Category Archives: Quantum Computer
Toward optical quantum computing – MIT News
Ordinarily, light particles photons dont interact. If two photons collide in a vacuum, they simply pass through each other.
An efficient way to make photons interact could open new prospects for both classical optics and quantum computing, an experimental technology that promises large speedups on some types of calculations.
In recent years, physicists have enabled photon-photon interactions using atoms of rare elements cooled to very low temperatures.
But in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters, MIT researchers describe a new technique for enabling photon-photon interactions at room temperature, using a silicon crystal with distinctive patterns etched into it. In physics jargon, the crystal introduces nonlinearities into the transmission of an optical signal.
All of these approaches that had atoms or atom-like particles require low temperatures and work over a narrow frequency band, says Dirk Englund, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT and senior author on the new paper. Its been a holy grail to come up with methods to realize single-photon-level nonlinearities at room temperature under ambient conditions.
Joining Englund on the paper are Hyeongrak Choi, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science, and Mikkel Heuck, who was a postdoc in Englunds lab when the work was done and is now at the Technical University of Denmark.
Photonic independence
Quantum computers harness a strange physical property called superposition, in which a quantum particle can be said to inhabit two contradictory states at the same time. The spin, or magnetic orientation, of an electron, for instance, could be both up and down at the same time; the polarization of a photon could be both vertical and horizontal.
If a string of quantum bits or qubits, the quantum analog of the bits in a classical computer is in superposition, it can, in some sense, canvass multiple solutions to the same problem simultaneously, which is why quantum computers promise speedups.
Most experimental qubits use ions trapped in oscillating magnetic fields, superconducting circuits, or like Englunds own research defects in the crystal structure of diamonds. With all these technologies, however, superpositions are difficult to maintain.
Because photons arent very susceptible to interactions with the environment, theyre great at maintaining superposition; but for the same reason, theyre difficult to control. And quantum computing depends on the ability to send control signals to the qubits.
Thats where the MIT researchers new work comes in. If a single photon enters their device, it will pass through unimpeded. But if two photons in the right quantum states try to enter the device, theyll be reflected back.
The quantum state of one of the photons can thus be thought of as controlling the quantum state of the other. And quantum information theory has established that simple quantum gates of this type are all that is necessary to build a universal quantum computer.
Unsympathetic resonance
The researchers device consists of a long, narrow, rectangular silicon crystal with regularly spaced holes etched into it. The holes are widest at the ends of the rectangle, and they narrow toward its center. Connecting the two middle holes is an even narrower channel, and at its center, on opposite sides, are two sharp concentric tips. The pattern of holes temporarily traps light in the device, and the concentric tips concentrate the electric field of the trapped light.
The researchers prototyped the device and showed that it both confined light and concentrated the lights electric field to the degree predicted by their theoretical models. But turning the device into a quantum gate would require another component, a dielectric sandwiched between the tips. (A dielectric is a material that is ordinarily electrically insulating but will become polarized all its positive and negative charges will align in the same direction when exposed to an electric field.)
When a light wave passes close to a dielectric, its electric field will slightly displace the electrons of the dielectrics atoms. When the electrons spring back, they wobble, like a childs swing when its pushed too hard. This is the nonlinearity that the researchers system exploits.
The size and spacing of the holes in the device are tailored to a specific light frequency the devices resonance frequency. But the nonlinear wobbling of the dielectrics electrons should shift that frequency.
Ordinarily, that shift is mild enough to be negligible. But because the sharp tips in the researchers device concentrate the electric fields of entering photons, they also exaggerate the shift. A single photon could still get through the device. But if two photons attempted to enter it, the shift would be so dramatic that theyd be repulsed.
Practical potential
The device can be configured so that the dramatic shift in resonance frequency occurs only if the photons attempting to enter it have particular quantum properties specific combinations of polarization or phase, for instance. The quantum state of one photon could thus determine the way in which the other photon is handled, the basic requirement for a quantum gate.
Englund emphasizes that the new research will not yield a working quantum computer in the immediate future. Too often, light entering the prototype is still either scattered or absorbed, and the quantum states of the photons can become slightly distorted. But other applications may be more feasible in the near term. For instance, a version of the device could provide a reliable source of single photons, which would greatly abet a range of research in quantum information science and communications.
