The Week in Quantum Computing - August 21th

Issue #149

Aug 21, 2023

The Week in Quantum Computing. Brought to you by Sergio Gago (@piratecto).

Quick Recap

Sandia National Laboratories has introduced the Enchilada Trap (what a fantastic name!), a groundbreaking ion trap that facilitates the manipulation of quantum bits (qubits) for transformative quantum computation. Rigetti has launched the Ankaa-1 quantum processor, featuring a novel two-qubit gate architecture, pushing towards achieving quantum advantage. UK startup Phasecraft has secured £13 million in funding to develop quantum-specific algorithms, underscoring the growing importance of algorithmic innovation in quantum technology.

In the realm of research, Los Alamos National Laboratory presents a game-changing theoretical approach that leverages natural quantum interactions for more efficient quantum computing hardware. NIST introduces a "toggle switch" mechanism to enhance quantum processors' versatility and clarity of outputs. Meanwhile, collaborative efforts extend their impact, with initiatives like the push for diversity and inclusion in quantum communities. Last wee we saw the launch of Quantum Edge by QuantrolOx, automating the tuning and optimization of superconducting quantum computers. Lastly. It has been the week of QEC, with a new type of error code methodology proposed by IBM that potentially uses 10 times less physical qubits. This is still far from full error correction but definetely a great step forward.

Oh, and apparently Michio Kaku is angry because Generative AI is taking some of the spotlight from quantum, so he says GPT models are just “Glorified tape recorders”. (Well, at least they can record something!). This is very interesting because we see quantum companies like Zapata (now Zapata AI!) and Terra Quantum among others pivoting heavily towards these technologies that are more Horizon 1 than 3.

Earnings calls time! Quick summary of quantum public company results:

In Q2 2023, publicly-listed quantum computing companies IonQ, Rigetti Computing, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing Inc. reported revenue growth alongside increased net losses. IonQ's revenue reached $5.5 million with a net loss of $43.7 million, while Rigetti posted $3.3 million in revenue and a $17 million net loss, including the sale of a 9-qubit QPU to a national lab. D-Wave saw revenue of $1.7 million, a net loss of $25.9 million, and highlighted growing enterprise commitment. Quantum Computing Inc. reported approximately $112,000 in revenue, a $4.6 million net loss, and launched an Edge device. All companies experienced developments in technology, partnerships, and product launches, amid rising interest and investments in the quantum computing sector.

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The Week in Quantum Computing

Sandia shows quantum breakthrough promise with new ion trap

Sandia National Laboratories revealed the Enchilada Trap, a groundbreaking ion trap central to some quantum computers, in a press release.

This innovative device promises to reshape the landscape of quantum computing, providing researchers with a potent tool to explore the experimental and transformative field of quantum computation.

By effectively housing electrically charged atoms, or ions, on a microchip, this trap facilitates the manipulation of quantum bits, or qubits, which serve as the fundamental units of quantum computation.

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August 13, 2023 at 04:31PM

Rigetti launches 84qubit single chip quantum processor

Rigetti’s Ankaa-1 quantum processor uses a new two-qubit gate architecture with tunable couplers to provide higher performance and can easily scale to larger multi-chip devices.

“The QPU is now internally deployed and marks a major leap forward for our technology, customers and the field of superconducting qubits,” said Andrew Bestwick, VP of Quantum Device Architecture at Rigetti. “Relative to past systems, the gates are faster and the connectivity is denser, opening up new possibilities for application and algorithm development. We believe this is the architecture that will bring us to narrow quantum advantage (nQA), and the Ankaa-1 system represents a landmark moment towards achieving that goal.”
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August 13, 2023 at 09:31PM

Why we must build an inclusive quantum community – Physics World

Alex Belsley, Marija Radulovic, Angela Stephen and Carrie Weidner say that diversity and inclusion considerations must be at the forefront of rapidly developing fields such as quantum technologies Creating inclusive and equitable environments in the lab and at scientific conferences is crucial if we
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August 14, 2023 at 10:31PM

2023 Quantum Computation Lecture notes by Peter Shor

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August 15, 2023 at 06:30AM

A Leap in Performance – New Breakthrough Boosts Quantum AI

A groundbreaking theoretical proof reveals that using a technique called overparametrization enhances performance in quantum machine learning for tasks that challenge traditional computers.

