international outlook, #25 in the Young University Ranking 2022 and among the top 250-300 universities worldwide. http://www.uni.lu
About the Recovery and Resilience Facility
As part of a wide-ranging response, the aim of the Recovery and Resilience Facility is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions. The RRF helps the EU achieve its target of climate neutrality by 2050 and sets Europe on a path of digital transition, creating jobs and spurring growth in the process. Luxembourgs recovery and resilience plan contains 20 measures (8 reforms and 12 investments) which will help the country become more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions. Those measures will be financed by93millionin grants.61%of the plan will supportclimate objectivesand32%will foster thedigital transition.
News article
Not applicable
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
Read the original:
University's SnT to build the first testbed for quantum communication infrastructure in Luxembourg - EurekAlert
Chinese and Russian Cyber Attacks on the Electric Grid and How Kronos Will Build to Make the Grid Secure – GlobeNewswire
NEW YORK, April 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Russia, angered by U.S. sanctions and support for the Ukraine, might launch a cyberattack against America's energy supply according to recent FBI intelligence. China, another significant rival, might also eventually attempt hamstringing America's power grid with cyber sabotage. While these threats will probably persist for years, Kronos Fusion's powerful quantum computing and machine learning systems could help harden this vital sector against foreign electronic attacks.
The first threatening sign came in February when hackers likely from Russia's state-aligned "Strontium" group infiltrated the computers of twenty-one liquified natural gas producers in Ukraine, including Chevron and Kinder Morgan. According to cybersecurity firm Resecurity Inc., as reported by Bloomberg, around 100 computers were compromised immediately before Russia launched military operations in the Ukraine. Some outlets such as Technocracy News described the hacking as a "warning shot" to America.
Following these events, the FBI reported "abnormal scanning" of five big U.S. energy companies in mid-March. Originating at IP addresses in Russia, these scans look like Russian cyber warfare agents probing for weaknesses in America's power supply. While some private cybersecurity experts disagree about the FBI's conclusions, Russia's Ukraine energy grid hacks and the shutdowns at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility potentially caused by Mossad viruses and cyberattacks show the general risk is real.
Kronos' upcoming Fusion Energy Commercialization Center could decisively boost America's energy security, reducing risks of a successful cyberattack on this critical sector. Simultaneous analysis of multiple streams of complex data through quantum computing and deep machine learning are critical to enabling Kronos' algorithms to develop practically uncrackable cybersecurity for the US energy grid.
The advanced machine learning will likely be able to respond to attacks in real-time. Developing countermeasures and workarounds with near-instantaneous testing simulations could theoretically enable creation of an adaptable cybersecurity system that changes itself constantly to immunize itself against newly emergent threats.
The Fusion Commercialization Centers planned by Kronos will house computer systems that use neural networks capable of learning from mistakes and running simulations on multiple lines of data to find, test, and refine optimum solutions. The usefulness of these methods in developing better cybersecurity and continually improving it based on real-world feedback are obvious.
Practical fusion energy itself is another layer of security for America against these foreign cyber intrusions. Even in the extremely unlikely event a Russian or Chinese cyberattack succeeded, there would be no risk of nuclear contamination or meltdown if the United States' power is provided by fusion reactors.
Kronos is strongly committed both to developing its Commercialization Centers featuring its futuristic computing technology, and a practical fusion reactor design, ensuring that America emerges as the dominant world energy producer. Ensuring the security of these systems is yet another critical piece of the fusion puzzle Kronos means to solve using cooperation between private industry, the government, and American academic institutions.
More information:
http://www.KronosFusionEnergy.com
PR Contact - Erin Pendleton - pr@kronosfusionenergy.com
Related Images
Image 1
This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.
With Prototype for Success, UChicago Prepares Students Under-Represented in STEM to be the Tech Leaders of the Future – Polsky Center for…
Published on Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Antonio Castano perked up at the first discussion question posed to the inaugural cohort of Prototype for Success, a new program designed to prepare University of Chicago undergraduates for careers as leaders in emerging tech.
Will electric vehicles take over the car market in the next 10 years? Matt Hebron, program director for careers in engineering in the Universitys Office of Career Advancement, asked the three dozen freshmen gathered for the program kickoff in late January.
