Category Archives: Quantum Computer
Combinations of new technologies will upend finance – The Australian Financial Review
Banks have sat near the technological frontier for many decades but the maturing of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, distributed ledger technology, the internet of things, virtual reality, 5G networks and quantum computing at similar times will create unprecedented challenges for institutions and their regulators.
The report points to NAB's work to migrate applications into Amazon Web Services illustrating a broader trend that will see US cloud giants play a more fundamental role in the Australian financial services sector.Bloomberg
The Swiss-based forum, famous for organising the annual Davos shindig, is urging industry leaders and regulators to imagine the outcomes when all of these technologies are combined rather than thinking about them individually. The message is it's the combined impact that matters.
This will undoubtedly be immense; examples already proliferate.
Take Barclays' work with IBM. In a recent trial, the British bank used IBMs cloud-based, seven-qubit quantum computer to speed up transaction settlements during a batch window. Germanys Commerzbank is testing sensors attached to construction cranes to tailor repayments to production levels and help borrowers manage liquidity. Citibank is using Microsoft's augmented reality gear to help its analysts visualise data.
It's becoming clear that the most cutting-edge developments are not coming from consumer-facing fintech applications but back-end processes. IT infrastructure and financial system plumbing can appear boring but the forum suggests the most transformative changes are happening behind the scenes, in the B2B world.
It's not so much about the threat of competition from Google, Apple and Amazon, but about these companies embedding themselves as enablers for financial institutions to increase value - and this points to the need to create alliances," says Arthur Calipo, who leads the financial services practice in Australia for Deloitte, which worked with the World Economic Forum on the report.
Google and Deutsche Bank signed a 10 year partnership in July for cloud services that includes a co-investment and revenue-sharing deal for new investments.AP
Given their cloud infrastructure, IBM and Microsoft are the other US tech giants that will play a fundamental role in banking as they help link disparate data sources together to create new insights.
These cloud giants will create new tensions. They will be accessible to new competitors, both fintechs and players in other sectors, unencumbered with bureaucracy and legacy bank systems. Traditional industry lines blur.
Incumbents are starting to understand that it's not so much speed and efficiency that will be the source of comparative advantage in the future, but their ability to assemble, to execute and to maintain healthy relationships with these powerful third-party vendors and, of course, with customers.
Banks will have to be fluent in all of these new and emerging technologies to play in the new economy. The ones that will flourish will need to understand what coordinated deployment looks like and develop a powerful innovation strategy around these interactions.
Artificial intelligence and cloud should be the critical anchors in any investment strategy with other technologies specifically enabled by these, the forum suggests.
Banks all over the world are carefully assessing and developing their relationships with cloud providers. Half of all global banking IT spending is going towards cloud projects, the report says, and deals are getting more sophisticated.
IBM's head of cloud services is briefing local banks and insurers on Friday on how it can help them manage the confluence of technologies. AP
For example, Google and Deutsche Bank announced in July a 10-year cloud partnership that also includes a co-investment strategy for new banking-related technologies and joint product development under a revenue-sharing agreement.
Locally, the forum calls out National Australia Bank's work with Amazon Web Services as a leading example of the migration of applications from legacy systems to the cloud, including NAB's entire foreign exchange platform and data lake, part of its large-scale IT transformation project.
Howard Boville, IBM's new global head of cloud computing, will brief about 20 banking and insurance sector executives on Friday on topics including secured cloud access, advanced automation, artificial intelligence and blockchain, at Trans-Tasman Business Circle event.
IBM, Amazon, Google and Microsoft are battling it out to be trusted partners for major institutions. The forum's report shows cloud is about far more than moving legacy systems and processes to an external provider, to reduce costs or bolster security.
It's also about access to much more powerful computing services. Think "artificial intelligence-as-a-service" and "quantum-computing-as-a-service", where banks can hire the latest systems to perform whatever functions needed.
Cloud providers could also drive banks' "know-your-client" (KYC) tools, analytics for assessing credit risk, and cyber-security services. As AI continuously learns from data provided by multiple financial clients it becomes more powerful than what a single institution could develop," the report says. Defending against new vulnerabilities will require solutions that are at ecosystem scale.
The World Economic Forum is trying of bring clarity to banks grappling with the impact of new technology. This is the 8th report in its Future of Financial Services series. Bloomberg
While COVID-19 has sucked up the banks' bandwidth this year, the forum suggests banks use it to accelerate the pace of digitisation, pointing to cautious signs of regulatory flexibility towards progressive innovation agendas.
Conditions for action have never been stronger, giving institutions the licence to pursue these innovation pathways at a pace and sophistication seldom seen before, it says.
The report provides many other pointers to where financial services is heading over the course of this decade. For example, banks will be forced to play a broader role in the digital "ecosystem" beyond finance, such as becoming a "trusted data steward" under open banking in Australia, and similar regimes, aboutearning new revenue streams by confirming customers' digital identity.
White-labelling of products will also become more common, as non-financial players seek to embed financial services in products. An example could be a gig worker application providing short-term loans in the app, based on data generated by the worker. The lender providing the loan might lose a direct customer relationship but could get access to data as a quid pro quo.
The use of sensor technology, real-time distributed ledgers and open data regimes will also see shifts towards continuous assessment of customers, including "just-in-time" lending where business borrowers can tap capital based on a dynamic assessment of their cash flow.