This work is quite remarkable and unique because it shows strong light-matter interaction, localization of light, and relatively long-time storage of photons at such a tiny scale in a semiconductor, says Mohammad Soltani, a nanophotonics researcher in Raytheon BBN Technologies Quantum Information Processing Group. It can enable things that were questionable before, like nonlinear single-photon gates for quantum information. It works at room temperature, its solid-state, and its compatible with semiconductor manufacturing. This work is among the most promising to date for practical devices, such as quantum information devices.
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Toward optical quantum computing - MIT News
Get ahead in quantum computing AND attract Goldman Sachs – eFinancialCareers
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/285249/machine-learning-and-big-data-j-p-morgan/
40 years ago a personal computer cost around $500k in todays money and was accessible only to large corporations. Today, as the clich goes, that kind of processing power is available to most people in an affordable mobile phone. Quantum computing, however, is a different matter. Quantum computers are stuck in the 1950s: there arent many of them, they cost tens of millions of dollars, and they take up entire rooms.
One of todays very rare and very costly quantum machines is being developed by D-Wave Systems Inc., a company whose CEO happens to be Vern Brownell, a former CTO of Goldman Sachs. Goldman is one of several lead investors in D-Wave, which its described as having a head start in the field. While most quantum computing rivals are still in their infancy, D-Wave has already been using its system for machine learning. Competitors are eyeing the same plot: 1QB Information Technology Systems Inc (1QBit), a Vancouver-based quantum computing, counts derivatives exchange CME Group among its investors. An RBS banker who led 1QBits 2015 finance round toldBloombergquantum computing is perfect for the data-rich time-sensitive world of financial markets.
Interestingly, therefore, an opportunity has arisen to write machine learning algorithms for quantum computers and then implement them using D-Wave 2000Q, the companys first commercially available quantum computer. Training on the system will be made available too.
The quantum machine learning program is being run by the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a seed funding program for science-based companies based in Toronto. Last month, it invited applications for 40 places on an initiative intended to develop and sponsor a wave of quantum machine learning start-ups. The next (and last) round of applications closes on Monday July 24th.
Daniel Mulet, associate director of machine learning at CDL says theyve already received 42 applications, around 10% of which are biased towards financial services. Some are very early stage and have been submitted by students, but others are companies that have already been launched, says Mulet. - Theres one thats working with a hedge fund looking for patterns with trading data.
Traditional computers use binary code to solve problems: a bit can be a 1 or a 0. Quantum computers use qubits: a bit can be a 1 or a 0 or a 1 AND a 0 As Bloomberg points out, therefore, if you have two qubits you can have four potential states: 00, 01, 10, and 11. Moreover, the number of states a quantum computer can take into consideration is2 raised to the power of the number of qubits: if you had a 50-qubit universal quantum computer, you could explore1.125 quadrillion states simultaneously.
Quantum computers are able to process much larger quantities of data much faster, says Mulet. Its our belief that these new quantum hardware platforms built by D-Wave or IQB will be used for various machine learning applications in the next few years. When that happens, we want to be ready to leverage that. One day all Bloomberg terminals will be run on quantum computers.
Its not hard to see why Goldman is interested.
If youre interested too and want to apply, you have 39 days to polish your application. As a further lure to candidates, those selected will be mentored by the likes of William Tunstall-Pedoe, a Cambridge AI entrepreneur, and Barney Pell, chief strategy officer at San Francisco-based Loco-Mobi (which is applying AI to parking your car).Those graduating from the program, which begins in September, will receive $80k in funding in return for 8% of the equity in their company.
Mulet says ideal applicants will have a Masters or PhD in a quantitative subject, and be proficient in programming in Python and the use of Tensor Flow, Googles open source library for machine learning.
Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com
Photo credit:Quantum foambyAlex Sukontsevis licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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Get ahead in quantum computing AND attract Goldman Sachs - eFinancialCareers
KPN CISO details Quantum computing attack dangers – Mobile World Live
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Quantum computing will present a very real threat in the next ten years and operators will have to rethink how they handle their data privacy and security, KPN chief information security officer (CISO) Jaya Baloo (pictured) told Mobile World Live.
When there is a viable quantum computer it will change the way we handle the current mechanism to protect our data secrecy which is cryptography, she explained, adding operators will have to rethink every type of cryptography they use and design new algorithms capable of resisting a quantum computing attack.
When it comes to operators offering personalised services, she said it is not possible to be 100 per cent privacy preserving while offering customised services.
However, operators should willingly and knowingly and very transparently inform customers about what they are doing with user data and how they maintain or securely delete that information.
Thats more important than the technology behind it having that dialogue is the most fundamental thing we can do.