The students, seated at tables in Chicago Booths Harper Center, conferred in small groups, then Castano took the mic to explain why he thinks not.
Even though in some urban areas we have seen that superchargers can be viable with the grids they have built up, in terms of the shipping industry throughout the U.S. interstate system it is going to be pretty difficult to set up infrastructure over thousands of miles in the next 10 years that can support mass EV commercialization, said Castano, a 19-year-old freshman from Long Island who plans to study molecular engineering.
Castano, who in his youth has thought a lot about renewable energy solutions, exudes the kind of ambition the University hopes to nourish with Prototype for Success, a three-year program that gives early and continued support to promising students aspiring to entrepreneurial or leadership positions in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
The competitive program is open to all incoming freshmen, and highly encourages applications from Black, Hispanic, and female students, who are under-represented in high-growth, highly remunerated STEM fields. Of the 36 students in the inaugural cohort selected from more than 120 applicants more than half are women and three-quarters are either Black, Hispanic, or Odyssey Scholars receiving need-based scholarships.
UChicago freshman Corrie Barnes offers her perspective at the kickoff event for Prototype for Success.
It is critical that we advance the STEM workforce, and that we do so in an inclusive manner so that we can capture the brightest minds and diverse perspectives to drive breakthrough innovations, said Juan de Pablo, executive vice president for science, innovation, national laboratories, and global initiatives at the University of Chicago, the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME), and senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory.
By offering early and continued support to promising students, we hope to create a pipeline of diverse STEM talent that will be exceptionally well prepared for future leadership roles, whether as entrepreneurs or with established organizations, he said.
Developing a STEM workforce representative of the nations talent pool is important for maintaining the U.S.s global competitiveness in science and engineering, the National Science Foundation has said. There are particularly large gains to be made at higher-skill levels and in certain fields.
Among the STEM workforce with a bachelors degree, only 7% are Black and 8% are Hispanic, while the U.S. population is 12% Black and 19% Hispanic, according to the National Science Foundations State of the U.S. Science and Engineering. Women make up about 44% of the STEM workforce with a bachelors degree, but just 26% of computer and mathematical scientists and 16% of engineers.
Prototype for Success leverages UChicagos world-class strengths in scientific research and entrepreneurial education to prepare students, including individuals from groups under-represented in STEM, to compete for top roles. The extracurricular program offers specialized workshops, internship experiences, and a peer group that serves as a support system and built-in network upon graduation.
UChicago freshman Antonio Castano
Castano said he was eager to be part of the program as soon as he received the email inviting him to apply shortly after his acceptance into UChicago. Entrepreneurial since grade school, Castano said he is excited to learn business strategies, engage with peers who challenge his thinking, and apply his curious mind to developing practicable innovations.
It is easy to say we need to do something, Castano said. This makes it more accessible.
Prototype for Success is a partnership between Career Advancement, the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME), and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. It draws on the resources of the Chicago Booth School of Business, ranked the nations top business school.
Chicago Booth offers tremendous intellectual depth in entrepreneurship, and students in Prototype for Success will benefit from the collective expertise developed by our faculty over decades of research, said Dan Sachs, executive director of education and programs at the Polsky Center.
The program was conceived by de Pablo and Jim Nondorf, vice president for enrollment and student advancement and dean of college admissions and financial aid, in close partnership with Paul Nealey, theBrady W. Dougan Professor of Molecular Engineering at PME and vice dean for education and outreach.
It is critically important that we educate diverse leaders for an increasingly technological society, Nealey said. Engineering, business and entrepreneurship are an incredibly powerful partnership that together can create real impact. The Prototype for Success Program works to develop strong interdisciplinary thinkers that enter the workforce ready to make a difference.
Rheaply CEO Garry Cooper talks with students at the start of the Prototype for Success kickoff
Students in the first cohort were selected based in part on demonstrated interest in emerging technologies. Some spent high school leading robotics teams or conducting research on solar energy. Approximately two thirds indicated plans to study molecular engineering at UChicago. The other third plans to major in a variety of STEM disciplines.