The report points to the birth of outcomes-based investment products, where institutions are paid for delivering a future experience; dynamic life and health insurance, with pricing linked to biometrics; and embedding payments into augmented reality.
Of course, the technological tsunami introduces many new risks, along with plenty of questions on environmental, social and corporate governance. For one, using blockchain and quantum computing consumes a lot of energy.
Deploying AI in a heavily regulated industry like financial services will also inevitably raise many issues, including the need to explain decision making and create "responsible AI" systems, the subject of a report by the forum last year.
The arrival of these new technologies will throw up many regulatory challenges: emerging risks will no longer sit neatly inside a supervised institution but instead could be dispersed across an interconnected set of players, including multinational technology companies and specialised fintechs.
While the consumer-facing fintechs get most of the attention, many start-ups are building applications to facilitate new market entrants enabled by "application programming interfaces" (APIs). For example, local start-ups Tic:Toc offers responsible lending-as-a-service; Kyckr provides KYC checks; Modul8 can handle payment card issuing.
It's a world where a new entrant can plug in what they need to service the customer without having to build everything themselves.
As Deloitte's Calipo points out, this creates new, strategic questions for banks. As they turn to big cloud providers, will they also be willing to use a variety of specialist service providers for work traditionally done in-house? Will they be willing to let other companies control customer relationships and supply product in the background, taking a clip of the revenue? And how will they manage the risk of all this?
The forum said its next report in the series will help to answer the third question, by examining how all the new emerging technologies create new sources of risk - but also how they will be able to be used to mitigate them.
Originally posted here:
Combinations of new technologies will upend finance - The Australian Financial Review
The Quantum Dream: Are We There Yet? – Toolbox
The emergence of quantum computing has led industry heavyweights to fast track their research and innovations. This week, Google conducted the largest chemical simulation on a quantum computer to date. The U.S. Department of Energy, on the other hand, launched five new Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers. Will this accelerate quantum computings progress?
Quantum technology is the next big wave in the tech landscape. As opposed to traditional computers where all the information emails, tweets, YouTube videos, and Facebook photos are streams of electrical pulses in binary digits, 1s and 0s; quantum computers rely on quantum bits or qubits to store information. Qubits are subatomic particles, such as electrons or photons which change their state regularly. Therefore, they can be 1s and 0s at the same time. This enables quantum computers to run multiple complex computational tasks simultaneously and faster when compared to digital computers, mainframes, and servers.
Introduced in the 1980s, quantum computing can unlock the complexities across different industries much faster than traditional computers. A quantum computer can decipher complex encryption systems that can easily impact digital banking, cryptocurrencies, and e-commerce sectors, which heavily depend on encrypted data. Quantum computers can expedite the discovery of new medicines, aid in climate change, power AI, transform logistics, and design new materials. In the U.S., technology giants, including IBM, Google, Honeywell, Microsoft, Intel, IonQ, and Rigetti Computing, are leading the race to build quantum computers and gain a foothold in the quantum computing space. Whereas Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei are leading companies in China.
For a long time, the U.S. and its allies, such as Japan and Germany, had been working hard to compete with China to dominate the quantum technology space. In 2018, the U.S. government released the National Strategy Overview for Quantum Information Science to reduce technical skills gaps and accelerate quantum computing research and development.
In 2019, Google claimed quantum supremacy for supercomputers when the companys Sycamore processor performed specific tasks in 200 seconds, which would have taken a supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. In the same year, Intel rolled out Horse Ridge, a cryogenic quantum control chip, to reduce the quantum computing complexities and accelerate quantum practicality.
Tech news: Is Data Portability the Answer To Anti-Competitive Practices?
Whats 2020 Looking Like For Quantum Computing?
In July 2020, IBM announced a research partnership with the Japanese business and academia to advance quantum computing innovations. This alliance will deepen ties between the countries and build an ecosystem to improve quantum skills and advance research and development.
More recently, in June 2020, Honeywell announced the development of the worlds highest-performing quantum computer. AWS, Microsoft, and several other IaaS providers have announced quantum cloud services, an initiative to advance quantum computing adoption. In August 2020, AWS announced the general availability of its Amazon Braket, a quantum cloud service that allows developers to design, develop, test, and run quantum algorithms.
Since last year, auto manufacturers, such as Daimler and Volkswagen have been leveraging quantum computers to identify new methods to improve electric vehicle battery performance. Pharmaceutical companies are also using the technology to develop new medicines and drugs.
Last week, the Google AI Quantum team used their quantum processor, Sycamore, to simulate changes in the configuration of a chemical molecule, diazene. During the process, the computer was able to describe the changes in the positions of hydrogen accurately. The computer also gave an accurate description of the binding energy of hydrogen in bigger chains.
If quantum computers develop the ability to predict chemical processes, it would advance the development of a wide range of new materials with unknown properties. Current quantum computers, unfortunately, lack the augmented scaling required for such a task. Although todays computers are not ready to take on such a challenge yet, computer scientists hope to accomplish this in the near future as tech giants like Google invest in quantum computing-related research.
Tech news: Will Googles Nearby Share Have Anything Transformative to Offer?