She also shed light on the security implications of IoT and how KPN views the EU General Data Protection Regulation as much more in line with our current way of working rather than a burden.
Click here to watch the full interview.
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KPN CISO details Quantum computing attack dangers - Mobile World Live
Quantum Computing Technologies markets will reach $10.7 billion by 2024 – PR Newswire (press release)
Eighteen of the world's biggest corporations (see image above) and dozens of government agencies are working on Quantum Computing or partnering with startups like D-Wave.
Near-term expectations for quantum computing range from solving optimization problems, quantum-encrypted communications, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing & logistics and smart retail, through quantum computing in the cloud and molecular structure research.
Smaller quantum computers will make other contributions to industry (energy, logistics etc.), defense and national security intelligence, as well as other markets spanning from drug design to finance.
Even simple quantum computers can tackle classes of problems that choke conventional machines, such as optimizing trading strategies or pulling promising drug candidates from scientific literature.
The fierce competition at the national industrial and academic level is leading to a race for quantum supremacy.
The competitors are all worthy of respect, especially because they are striving for supremacy not just over each other, but over a problem so big and so complex, that anybody's success is everybody's success.
2024 Market* $10.7 Billion. 2 Volume Report.
We are in the midst of a "Quantum Computing Supremacy Race" one that will result in groundbreaking computing power, enabling disruptive new quantum computing technologies that have the potential to change long-held dynamics in commerce, intelligence, military affairs and strategic balance of power. If you have been paying attention to the news on quantum computing and the evolution of industrial and national efforts towards realizing a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer, that can tackle problems, unmanageable to current supercomputing capabilities, then you know that something big is stirring throughout the quantum world.
In a way that was unheard of five years ago, quantum physicists are now partnering with corporate tech giants, to develop quantum computing capabilities and technologies as the foundation of a second information age.
Eighteen of the world's biggest corporations (see image above) and dozens of government agencies are working on Quantum Computing or partnering with startups like D-Wave. Near-term expectations for quantum computing range from solving optimization problems, quantum-encrypted communications, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing & logistics and smart retail, through quantum computing in the cloud and molecular structure research.
Smaller quantum computers will make other contributions to industry (energy, logistics etc.), defense and national security intelligence, as well as other markets spanning from drug design to finance.
Even simple quantum computers can tackle classes of problems that choke conventional machines, such as optimizing trading strategies or pulling promising drug candidates from scientific literature.
The fierce competition at the national industrial and academic level is leading to a race for quantum supremacy. The competitors are all worthy of respect, especially because they are striving for supremacy not just over each other, but over a problem so big and so complex, that anybody's success is everybody's success.
According to the report, "Quantum Computing Technologies & Global Market 2017-2024", the global Quantum Computing market* will reach $10.7 billion by 2024, out of which $8.45 billion stemming from product sales and services and $2.25 billion from Gov. RDT&E programs and funding.
The 2-volume 520-page landmark report is the only comprehensive review of the global quantum computing market available today. This report is a valuable resource for executives with interests in the market. It has been explicitly customized for ICT industry, investors and government decision-makers to enable them to identify business opportunities, emerging applications, market trends and risks, as well as to benchmark business plans.
The report provides an updated extensive data of the leading 52 Quantum Computing vendors: - 1Qbit - Agilent Technologies - Aifotec AG - Airbus Group - Alcatel-Lucent - Alibaba Group Holding Limited - Anyon Systems, Inc - Artiste-qb.net - Avago Technologies - Booz Allen Hamilton - British Telecommunications (BT) - Cambridge Quantum Computing - Ciena Corporation - Cyoptics - D-Wave Systems Inc - Eagle Power Technologies, Inc - Nano-Meta Technologies - Emcore Corporation - Enablence Technologies - Fathom Computing - Finisar Corporation - Fuijitsu Limited - Google Quantum AI Lab - H-Bar Quantum Consultants - Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company - IBM - ID Quantique Infinera Corporation - Intel Corporation - IonQ - JDS Uniphase Corporation - Kaiam Corporation - Lockheed Martin Corp. - MagiQ Technologies, Inc. - Microsoft Quantum Architectures and - Computation Group (QuArC) - Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - NEC - Nokia Bell Labs - NTT Basic Research Laboratories and - NTT Secure Platform Laboratories - Optalysys Ltd. - Post-Quantum - QbitLogic - QC Ware Corp. - Quantum Hardware Inc - Qubitekk - QxBranch - Quintessence Labs - Raytheon BBN - Rigetti Computing - SK Telecom - Sparrow Quantum - Toshiba
Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04838492/Quantum-Computing-Technologies-Global-Market-.html
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Quantum Computing Technologies markets will reach $10.7 billion by 2024 - PR Newswire (press release)
From the Abacus to Supercomputers to Quantum Computers – Duke Today
If using quantum mechanics to compute problems that are unsolvable with todays fastest supercomputers sounds outrageously ambitious, thats because it is. There are many experts who say that it cant be done.