Our Prototype for Success students are an exceptional group of young scholars, said Meredith Daw, associate vice president and executive director of UChicagos Office of Career Advancement. As we reviewed their applications, they impressed us with their entrepreneurial potential, interdisciplinary thinking, persuasive communication skills, and passion for emerging technology.
Our goal is to give them the training, experience, and expert advice they need to turn their ideas into scientific discoveries, commercial ventures, and social impact, she continued. Were excited to help our students prepare for careers of the future with our partners at the Polsky Center and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
The program begins in the winter quarter of students freshman year with seminars on intellectual property and other entrepreneurship fundamentals. It progresses through the second and third years with experiential opportunities, R and CAD workshops, professional development programming, and a capstone project.
Garry Cooper
During the summers after their freshman and sophomore years, students are offered funded internship experiences with employers working at the intersection of science and entrepreneurship. The program also invites STEM entrepreneurs and other speakers from under-represented backgrounds to share their success stories.
It is all about creating a rich and immersive way for students to learn practical entrepreneurial skills who dont see heroes who look like them in the field, Sachs said.
The keynote speaker at the kickoff event was Garry Cooper, cofounder and CEO of Rheaply, a resource-sharing platform that helps companies limit waste and reuse at scale. Cooper described his journey from neuroscience postdoc to founder and urged students to build something you would use. He also provided his email address and encouraged students to reach out with their ideas, promising to respond within 24 hours and make connections to funders he knows.
The students in the first cohort came to Prototype for Success with varied interests.
Freshman Corrie Barnes, 18, wants to research how quantum technology can be used to address climate change.
Emmett Reid
Barnes, who graduated from Whitney Young High School in Chicago, became interested in quantum thanks to a quantum computing class she took at UChicago last summer, and connected that with work she was doing with the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate justice initiative. The Prototype program presents an opportunity to learn how to set up a business if that ends up being her path to finding better energy resources, she said.
Emmett Reid, 19, is interested in research and development to find an engineering solution to disease, including through immunology and genetics. Reid, of Springfield, Mo., is curious about what it would take to start his own company, and said applying to Prototype for Success was a no-brainer.
I really like problem solving and want to do something meaningful and impactful, Reid said. Im interested in everything the program offers.
Article by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, associate director of media relations and external communications at the Polsky Center. A longtime journalist, Alexia most recently was a business reporter with the Chicago Tribune. Reach Alexia via email or on Twitter @alexiaer.
Follow this link:
With Prototype for Success, UChicago Prepares Students Under-Represented in STEM to be the Tech Leaders of the Future - Polsky Center for...
Time crystal in a quantum computer | Stanford News
There is a huge global effort to engineer a computer capable of harnessing the power of quantum physics to carry out computations of unprecedented complexity. While formidable technological obstacles still stand in the way of creating such a quantum computer, todays early prototypes are still capable of remarkable feats.
The Google Sycamore chip used in the creation of a time crystal. (Image credit: Google Quantum AI)
For example, the creation of a new phase of matter called a time crystal. Just as a crystals structure repeats in space, a time crystal repeats in time and, importantly, does so infinitely and without any further input of energy like a clock that runs forever without any batteries. The quest to realize this phase of matter has been a longstanding challenge in theory and experiment one that has now finally come to fruition.
In research published Nov. 30 in Nature, a team of scientists from Stanford University, Google Quantum AI, the Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems and Oxford University detail their creation of a time crystal using Googles Sycamore quantum computing hardware.
The big picture is that we are taking the devices that are meant to be the quantum computers of the future and thinking of them as complex quantum systems in their own right, said Matteo Ippoliti, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford and co-lead author of the work. Instead of computation, were putting the computer to work as a new experimental platform to realize and detect new phases of matter.
For the team, the excitement of their achievement lies not only in creating a new phase of matter but in opening up opportunities to explore new regimes in their field of condensed matter physics, which studies the novel phenomena and properties brought about by the collective interactions of many objects in a system. (Such interactions can be far richer than the properties of the individual objects.)
Time-crystals are a striking example of a new type of non-equilibrium quantum phase of matter, said Vedika Khemani, assistant professor of physics at Stanford and a senior author of the paper. While much of our understanding of condensed matter physics is based on equilibrium systems, these new quantum devices are providing us a fascinating window into new non-equilibrium regimes in many-body physics.