It, therefore, came as a relief to many computer scientists when the U.S. Department of Energy announced an investment of $625 million over the next five years for five newly formed Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers in the U.S. The newly formed hubs are an amalgam of research universities, national labs, and tech titans in quantum computing. Each of the research hubs is led by the Energy Departments Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; powered by Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Riggeti, and ColdQuanta. This partnership aims to advance quantum computing commercialization.
Chetan Nayak, general manager of Quantum Hardware at Microsoft, says, While quantum computing will someday have a profound impact, todays quantum computing systems are still nascent technologies. To scale these systems, we must overcome a number of scientific challenges. Microsoft has been tackling these challenges head-on through our work towards developing topological qubits, classical information processing devices for quantum control, new quantum algorithms, and simulations.
At the start of this year, Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner at Futurum Research, predicted that 2020 will be a big year for investors and Silicon Valley to invest in quantum computing companies. He said, It will be incredibly impactful over the next decade, and 2020 should be a big year for advancement and investment.
Quantum computing is still in the development phase, and the lack of suppliers and skilled researchers might be one of the influential factors in its establishment. However, if tech giants, and researchers continue to collaborate on a large scale, quantum technology can turbocharge innovation at a large scale.
What are your thoughts on the progress of quantum computing? Comment below or let us know on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Wed love to hear from you!
17 extremely useful productivity tips from this years 40 Under 40 – Yahoo Finance UK
Launching a groundbreaking news organization. Building a better quantum computer. Running for Congress and winning in an upset. Founding a company and taking it public. The honorees on Fortunes 2020 40 Under 40 certainly know how to get things done, so we asked them to tell us more about how they set and exceed their ambitious goals. We discovered that, for this years 40 Under 40, being more productive often means planning ahead and churning through tasks as quickly as possiblebut also sometimes just shutting everything off and taking a break.
Diana Avila, 34, global head of banking and expansion at TransferWise
I do not have meetings on Mondays. Instead, I use Monday for deep workanything that requires a lot of focus and time. This allows me to take on more meetings as the week develops and dedicate my time to others because Ive already accomplished any necessary work.
Margaret Anadu, 38, head of the urban investment group at Goldman Sachs
I try to go for an hour-long walk each morning completely free of any inputs (no music, podcasts, emails, etc.). Its my time to center myself and to think through what is happening with my family, with my team, and with the partners we work with in underserved communities. This is when I think through some of the most complex challenges facing me in the days and weeks ahead. This intentional, early morning quiet time, while often hard to carve out with two young kids at home, sets the tone for the day and makes me a better wife, mom, leader, and investor.
Henry Schuck, 37, cofounder and CEO of ZoomInfo
Spend time outlining whats important to you over the next three, six, and 12 months, and then regularly check to make sure youre spending your time on those priorities.
Charlotte Clymer, 33, writer, LGBTQ advocate, and consultant
Keep a good calendar. Everything goes down in the calendar, regardless of whether its drinks with friends or a media interview. It doesnt mean you have to follow it exactly, but keeping a steady calendar has a way of sharpening discipline. I cant recommend it enough.
Keia Cole, 39, head of digital experience at MassMutual
I set aside time on Friday mornings for mentoring and networking conversations. I love having the opportunity to connect with people across the organization. I found that creating time and space on Friday mornings makes me more present in those discussions, rather than squeezing people in during the rush of the week. And I am usually more relaxed and joyful because its Friday!
Suneera Madhani, 32, founder and CEO of Fattmerchant
Just say no. It has not only helped me in my professional life; it also helped personally as I juggle between mom life and work life. Understanding that it is okay to not say yes to everything that comes your way allows you to focus on things that help you move the needle toward your goals.
Matthew A. Cherry, 38, writer, director and producer at Cherry Lane Productions
Surround yourself with good people, and learn how to delegate.
Racquel Bracken, 37, partner at Venrock
Batch email. Nothing is that urgent, and if it is, your team will call or text you.You can waste so much time needlessly checking emails, when really whats better is to triage them at the beginning and end of every day.
Emily Ramshaw, 39, cofounder and CEO of The 19th*
Im a pre-crastinator by nature. I do everything immediately; as a result, Im almost always overbusy, but Im almost never stressed and crashing on deadline. Pick your poison?
Taylor Lorenz, 35, technology reporter at the New York Times
Set deadlines early so if (or when) you miss them you still have time left before the actual deadline.
Marissa Giustina, 30, senior research scientist and quantum electronics engineer at Google Research
When you really want to get something done, close your email. (Small tip; big impact.)
Ambar Bhattacharyya, 37, managing director at Maverick Ventures
When I need to be really productive, I disconnect from the Internet. I turn off the Wi-Fi on my computer so that I can focus on things like reading through an important document, working on detailed analysis, or writing a thoughtful response back to someone. For me, the No. 1 thing that takes away from productivity is all of the pop-ups, texts, alerts, and email notifications I am constantly receiving on all my devices. They are really hard to get away from unless everything is off and away.
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Jose Antonio Vargas, 39, founder of Define American
Turn off the Internet. When Im thinking, brainstorming, and writing, I turn the Wi-Fi off to limit the distraction and force me to focus.
Rep. Conor Lamb, 36, U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvanias 17th Congressional District
Put your phone in airplane mode.
Erica Anderson, 36, executive producer at New York magazine and Vox Media
I social distance from my phone! Its never in the bedroom (helps to get restful sleep), and I leave it alone during meetings to stay present. While I definitely multitask, recognizing that the phone can lessen my productivity is an important part of my personal work culture.