But thats not stopping Jungsang Kim, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University, from pursuing the impossible. A pioneer in translating theoretical quantum physics into physical hardware, Kim has been engineering the components for a quantum computer at Duke for more than a decade.
And hes starting to sniff the finish line.
Weve put together and demonstrated all of the individual components needed to build a large, scalable quantum computer, said Kim. We are convinced that within the next few years we could turn this technology into much more sophisticated quantum computers with the potential to solve problems considered impossible today.
Imagine a computer trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle. Because computer code is binary, either a piece fits or it doesnt, the most efficient method would be to pick a piece at random and attempt to attach every other available piece until one fits. Todays computers would then take that two-piece unit, and repeat the entire process over and over until the puzzle is completed.
Even with todays supercomputers, this process would take a long time because it must be done sequentially. Quantum computers, however, have the advantage of occupying many different states at the same time.
Now imagine a quantum computer with enough qubitsindividual pieces of memory analogous to todays transistorsto assign one to each puzzle piece. Thanks to quantum mechanics, all possible configurations are stored into a quantum memory, which is manipulated in a very careful way so that all the non-answers fade away very quickly and all the real answers emerge in a systematic way. This allows the quantum computer to converge on a solution much more efficiently than a classical computer.
Nobel Laureate Bill Phillips said that using quantum principles to compute is as different from classical computing as a classical supercomputer is from an abacus, said Kim. There are, however, several different ways that one might achieve this. Our group has focused on approaches using individually trapped ions.
The qubits in Kims quantum computer are individually trapped ionsatoms with electrons stripped away to give it a positive electric charge. That charge allows researchers to suspend the atoms using an electromagnetic field in an ultra-high vacuum. Kim and his colleagues then use precise lasers to manipulate their quantum states.
The method is promising. Kim and colleague Christopher Monroe at the University of Maryland have secured more than $60 million in grants to transition these ideas into large, scalable quantum computers. And theyre not alonemany other big companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft and Intel are starting to make big investments as well.
With the potential to revolutionize industries such as materials design, pharmaceutical discovery and security encryption, the race is on. And Kim and his colleagues are the only ones betting on trapped ions, having started a company called IonQ to pursue commercialization of the technology.
Our collaboration actually has a small qubit quantum computer that's very generally programmable, said Kim. We think we know how to take this system and turn it into a much bigger system that is reliable, stable and much more scalable. We've come to a point where we believe that even commercially viable systems can be put together.
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From the Abacus to Supercomputers to Quantum Computers - Duke Today
Quantum Computers Will Analyze Every Financial Model at Once – Singularity Hub
In the movie Office Space, Peter Gibbons has a stroke of genius. Confronted with the utter mundanity of a life slaving away at his office park software company, he convinces his friends to make a computer virus to skim a fraction of a cent off transactions into a shared bank account.
This, of course, goes horribly wrong. But the concept is actually pretty solid.
In the real world, where there are literally billions of transactions crisscrossing the globe every day, you can make a big profit buying and selling securities whose prices barely differ.
But heres the key. You have to be fast. Inhumanly so. Enter physics and computers.
Computerized high-frequency trading was born from a collision of rapidly growing computing power and an influx of math and physics PhDs into finance. These wonks worked out complex quantitative buy-sell strategies, built them into algorithms, and set their software loose.
While the practice is nothing if not controversialand there are quantitative strategies that work over longer time frames tooits impact on the market is undeniable. In any given year, high-frequency trading is responsible for up to half or more of all trades. And of course, notoriously, such algorithmic trading was also involved in 2010s infamous Flash Crash.
But all this is only the beginning of how physics and computers can flip finance upside down.
At Singularity Universitys Exponential Finance Summit this week, Andrew Fursman said quantum computers, which harness natures most basic laws, are coming sooner than you think. And while digital computing was an evolution, quantum computing will be a revolution.
Fursman is CEO and cofounder of 1Qbit, a quantum computing software startup focused on making quantum computing applications practical for industry.