The basic ingredients to make this time crystal are as follows: The physics equivalent of a fruit fly and something to give it a kick. The fruit fly of physics is the Ising model, a longstanding tool for understanding various physical phenomena including phase transitions and magnetism which consists of a lattice where each site is occupied by a particle that can be in two states, represented as a spin up or down.
During her graduate school years, Khemani, her doctoral advisor Shivaji Sondhi, then at Princeton University, and Achilleas Lazarides and Roderich Moessner at the Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems stumbled upon this recipe for making time crystals unintentionally. They were studying non-equilibrium many-body localized systems systems where the particles get stuck in the state in which they started and can never relax to an equilibrium state. They were interested in exploring phases that might develop in such systems when they are periodically kicked by a laser. Not only did they manage to find stable non-equilibrium phases, they found one where the spins of the particles flipped between patterns that repeat in time forever, at a period twice that of the driving period of the laser, thus making a time crystal.
The periodic kick of the laser establishes a specific rhythm to the dynamics. Normally the dance of the spins should sync up with this rhythm, but in a time crystal it doesnt. Instead, the spins flip between two states, completing a cycle only after being kicked by the laser twice. This means that the systems time translation symmetry is broken. Symmetries play a fundamental role in physics, and they are often broken explaining the origins of regular crystals, magnets and many other phenomena; however, time translation symmetry stands out because unlike other symmetries, it cant be broken in equilibrium. The periodic kick is a loophole that makes time crystals possible.
The doubling of the oscillation period is unusual, but not unprecedented. And long-lived oscillations are also very common in the quantum dynamics of few-particle systems. What makes a time crystal unique is that its a system of millions of things that are showing this kind of concerted behavior without any energy coming in or leaking out.
Its a completely robust phase of matter, where youre not fine-tuning parameters or states but your system is still quantum, said Sondhi, professor of physics at Oxford and co-author of the paper. Theres no feed of energy, theres no drain of energy, and it keeps going forever and it involves many strongly interacting particles.
While this may sound suspiciously close to a perpetual motion machine, a closer look reveals that time crystals dont break any laws of physics. Entropy a measure of disorder in the system remains stationary over time, marginally satisfying the second law of thermodynamics by not decreasing.
Between the development of this plan for a time crystal and the quantum computer experiment that brought it to reality, many experiments by many different teams of researchers achieved various almost-time-crystal milestones. However, providing all the ingredients in the recipe for many-body localization (the phenomenon that enables an infinitely stable time crystal) had remained an outstanding challenge.
For Khemani and her collaborators, the final step to time crystal success was working with a team at Google Quantum AI. Together, this group used Googles Sycamore quantum computing hardware to program 20 spins using the quantum version of a classical computers bits of information, known as qubits.
Revealing just how intense the interest in time crystals currently is, another time crystal was published in Science this month. That crystal was created using qubits within a diamond by researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
The researchers were able to confirm their claim of a true time crystal thanks to special capabilities of the quantum computer. Although the finite size and coherence time of the (imperfect) quantum device meant that their experiment was limited in size and duration so that the time crystal oscillations could only be observed for a few hundred cycles rather than indefinitely the researchers devised various protocols for assessing the stability of their creation. These included running the simulation forward and backward in time and scaling its size.
A view of the Google dilution refrigerator, which houses the Sycamore chip. (Image credit: Google Quantum AI)
We managed to use the versatility of the quantum computer to help us analyze its own limitations, said Moessner, co-author of the paper and director at the Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems. It essentially told us how to correct for its own errors, so that the fingerprint of ideal time-crystalline behavior could be ascertained from finite time observations.
A key signature of an ideal time crystal is that it shows indefinite oscillations from all states. Verifying this robustness to choice of states was a key experimental challenge, and the researchers devised a protocol to probe over a million states of their time crystal in just a single run of the machine, requiring mere milliseconds of runtime. This is like viewing a physical crystal from many angles to verify its repetitive structure.
A unique feature of our quantum processor is its ability to create highly complex quantum states, said Xiao Mi, a researcher at Google and co-lead author of the paper. These states allow the phase structures of matter to be effectively verified without needing to investigate the entire computational space an otherwise intractable task.