Will Ahmed, 30, founder and CEO of WHOOP
Get more sleep. Being well rested makes everything else easier, especially work.
Kate Rosenbluth, 38, founder and chief scientific officer of Cala Health
Forgive yourself for your failures. Its so easy to waste energy worrying unproductively about our failures, when you could be redirecting that energy to making meaningful positive impact. Youre probably the only one keeping score of your wins and losses, so drop the self-judgment and instead see your failures as building muscle for your next attempt.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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17 extremely useful productivity tips from this years 40 Under 40 - Yahoo Finance UK
How Amazon Quietly Powers The Internet – Forbes
Amazon (AMZN)
What was the last thing you heard about Amazon (AMZN)?
Let me guess. Its battle with Walmart WMT ? Or was it the FAAs approval of Amazons delivery drones? Most of this news about Amazons store is just noise that distracts investors from Amazons real force.
As Ill show, Amazon is running an operating system that powers some of todays most important technologies such as virtual reality, machine learning, and even quantum computing. Behind the scenes, it is utilized by over a million companiesincluding tech giants Apple AAPL , Netflix NFLX , and Facebook FB .
This is Amazons key and ever-growing moneymaker that has been driving Amazon stock to the moon. But before I pull the curtains, lets step back for a moment.
First, how Amazon makes moneyfor real
For all the online shopping fuss, Amazon doesn't earn much from its store. Yes, Amazon.com AMZN flips hundreds of billions of dollars worth of products every yearand its revenues are on a tear. But Amazon turns only a sliver of that into profits.
In the past year, Amazons store generated a record $282 billion in revenue from Amazon.com. That translated to just $5.6 billion in profitskeep in mind that was Amazon.coms most profitable year ever.
Meanwhile, most of Amazons profits came from the lesser-known side of its business called Amazon Web Services (AWS), as you can see below:
Amazon's profits from AWS vs Amazon.com
Its Amazons cloud arm that is serving over a million companies across the world. You may have heard that AWS has something to do with storing data in the cloud. But its much,muchmore than that.
AWS is the operating system of the internet
To get an idea of how AWS works, take your computer as an example.
Like every other computer, it runs on an operating system such as Windows or MacOS, which comes with a set of programs. This software puts your computer resources to use and helps you carry out daily taskssuch as sending emails or sorting out your files.
Now, think of AWS as an operating system thats running not one, but hundreds of thousands of big computers (in tech lingo: servers). It gives companies nearly unlimited computing power and storageas well as tools to build and run their software on the internet.
The difference is that these big computers sit in Amazons warehouses. And companies work on them remotelyor via the cloud. In other words, AWS is like the operating system of the internet.
Amazons operating system now powers AI, blockchain, and other next-gen technologies
In 2003, when Amazons AWS first started out, it offered only a couple of basic cloud services for storage and mail. Today, this system offers an unmatched set of 175+ tools that help companies build software harnesses todays top technologies.
The list includes blockchain, VR, machine learning (AI), quantum computing, augmented reality (AR), and other technologies that are the building blocks of todays internet.
For example, Netflix is using AWS for more than simply storing and streaming its shows on the internet. Its also employing AWS machine learning technology to recommend movies and shows to you.
Youve also probably heard of Slack (WORK), the most popular messaging app for business. Slack recently announced it will use Amazons media technology to introduce video and audio calls on its app.
And its not just tech companies that are utilizing Amazons AWS tools.
Take GE Power. The worlds energy leader is using AWS analytics technology to store and sift through avalanches of data from its plants. Or Fidelity. Americas mutual fund giant experiments with Amazons VR technology to build VR chat rooms for its clients.
In a picture, Amazons AWS works like this:
How Amazon's AWS powers the internet
Amazons AWS is earning more and more... and more
Amazon is not the only company running a cloud service. Google, Microsoft MSFT , Alibibaba, IBM IBM , and other tech giants are all duking it out for a slice of this lucrative business. But Amazon is the biggest and most feature-rich.
Today, Amazon controls 33% of the market, leaving its closest competitors Microsoft (2nd with 18%) and Google (3rd with 9%) far behind in the dust. That means nearly one third of the internet is running on Amazons AWS.
And it doesnt appear that Amazon will step down from its cloud throne anytime soon. Amazons sales from AWS soared 10X in the past six years. And last year, Amazon reported a bigger sales gain from AWS (dollar-wise) than any other cloud company.
Heres the main takeaway for investors
If you are looking into Amazon stock, dont get caught up in the online shopping fuss.
For years, AWS has been the linchpin of Amazons business. And this invisible side of Amazon is where Amazons largest gears turn.
Problem is, AWS is like a black box. Amazon reports very little on its operations. So if you want to dig deeper, youll have to do your own research.
Youll also have to weigh a couple of risks before putting your money into Amazon stock:
Other than that, Amazon is an outstanding stock, killing it in one of the most lucrative businesses on the planet. And its proven to be resilient to Covid, whose spread could hit the markers again.
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Study Expands Types of Physics, Engineering Problems That Can Be Solved by Quantum Computers – HPCwire
Sept. 1, 2020 A well-known quantum algorithm that is useful in studying and solving problems in quantum physics can be applied to problems in classical physics, according to a new study in the journal Physical Review Afrom University of WisconsinMadison assistant professor of physicsJeff Parker.