Quantum computing, he said, is just in its earliest stages, more akin to the hulking special-purpose computers of the 40s and 50s instead of the sleeker personal digital machines of recent decades. But he thinks its about to get practical, and itll pay dividends to those paying attention.
In finance, computing power is really a bit of an arms race, Fursman said. And as you all know, in many of these situations, it's winner takes all.
The next revolution has been a long time coming. It began with physicist Richard Feynman.
When modern digital computers were just gaining momentum, Feynman looked far down the roadhe was a genius theorist after alland noted the most powerful computers would not be digital, theyd be quantum. That is, theyd harness the laws of nature to compute.
Its counterintuitive to think of the world as a computer, said Fursman, but its an instructive analogy if you want to grasp the speed and simultaneity of quantum computers.
Complexity is nothing to nature. Just imagine how quickly and effortlessly glass breaks, he said.
In far less time than it takes to blink your eye, the laws of nature instruct the atoms in the glass to fracture into a massively complex spider web. Not unlike a computer, the laws of physics are the underlying logic allowing the glass to compute its complex demise in an instant.
Quantum computers similarly harness natures power to compute. Instead of using 1s and 0s to calculate things, they use the rules of quantum mechanics to compute with 1s, 0s, and both simultaneously. This means they can rapidly solve massively complex problems.
[Go here to learn more about how quantum computers work.]
But todays machines, like D-Waves adiabatic quantum computers, arent like your laptop, which is whats called a universal computer due to its ability to do many tasks. Instead, quantum computers today are specialized, complicated, difficult to program, and expensive.
Fursman thinks well get universal quantum computers in future, but well before then, in something like three to five years, he thinks early quantum computers will get practical. And because they can do things no other computer can, theyll be powerful.
In finance, its often about optimization. And todays quantum machines excel at optimization.
Consider building a portfolio out of all the stocks in the S&P 500, Fursman said. Given expected risk and return at various points in time, your choice is to include a stock, or not. The sheer number of possible portfolio combinations over time is mindboggling.
In fact, the possibilities dwarf the number of atoms in the observable universe.
To date, portfolio theory has necessarily cut corners and depended on approximations. But what if you could, in fact, get precise? Quantum computers will be able to solve problems like this in a finite amount of time, whereas traditional computers would take pretty much forever.
The work is already underway to make this possible.
Fursman noted a paper written by Gili Rosenberg, Poya Haghnegahdar, Phil Goddard, Peter Carr, Kesheng Wu, and Marcos Lpez de Prado in which they outline a new way to solve for an optimal portfolio. Instead of finding the best portfolio at discrete times in the future, they outline a way to find the best portfolio overall through time. Such a portfolio would reduce the transaction costs of rebalancing portfolios and potentially save the industry billions.
To be clear, this isnt ready for prime time yet. But Fursman thinks it will be shortly. The key? Their proposed portfolio optimization method is compatible with existing quantum computers. Specifically, they looked at D-Waves adiabatic machines, and according to the paper, they believe it can scale up in complexity as the underlying technology improves.
It's something that has real ability to impact what's possible within your industry and to make money doing all the things you already dobut in completely new ways, Fursman said.
Exponential Finance, according to Fursman, is a bit ahead of the curve. The event has focused on the possibility of quantum computing in finance for the last several years.
But now, its poised to make an impact. Google recently announced they expect to achieve quantum supremacy by the end of this year. That means theyll have shown a quantum computer capable of solving a problem no conventional computer can.
Fursman thinks the slowing of Moores Law may be lulling some into complacency. Whereas at one point you could barely keep pace, even if you bought a new computer every year; these days, the computer you bought four years ago is basically stillable run whatever you want today.
But for businesses, the pace of progress is about to speed up again.
The quantum computing industry [today] is just [the] spark. Its just the very, very beginning of whats going to be possible, Fursman said. Those sparks are going to turn into a huge explosion, and all of a sudden, youre going to be faced with incredible amounts of computing capabilities that directly tackle the types of problems most relevant to what youre doing.
This isnt going to take 20 years, he said, or even ten years. Itll be here in three to five years. So, now is the time to start thinking about what quantum will do for you.