Creating a new phase of matter is unquestionably exciting on a fundamental level. In addition, the fact that these researchers were able to do so points to the increasing usefulness of quantum computers for applications other than computing. I am optimistic that with more and better qubits, our approach can become a main method in studying non-equilibrium dynamics, said Pedram Roushan, researcher at Google and senior author of the paper.
We think that the most exciting use for quantum computers right now is as platforms for fundamental quantum physics, said Ippoliti. With the unique capabilities of these systems, theres hope that you might discover some new phenomenon that you hadnt predicted.
This work was led by Stanford University, Google Quantum AI, the Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems and Oxford University. The full author list is available in the Nature paper.
This research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a Google Research Award, the Sloan Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
To read all stories about Stanford science, subscribe to the biweeklyStanford Science Digest.
View original post here:
Time crystal in a quantum computer | Stanford News
QunaSys Raises $10M in its Series B Funding Led by VGI to Expand Overseas Markets Further as a Japan-Based Quantum Computer Software Startup – PR…
TOKYO, March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- QunaSys Inc. ("QunaSys"), one of the world's leading developers of innovative algorithms in chemistry focused on accelerating the development of quantum technology applicability, has announced today that it has raised $10 million in its series B funding stage the led by JIC Venture Growth Investments ("VGI"), with participation from ANRI, Fujitsu Ventures Fund LLC, Global Brain, HPC Systems Inc., JST SUCCESS Program, MUFJ Capital, Shinsei Corporate Investment Limited, and Zeon Corporation. Simultaneously, QunaSys has announced that it has come to an agreement with Zeon Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, and HPC Sytems Inc. for a capital tie-up and a business alliance. The investment means an important progress for QunaSys since the previous financing in 2019.
Since 2019, QunaSys has grown its R&D and business development activities and achieved record business growth. In July 2020, QunaSys established QPARC, a Japanese consortium to study quantum computing applicability of quantum computers. Since then, more than 50 companies have participated in QPARC and the consortium has explored different quantum computing use cases, such as new energy analysis, molecular structure optimization, or sustainable material manufacturing, from ENEOS Holding and JSR Corporation.
In October 2021, QunaSys launched "Qamuy", a cloud-accessible quantum computing development platform that now has more than 3.3 million jobs executed over it. In anticipation of the quantum computing market adoption in the upcoming years, QunaSys aims to make its "Qamuy" available as the global de-facto standard for main hardware devices.
"Although quantum computer hardware is being developed around the world, for quantum computers to be widely used by users it is essential to have appropriate algorithms to meet the challenges and software that serves as an interface for users to master quantum computers. We have invested in QunaSys because we believe that QunaSys will be an indispensable company for the future spread of quantum computers in Japan. " Yuki Kuwabara, JIC Venture Growth Investments Co., Ltd., Principal
QunaSys is collaborating with Europe based consortiums to boost quantum computing, working together with the Pistoia Alliance in the development of quantum computing in the Pharma Industry and the Quantum Flagship program contributing to re-train industry workers with quantum computing for chemistry learning programs.
"It has been four years since we established QunaSys, andsince then with the help of our talented members and companies at the forefront of their industry, we have been working towards the practical application of quantum computers. This fundraising will help accelerate the development of more usable quantum computing chemical software and expand current business overseas to open a European base." Tennin Yan, QunaSys Inc. CEO.
Explore career opportunities at QunaSys and join the quantum computing revolution! >> https://qunasys.com/en/careers
About QunaSys Inc.
QunaSys is the world's leading developer of innovative algorithms in chemistry focused on accelerating the development of quantum technology applicability. QunaSys enables maximization of the power of quantum computing through its advanced joint research that addresses cutting-edge technologies providing Qamuy, one of the most powerful quantum chemical calculation cloud software to ever exist,fostering the development of collaboration through its QPARC industry consortium,and working with research institutions from both academia and government sectors. QunaSys software runs on multiple platforms with applicability in all chemical-relatedindustries to encouragethe adoption of quantumcomputing.
*All company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of QunaSys, Inc. or their respective companies.
CONTACT: QunaSys Inc., E-mail: [emailprotected]
SOURCE QunaSys Inc.