Quantum algorithms a set of calculations that are run on a quantum computer as opposed to a classical computer used for solving problems in physics have mainly focused on questions in quantum physics. The new applications include a range of problems common to physics and engineering, and expands on the types of questions that can be asked in those fields.
The reason we like quantum computers is that we think there are quantum algorithms that can solve certain kinds of problems very efficiently in ways that classical computers cannot, Parker says. This paper presents a new idea for a type of problem that has not been addressed directly in the literature before, but it can be solved efficiently using these same quantum computer types of algorithms.
The type of problem Parker was investigating is known as generalized eigenvalue problems, which broadly describe trying to find the fundamental frequencies or modes of a system. Solving them is crucial to understanding common physics and engineering questions, such as the stability of a bridges design or, more in line with Parkers research interests, the stability and efficiency of nuclear fusion reactors.
As the system being studied becomes more and more complex more components moving throughout three-dimensional space so does the numerical matrix that describes the problem. A simple eigenvalue problem can be solved with a pencil and paper, but researchers have developed computer algorithms to tackle increasingly complex ones. With the supercomputers available today, more and more difficult physics problems are finding solutions.
If you want to solve a three-dimensional problem, it can be very complex, with a very complicated geometry, Parker says. You can do a lot on todays supercomputers, but there tends to be a limit. Quantum algorithms may be able to break that limit.
The specific quantum algorithm that Parker studied in this paper, known as quantum phase estimation, had been previously applied to so-called standard eigenvalue problems. However, no one had shown that they could be applied to the generalized eigenvalue problems that are also common in physics. Generalized eigenvalue problems introduce a second matrix that ups the mathematical complexity.
Parker took the quantum algorithm and extended it to generalized eigenvalue problems. He then looked to see what types of matrices could be used in this problem. If the matrix is sparse meaning, if most of the numerical components that make it up are zero it means this problem could be solved efficiently on a quantum computer.
What I showed is that there are certain types of generalized eigenvalue problems that do lead to a sparse matrix and therefore could be efficiently solved on a quantum computer, Parker says. This type includes the very natural problems that often occur in physics and engineering, so this study provides motivation for applying these quantum algorithms more to generalized eigenvalue problems, because it hasnt been a big focus so far.
Parker emphasizes that quantum computers are in their infancy, and these classical physics problems are still best approached through classical computer algorithms.
This study provides a step in showing that the application of a quantum algorithm to classical physics problems can be useful in the future, and the main advance here is it shows very clearly another type of problem to which quantum algorithms can be applied, Parker says.
The study was completed in collaboration with Ilon Joseph at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Funding support was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344 and U.S. DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences Quantum Leap for Fusion Energy Sciences (FWP SCW1680).
For additional images, visit https://www.physics.wisc.edu/2020/08/25/new-study-expands-types-of-physics-engineering-problems-that-can-be-solved-by-quantum-computers/
Source: University of WisconsinMadison
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Study Expands Types of Physics, Engineering Problems That Can Be Solved by Quantum Computers - HPCwire
How Andersen Cheng plans to defend against the quantum computer – The Independent
A
ndersen Cheng has a way with striking and memorable analogies. Boris Johnsons government is committing 1bn to building a Frankensteins monster, he says. Im trying to build a cage without any government funding to stop it running wild. The monster in question is the quantum computer, which is a hackers dream. The cage is what Post-Quantum was set up last year to create.
Cheng was born in Hong Kong but came to England to do his O-levels and A-levels. His parents sent him to a school in Devon. They wanted me to be as far from London as possible, he says. He duly learned to drive a tractor and milk cows, but went on to study engineering at Imperial College and do an MBA. When he started working in the City at the end of the Eighties as a computer auditor, there were only six portable compact computers in the whole company and disdain for the techies from people still using calculators.
Cheng became head of credit risk at JP Morgan in the midst of the dotcom bubble. He recalls how Boo.com burnt through $150m in 18 months. There just wasnt enough broadband speed for all those virtual mannequins spinning around, he says. After a spell in private equity, Cheng decided to break away and set up on his own as a consultant in the fast-growing realm of cryptography, working on top secret projects for the British government. It was so classified even the project name was secret, he says.
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How Andersen Cheng plans to defend against the quantum computer - The Independent
New evidence that the quantum world is even stranger than we thought – Purdue News Service
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. New experimental evidence of a collective behavior of electrons to form "quasiparticles" called "anyons" has been reported by a team of scientists at Purdue University.
Anyons have characteristics not seen in other subatomic particles, including exhibiting fractional charge and fractional statistics that maintain a "memory" of their interactions with other quasiparticles by inducing quantum mechanical phase changes.
Postdoctoral research associate James Nakamura, with assistance from research group members Shuang Liang and Geoffrey Gardner, made the discovery while working in the laboratory of professor Michael Manfra. Manfra is a Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue's Bill and Dee O'Brien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and professor of materials engineering. Although this work might eventually turn out to be relevant to the development of a quantum computer, for now, Manfra said, it is to be considered an important step in understanding the physics of quasiparticles.
A research paper on the discovery was published in this week's Nature Physics.
Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek, professor of physics at MIT, gave these quasiparticles the tongue-in-cheek name "anyon" due to their strange behavior because unlike other types of particles, they can adopt any quantum phase when their positions are exchanged.