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Quantum Computers Will Analyze Every Financial Model at Once - Singularity Hub
Scientists May Have Found a Way to Combat Quantum Computer Blockchain Hacking – Futurism
In Brief While quantum computers could improve the world by decreasing processing times, they could also be the ideal tool for hackers, which is a true threat to the success of blockchain. Russian scientists, though, may have found the solution. Russias Solution to Quantum Hacking
A serious concern in the computing industry is that when true quantum computers are produced, the principles of encryption will break down due to the dizzyingly superior processing power.
Although blockchain is a far more secure method of transaction than our current financial system, even it will become vulnerable to a brute force attack by a quantum computer. Andersen Cheng, co-founder of U.K. cybersecurity firm Post Quantum, told Newsweek, Bitcoin will expire the very day the first quantum computer appears.
A team lead by Evgeny Kiktenko at the Russian Quantum Center in Moscow, though, may have found a way to protect blockchains by fighting fire with fire using quantum mechanics. They are designing a quantum-secured blockchain where each block, hypothetically, is signed by a quantum key rather than a digital one.
They propose that transmitting and encrypting information using quantum particles such as photons, which cannot be copied or meddled with without the particles being destroyed, ensures the blockchains safety. The principle is based on Zero-knowledge proofs which allow you to validate information without sharing it.
In recent months Russia has become increasingly interested in blockchain. The central bank is composing new laws focused on cryptocurrencies and is interested in developing one of its own. This research marks a step forward in these efforts because it concerns the protection of such systems.
If the quantum-secured blockchain proves successful it would be hugely beneficial to the rest of the world as well. Blockchain has the potential to do a lot of good for the world by streamlining the transaction system, making it more secure, and ensuring transparency like never before. Countries such as Senegal have developed currencies that are entirely digital, Japan is accepting bitcoin (which uses blockchain) as legal tender in 260,000 stores this summer, and Ukraine is considering using it to combat corruption.
If the advent of quantum computing could be the apocalypse for blockchain, it is therefore crucially important that we begin thinking about how to protect these system before entire countries and currencies could be subject to hacks from the abusers of quantum computers.
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Scientists May Have Found a Way to Combat Quantum Computer Blockchain Hacking - Futurism
Microsoft and Purdue work on scalable topological quantum computer – Next Big Future
In 2016, Purdue University and Microsoft have signed a five-year agreement to develop a useable quantum computer. Purdue is one of four international universities in the collaboration. Michael Manfra, Purdue Universitys Bill and Dee OBrien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, professor of materials engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering, will lead the effort at Purdue to build a robust and scalable quantum computer by producing what scientists call a topological qubit.
The team assembled by Microsoft will work on a type of quantum computer that is expected to be especially robust against interference from its surroundings, a situation known in quantum computing as decoherence. The scalable topological quantum computer is theoretically more stable and less error-prone.
One of the challenges in quantum computing is that the qubits interact with their environment and lose their quantum information before computations can be completed, Manfra says. Topological quantum computing utilizes qubits that store information non-locally and the outside noise sources have less effect on the qubit, so we expect it to be more robust.
Purdue University and Microsoft Corp. have signed a five-year agreement to develop a useable quantum computer. Purdue is one of four international universities in the collaboration. Michael Manfra, Purdue Universitys Bill and Dee OBrien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Professor of Materials Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will lead the effort at Purdue to build a robust and scalable quantum computer by producing what scientists call a topological qubit. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Wilcox)
Arxiv Topological Quantum Computation
The theory of quantum computation can be constructed from the abstract study of anyonic systems. In mathematical terms, these are unitary topological modular functors. They underlie the Jones polynomial and arise in Witten-Chern-Simons theory. The braiding and fusion of anyonic excitations in quantum Hall electron liquids and 2D-magnets are modeled by modular functors, opening a new possibility for the realization of quantum computers. The chief advantage of anyonic computation would be physical error correction: An error rate scaling like e, where is a length scale, and is some positive constant. In contrast, the presumptive qubit-model of quantum computation, which repairs errors combinatorically, requires a fantastically low initial error rate (about 10^4) before computation can be stabilized.
Manfra says that the most exciting challenge associated with building a topological quantum computer is that the Microsoft team must simultaneously solve problems of material science, condensed matter physics, electrical engineering and computer architecture.
This is why Microsoft has assembled such a diverse set of talented people to tackle this large-scale problem, Manfra says. No one person or group can be expert in all aspects.
Purdue and Microsoft entered into an agreement in April 2016 that extends their collaboration on quantum computing research, effectively establishing Station Q Purdue, one of the Station Q experimental research sites that work closely with two Station Q theory sites.