Before the growing evidence of anyons in 2020, physicists had categorized particles in the known world into two groups: fermions and bosons. Electrons are an example of fermions, and photons, which make up light and radio waves, are bosons. One characteristic difference between fermions and bosons is how the particles act when they are looped, or braided, around each other. Fermions respond in one straightforward way, and bosons in another expected and straightforward way.
Anyons respond as if they have a fractional charge, and even more interestingly, create a nontrivial phase change as they braid around one another. This can give the anyons a type of "memory" of their interaction.
"Anyons only exist as collective excitations of electrons under special circumstances," Manfra said. But they do have these demonstrably cool properties including fractional charge and fractional statistics. It is funny, because you think, 'How can they have less charge than the elementary charge of an electron?' But they do."
Manfra said that when bosons or fermions are exchanged, they generate a phase factor of either plus one or minus one, respectively.
"In the case of our anyons the phase generated by braiding was 2/3," he said. That's different than what's been seen in nature before."
Anyons display this behavior only as collective crowds of electrons, where many electrons behave as one under very extreme and specific conditions, so they are not thought to be found isolated in nature, Nakamura said.
"Normally in the world of physics, we think about fundamental particles, such as protons and electrons, and all of the things that make up the periodic table," he said. "But we study the existence of quasiparticles, which emerge from a sea of electrons that are placed in certain extreme conditions."
Because this behavior depends on the number of times the particles are braided, or looped, around each other, they are more robust in their properties than other quantum particles. This characteristic is said to be topologicalbecause it depends on the geometry of the system and may eventually lead to much more sophisticated anyon structures that could be used to build stable, topological quantum computers.
The team was able to demonstrate this behavior by routing the electrons through a specific maze-like etched nanostructure made of gallium arsenide and aluminum gallium arsenide. This device, called an interferometer, confined the electrons to move in a two-dimensional path. The device was cooled to within one-hundredth of a degree from absolute zero (10 millikelvin), and subjected to a powerful 9-Tesla magnetic field. The electrical resistance of the interferometer generated an interference pattern which the researchers called a pyjama plot. Jumps in the interference pattern were the signature of the presence of anyons.
"It is definitely one of the more complex and complicated things to be done in experimental physics," Chetan Nayak, theoretical physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara told Science News.
Nakamura said the facilities at Purdue created the environment for this discovery to happen.
"We have the technology to grow the gallium arsenide semiconductor that's needed to realize our electron system. We have the nanofabrication facilities in the Birck Nanotechnology Center to make the interferometer, the device we used in our experiments. In the physics department, we have the ability to measure ultra-low temperatures and to create strong magnetic fields." he said. "So, we have all of the necessary components that allowed us to make this discovery all here at Purdue. That's a great thing about doing research here and why we've been able to make this progress."
Manfra said the next step in the quasiparticle frontier will involve building more complicated interferometers.
"In the new interferometers we will have the ability to control the location and number of quasiparticles in the chamber," he said. "Then we will be able to change the number of quasiparticles inside the interferometer on demand and change the interference pattern as we choose.
This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under award number DE-SC0020138.
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Sources: Michael Manfra, mmanfra@purdue.edu
James Nakamura, jnakamur@purdue.edu
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ABSTRACT
Direct observation of anyonic braiding statistics
Nakamura,1,2 S. Liang,1,2 G.C. Gardner,2,3 and M. J. Manfra1,2,4,3,5,
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University 2Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University 3Microsoft Quantum Purdue, Purdue University 4School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University 5School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University
DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-1019-1
Anyons are quasiparticles that, unlike fermions and bosons, show fractional statistics when two of them are exchanged. Here, we report experimental observation of anyonic braiding statistics for the = 1/3 fractional quantum Hall state using a device that is equivalent to a Fabry-Perot interferometer. Strong Aharonov-Bohm interference of the edge mode is punctuated by discrete phase slips that indicate an anyonic phase of anyon = 2/3. Our results are consistent with a recent theory for an interferometer operated in a regime in which device charging energy is small compared to the energy of formation of charged quasiparticles, indicating that we have observed anyonic braiding.
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New evidence that the quantum world is even stranger than we thought - Purdue News Service
Quantum computer to be hosted in Abingdon – ClickLancashire
The UK government has announced that it is backing the nation's first commercially available quantum computer to the tune of millions of pounds.
Quantum technology is estimated to offer 4 billion of economic opportunities globally by 2024 (and 341 billion through productivity gains in coming decades) - which will result in creation of new jobs, knowledge and skills in the United Kingdom, the government claims.
A Rigetti superconducting quantum computer is already commercially available in the Amazon Web Service (AWS) Bracket cloud, alongside other US-based systems using different approaches from D-Wave and IonQ. "This a key part of our plan to build back better using the latest technology, attract the brightest and best talent to the United Kingdom and encourage world-leading companies to invest here".
Pharmaceuticals, aerospace and transport are thought to be among the industries that will get maximum benefits from quantum computers. A recent BCG report projected the global quantum industry to reach 4B by 2024.
The University of Edinburgh will develop new techniques to test the hardware and the performance of the programmes that will run on the computer. Phasecraft will develop algorithms for energy, materials design and pharmaceutical purposes, while Standard Chartered Bank will look at financial applications.
It still sounds like early days in the development of a UK-based quantum computer - yesterday's investment kicked-off a three year development program.
"Oxford Instruments" new Proteox dilution refrigerator will be used as the cryogenic platform. "I am sure this collaboration will open a new future for many more innovative applications, and these applications will require an ecosystem where skills development, design & engineering excellence, and technology partners all combine to enable new discoveries and solutions', Simon added".
"We are excited to deliver the UK's first quantum computer and help accelerate the development of practical algorithms and applications", affirmed Rigetti Computing CEO Chad Rigetti. By providing access to quantum hardware, the collaboration aims to unlock new capabilities within the thriving United Kingdom ecosystem of quantum information science researchers, start-ups, and enterprises who have already begun to explore the potential impact of quantum computing.
The funding for the project forms part of the government's Quantum Technologies Challenge, which itself is led by the UK Research and Innovation public body, according to the press release.
Oxford Instruments plc published this content on 02 September 2020 and is exclusively responsible for the information contained therein. And more research should bring us closer to advanced quantum technologies and the grandest goal of quantum information science, creating a fault-tolerant quantum computer that can indefinitely compute without errors. The company's contributions range from underpinning mathematics through to developing software on real or emulated quantum hardware. It is hoped the quantum computer will provide better or quicker ways to solve problems in complex United Kingdom industries like pharmaceuticals, aerospace, and transport.
With over 100 academics, 120 research staff and over 1,600 students from over 80 countries worldwide the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics is the largest European centre of its kind. It will also provide access to quantum computers for both research institutions and businesses.It is based at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. Standard Chartered's Data Science & Innovation group, with a proven research track record in quantum computing and machine learning/AI, has been active in quantum computing since 2017.
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Quantum computer to be hosted in Abingdon - ClickLancashire
Assistant director of NSFs Computer and Information Science and Engineering to give virtual talk Sept. 11 – Vanderbilt University News
By Jenna Somers and Jane Hirtle
Margaret Martonosi, assistant director of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation, will speak at a virtual campus visit on Friday, Sept. 11, from 2 to 4 p.m. CT hosted by Vice Provost for Research Padma Raghavan. Faculty, students and staff are invited to register to attend the presentation and take part in an open discussion and Q&A session about CISE and its key focus areas, including cyberinfrastructure, computing and communication, computer and network systems and information and intelligent systems, as well as funding opportunities and NSF future directions in these areas.
Register for the event here. >>
I am pleased to welcome my close colleague Dr. Margaret Martonosi to Vanderbilt, said Raghavan, who serves as a member of the advisory boards for the CISE Directorate and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. Margaret is a preeminent computer scientist who has made foundational contributions to computer architecture and hardware-software interfaces in both classical and quantum computing systems. Now as the assistant director of CISE, she stewards the development of strategy and programs to strengthen fundamental research and education in order to advance U.S. leadership in computing, communications and information science and engineering. I am delighted to welcome her to share her insights with the Vanderbilt community and join us in a roundtable discussion.
Under Martonosis guidance, CISE also strengthens innovation in research cyberinfrastructure and promotes inclusive, transparent participation in an information-based society to ensure the success of the computer and information technology workforce in the global market.
Along with the Office of the Assistant Director, CISE includes the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, Division of Computing and Communication Foundations, Division of Computer and Network Systems, and the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems. Each of these units manages a portfolio of proposal competitions and grants while collaborating across units and directorates to achieve the mission of CISE.
Noteworthy examples of CISE-funded programs include Broadening Participation in Computing Alliances, which aims to increase the diversity and amount of college graduates in computing and computationally-intensive disciplines; the Foundations of Emerging Technologies, which supports fundamental research in disruptive technologies and models in computing and communication; and the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs, which engage state and local government officials, local industry and nonprofits and regional academic institutions to use big data research to address regional concerns.
Most recently, NSF partnered with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation to launch the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes. As the name suggests, these institutes will serve to accelerate AI research nationwide, developing the U.S. workforce and protecting and advancing society across many aspects of daily life from education to natural disaster preparedness.
While serving as the assistant director of CISE, Martonosi is on leave from Princeton University, where she is the Hugh Trumbull Adams 35 Professor of Computer Science. Her research focuses on computer architecture and mobile computing. Martonosi has received numerous awards, including the 2019 SIGARCH Alan D. Berenbaum Distinguished Service Award, the 2018 IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement Award, and the 2010 Princeton University Graduate Mentoring Award, among many others. Additionally, she is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Please visit CISE to learn more about its programs, funding opportunities and awards.
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Assistant director of NSFs Computer and Information Science and Engineering to give virtual talk Sept. 11 - Vanderbilt University News
Fermilab to lead $115 million National Quantum Information Science Research Center to build revolutionary quantum computer with Rigetti Computing,…
One of the goals of theSuperconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Centeris to build a beyond-state-of-the-art quantum computer based on superconducting technologies.The center also will develop new quantum sensors, which could lead to the discovery of the nature of dark matter and other elusive subatomic particles.
The U.S. Department of Energys Fermilab has been selected to lead one of five national centers to bring about transformational advances in quantum information science as a part of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative, announced the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy today.
The initiative provides the newSuperconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Centerfunding with the goal of building and deploying a beyond-state-of-the-art quantum computer based on superconducting technologies. The center also will develop new quantum sensors, which could lead to the discovery of the nature of dark matter and other elusive subatomic particles. Total planned DOE funding for the center is $115 million over five years, with $15 million in fiscal year 2020 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. SQMS will also receive an additional $8 million in matching contributions from center partners.