Purdues role in the project will be to grow and study ultra-pure semiconductors and hybrid systems of semiconductors and superconductors that may form the physical platform upon which a quantum computer is built. Manfras group has expertise in a technique called molecular beam epitaxy, and this technique will be used to build low dimensional electron systems that form the basis for quantum bits, or qubits.
The work at Purdue will be done in the Birck Nanotechnology Center in the universitys Discovery Park, and well as in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The Birck facility houses the multi-chamber molecular beam epitaxy system, in which three fabrication chambers are connected under ultra-high vacuum. It also contains clean-room fabrication, and necessary materials characterization tools.
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Microsoft and Purdue work on scalable topological quantum computer - Next Big Future
Are Enterprises Ready to Take a Quantum Leap? – IT Business Edge
The exciting landscape of modern life has been built with the aid of powerful computers. They have done dazzling things, from making the trains run on time to helping to build skyscrapers. Now, imagine a discontinuity in computing in which these capabilities are suddenly expanded and enhanced by orders of magnitude.
You wont have to imagine too much longer. It is in the process of happening. The fascinating thing is that this change is based on quantum science, which is completely counter-intuitive and not fully understood, even by those who are harnessing it.
Todays computers are binary, meaning that they are based on bits that represent either a 1 or a 0. As fast as they go, this is a basic, physical gating factor that limits how much work they can do in a given amount of time. The next wave of computers uses quantum bits called qubits that can simultaneously represent a 1 and a 0. This root of the mysteries that even scientists refer to as quantum weirdness allows the computers to do computations in parallel instead of sequentially. Not surprisingly, this greatly expands the ability of this class of computers.
The details of how quantum computers operate are more or less impossible to understand. A couple of related points are clear, however: Harnessing the power of quantum mechanics to create incredibly powerful machines is not a pipe dream: Companies such as IBM, Microsoft and Google, as well as startups and universities, dont sink billions of dollars in flights of fancy.
The second point is that the payoff is here, or at least quite near. The world of computing wont instantaneously change once quantum actions are proven. It is still a long road to being fully commercialized, bypassing classical approaches and, finally, living up to the most extravagant promise.
In late May, Microsoft and Purdue University announced research on quantum computing that focuses on one of the key challenges, which is the extraordinarily fragile nature of the qubits. Indeed, the subject of the research is a good example of the amazing complexity of the field and how far it has to go.
In quantum mechanics, the mere act of looking at the system makes it choose between the 1 and the 0 and exit the quantum state. The task of the Microsoft/Purdue research is to develop topological qubits that are stable enough to function in the real world.
In essence, according to Professor Michael Manfra, the university's Bill and Dee O'Brien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, stability increases as the quantum properties are spread out.
The quantum variable that houses information is really a property of the quantum system as [a] whole, he wrote to IT Business Edge in response to emailed questions. More particles may be needed to define the qubit, but this complexity has an advantage while a local disturbance or perturbation can flip an individual spin, it is much less likely to change the state of the entire quantum system that comprises a topological qubit.Therefore these topological qubits are expected to be more robust.They do not couple well to the commonly occurring noise in the environment.
Preparing for the Quantum Future
There is an angle to all of this that is refreshingly straightforward and accessible, however: Great change is coming and companies need to prepare for quantum computing. Indeed, even assuming that the high-profile changes are down the road a bit, they will be massive when they do arrive.
The bottom line is that planners need to think about quantum computing. A logical first step in assessing the impact is identifying the tasks it will most likely perform. In responses to emailed questions, Jerry Chow, the manager of Experimental Quantum Computing for IBM, told IT Business Edge that four areas likely to be affected are business optimization (in areas such as the supply chain, logistics, modeling financial data and risk analysis); materials and chemistry; artificial intelligence and cloud security.
Things may not be quite as clear cut, however. David Schatsky, the managing director of Deloitte LLP, told IT Business Edge, in response to emailed questions, that risk management, investment portfolio design, trading strategies, and the design of transportation and communications networks will be affected. Quantum computer, he wrote, could be disruptive in cryptography, drug design, energy, nano-engineering and research.
Thats an almost intimidating list. However, Schatsky prefaced it with a disclaimer: Quantum computing will entirely transform some kinds of work and have negligible impact on others. The truth is, researchers dont yet know all the types of problems quantum computing may be good for.