The SQMS Center is part of a $625 million federal program to facilitate and foster quantum innovation in the United States. The 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act called for a long-term, large-scale commitment of U.S. scientific and technological resources to quantum science.
The revolutionary leaps in quantum computing and sensing that SQMS aims for will be enabled by a unique multidisciplinary collaboration that includes 20 partners national laboratories, academic institutions and industry. The collaboration brings together world-leading expertise in all key aspects: from identifying qubits quality limitations at the nanometer scale to fabrication and scale-up capabilities into multiqubit quantum computers to the exploration of new applications enabled by quantum computers and sensors.
The breadth of the SQMS physics, materials science, device fabrication and characterization technology combined with the expertise in large-scale integration capabilities by the SQMS Center is unprecedented for superconducting quantum science and technology, said SQMS Deputy Director James Sauls of Northwestern University. As part of the network of National QIS Research centers, SQMS will contribute to U.S. leadership in quantum science for the years to come.
SQMS researchers are developing long-coherence-time qubits based on Rigetti Computings state-of-the-art quantum processors. Image: Rigetti Computing
At the heart of SQMS research will be solving one of the most pressing problems in quantum information science: the length of time that a qubit, the basic element of a quantum computer, can maintain information, also called quantum coherence. Understanding and mitigating sources of decoherence that limit performance of quantum devices is critical to engineering in next-generation quantum computers and sensors.
Unless we address and overcome the issue of quantum system decoherence, we will not be able to build quantum computers that solve new complex and important problems. The same applies to quantum sensors with the range of sensitivity needed to address long-standing questions in many fields of science, said SQMS Center Director Anna Grassellino of Fermilab. Overcoming this crucial limitation would allow us to have a great impact in the life sciences, biology, medicine, and national security, and enable measurements of incomparable precision and sensitivity in basic science.
The SQMS Centers ambitious goals in computing and sensing are driven by Fermilabs achievement of world-leading coherence times in components called superconducting cavities, which were developed for particle accelerators used in Fermilabs particle physics experiments. Researchers have expanded the use of Fermilab cavities into the quantum regime.
We have the most coherent by a factor of more than 200 3-D superconducting cavities in the world, which will be turned into quantum processors with unprecedented performance by combining them with Rigettis state-of-the-art planar structures, said Fermilab scientist Alexander Romanenko, SQMS technology thrust leader and Fermilab SRF program manager. This long coherence would not only enable qubits to be long-lived, but it would also allow them to be all connected to each other, opening qualitatively new opportunities for applications.
The SQMS Centers goals in computing and sensing are driven by Fermilabs achievement of world-leading coherence times in components called superconducting cavities, which were developed for particle accelerators used in Fermilabs particle physics experiments. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab
To advance the coherence even further, SQMS collaborators will launch a materials-science investigation of unprecedented scale to gain insights into the fundamental limiting mechanisms of cavities and qubits, working to understand the quantum properties of superconductors and other materials used at the nanoscale and in the microwave regime.
Now is the time to harness the strengths of the DOE laboratories and partners to identify the underlying mechanisms limiting quantum devices in order to push their performance to the next level for quantum computing and sensing applications, said SQMS Chief Engineer Matt Kramer, Ames Laboratory.
Northwestern University, Ames Laboratory, Fermilab, Rigetti Computing, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and several universities are partnering to contribute world-class materials science and superconductivity expertise to target sources of decoherence.
SQMS partner Rigetti Computing will provide crucial state-of-the-art qubit fabrication and full stack quantum computing capabilities required for building the SQMS quantum computer.
By partnering with world-class experts, our work will translate ground-breaking science into scalable superconducting quantum computing systems and commercialize capabilities that will further the energy, economic and national security interests of the United States, said Rigetti Computing CEO Chad Rigetti.
SQMS will also partner with the NASA Ames Research Center quantum group, led by SQMS Chief Scientist Eleanor Rieffel. Their strengths in quantum algorithms, programming and simulation will be crucial to use the quantum processors developed by the SQMS Center.
The Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics has been successfully collaborating with Fermilab for more than 40 years and is excited to be a member of the extraordinary SQMS team, said INFN President Antonio Zoccoli. With its strong know-how in detector development, cryogenics and environmental measurements, including the Gran Sasso national laboratories, the largest underground laboratory in the world devoted to fundamental physics, INFN looks forward to exciting joint progress in fundamental physics and in quantum science and technology.
Fermilab is excited to host this National Quantum Information Science Research Center and work with this extraordinary network of collaborators, said Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer. This initiative aligns with Fermilab and its mission. It will help us answer important particle physics questions, and, at the same time, we will contribute to advancements in quantum information science with our strengths in particle accelerator technologies, such as superconducting radio-frequency devices and cryogenics.
We are thankful and honored to have this unique opportunity to be a national center for advancing quantum science and technology, Grassellino said. We have a focused mission: build something revolutionary. This center brings together the right expertise and motivation to accomplish that mission.
The Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center at Fermilab is supported by the DOE Office of Science.
Fermilab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.
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Fermilab to lead $115 million National Quantum Information Science Research Center to build revolutionary quantum computer with Rigetti Computing,...