There Is Still Time to Prepare
Luckily, planners have time. Quantum computing will be a massive change, but one that will be gradual. It makes sense to think of quantum computing as a new segment of the supercomputer market, which is a small fraction of overall IT spending, Schatsky wrote. Annual supercomputer server sales total about $11 billion globally by some estimates. I suspect quantum computing revenues will be a very small fraction of that for years to come. So Im not sure its going to become common anytime soon.
Though it clearly will be quite a while before people are buying quantum computers on Amazon, organizations need to be thinking about quantum computing today. The power of quantum computing is so extreme, especially when coupled with artificial intelligence and other emerging techniques, it is clear that all of that time must be put to good use.
IBMs Chow said that quantum-driven platforms such as Watson will be able to find patterns that are buried too deeply for classical computers. This will open new frontiers for discovery, he wrote.
It is a new age, not a new computer.
Corporations should ask: How do I learn about quantum computing to get a feel for where it might make a difference? Now is the time to realize its enormous potential, and that this is a field ripe for innovation and exploration that goes beyond simply just an end application. Becoming quantum-ready is about participating in a revolution within computing. People need to learn the details enough to open their minds up about what could be possible.
And, eventually, quantum mechanics may go beyond computing.
In general terms, I believe the development of quantum technologies is inevitable quantum computing is perhaps just the most visible example, Manfra wrote. It is not hard to imagine that certain businesses in which innovation may be enhanced by dramatic improvement in computational capabilities will need to have long-term plans which exploit quantum machines once they become available.
Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at cweinsch@optonline.net and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
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Are Enterprises Ready to Take a Quantum Leap? - IT Business Edge
Doped Diamonds Push Practical Quantum Computing Closer to Reality – Motherboard
A large team of researchers from MIT, Harvard University, and Sandia National Laboratories has scored a major advance toward building practical quantum computers. The work, which is described in the current Nature Communications, offers a new pathway toward using diamonds as the foundation for optical circuitscomputer chips based on manipulating light rather than electric current, basically.
Pushing beyond the quantum computing hype and, perhaps, misinformation, we're still faced with a largely theoretical technology. Engineering a real quantum computer is hard because it should be hard. What we're attempting to do is harness a highly strange and even more so fragile property of the quantum world, which is the ability of particles to occupy seemingly contradictory physical states: up and down, left and right, is and isn't.
If we could just have that property in the same sense that we can have a basic electronic component like a transistor, we'd be set. But maintaining and manipulating qubits, the units of information consisting of simultaneous contradictory particle states, is really hard. Just looking at a quantum system means disrupting it, and, if that system happened to be encoding information, the information is lost.
The almost-perfect lattice structure of atoms in a diamond offers a promising foundation for a quantum circuit. Here, a qubit is stored within a "defect" within the diamond. Every so often within the neatly ordered confines of a diamond, an atom will be missing. In this vacancy, another atom might sneak in to replace the missing carbon atom. This diamond defect may in turn have some free electrons associated with it, and it's among these particles that information is stored (while information is transmitted around the diamond as photons, or light particles).
Crucially, this little swarm of electrons naturally emits light particles that are able to mirror the quantum superposition (the particle or particle system in multiple states). This is then a way of retrieving information from the qubit without disturbing it.
The challenge is in finding and implementing the ideal replacement for the carbon atom in the diamond lattice. This replacement is known as a dopant. This is where the new study comes in.
The most-studied dopant for diamond-defect optical circuits is nitrogen. It's stable enough to maintain the requisite quantum superposition, but is limited in the frequencies of light that it can emit. It's like having a perfect encryption system that can nonetheless only represent like a quarter of the alphabet.
The dopant explored in the new research is silicon. Silicon atoms embedded into a diamond lattice are able to emit much narrower wavelength bands. It's like they have a higher-resolution. But the cost of being able represent information with more precision are more precarious quantum states. Consequently, the diamonds have to be kept at very near absolute-zero temperature. Nitrogen states, meanwhile, can withstand heat up to about four degrees above absolute zero. In either case, we're not exactly talking about quantum laptops.
The researchers were able to implant silicon defects into diamonds via a two-step process involving first blasting the diamond with a laser to create vacancies and then heating the diamond way up to the point that the vacancies start to move around the lattice and bond with silicon atoms. The result is a lattice with an impressively large number of embedded silicon atoms that are exactly where they should be within the structure.
The result is a promising pathway toward reliable fabrication of "efficient lightmatter interfaces based on semiconductor defects coupled to nanophotonic devices." The stuff of a quantum computer, in other words.
Originally posted here:
Doped Diamonds Push Practical Quantum Computing Closer to Reality - Motherboard