“We believe our results will be useful in using machine learning to learn the properties of quantum data, such as classifying different phases of matter in quantum materials research, which is very difficult on classical computers,” said Diego Garcia-Martin, a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is a co-author of a new paper by a Los Alamos team on the technique in Nature Computational Science.
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August 15, 2023 at 09:30AM

AFRL opens Extreme Computing centre for quantum computing research

Described as a state-of-the-art facility, it is located in the organisation’s Information Directorate in Rome, New York – one of the country’s premier military research facilities.
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August 15, 2023 at 06:30PM

Top physicist says chatbots are just ‘glorified tape recorders,’ and predicts a different computing revolution is ahead

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Kaku acknowledged chatbots’ efficiency in content generation but underscored their limitations in distinguishing truth from fiction and accurate data from misinformation.
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August 15, 2023 at 06:30PM

QuantrolOx launches automation software integrated with Qblox control stack to accelerate the development of quantum technologies

Espoo, Finland / Delft, the Netherlands – QuantrolOx, a pioneer in the automation of quantum computers, is excited to announce the launch of its first product, Quantum Edge, which automates the tuning and optimization of superconducting quantum computers.
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August 15, 2023 at 06:30PM

Building a Quantum-Secure Future with Toshiba

Toshiba's Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is an example of a quantum-secure method of data transmission that distributes ultra-secure encryption keys, making networks resilient against quantum threats. Toshiba's QKD technology has been developed over two decades and can be deployed over existing fiber networks, making it a mature and world-leading solution.

In February 2022, JPMorgan Chase, Toshiba, and Ciena collaborated to demonstrate the viability of the first Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) network, ensuring security for mission-critical blockchain applications. In March 2022, Toshiba Group and KT joined forces for Quantum Key Distribution pilot projects in South Korea. In April 2022, EY became the first commercial customer for the Quantum-Secured Metro Network (QSMN), the World's first commercial trial for QKD network built using Toshiba QKD hardware and key management software across BT's fibre network. And recently in July 2023, HSBC became the first bank to join the UK's pioneering commercial quantum secure metro network.
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August 16, 2023 at 11:31AM

IonQ Says Reaching #AQ 64 will be a ChatGPT Moment for Quantum Computing

“At #AQ 64, classical computers will no longer be able to fully simulate an IonQ system, and as a result, we believe these systems will enable customers to tackle certain problems that even the best classical supercomputers can’t solve. We currently expect to deliver #AQ 64 by the end of 2025. We believe IonQ is the only public company today, that is executing against a roadmap that can deliver these technical results and sell systems in this time period.”
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August 16, 2023 at 09:32PM

Quantum computing Q2 2023 results: IonQ, Rigetti, D-Wave & Quantum Computing Inc.

The Urgency of the Quantum Computing Race With China

Since China is already invested heavily in quantum technologies with a long-term outlook,” Navy Commander Doug Quinn and two colleagues wrote for Joint Force Quarterly, “[the Defense Department] should assume that [quantum computing] poses a long-term threat to homeland defense.”

The field of quantum technology covers a range of systems that interact with matter at the subatomic level. At such small scales, the behavior of matter and energy is strangely paradoxical.
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August 16, 2023 at 09:32PM

Revolutionary hardware unveils new quantum computing model

A potentially game-changing theoretical approach to quantum computing hardware avoids much of the problematic complexity found in current quantum computers. The strategy implements an algorithm in natural quantum interactions to process a variety of real-world problems faster than classical computers or conventional gate-based quantum computers can.

"Our finding eliminates many challenging requirements for quantum hardware," said Nikolai Sinitsyn, a theoretical physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is co-author of a paper on the approach in the journal Physical Review A. "Natural systems, such as the electronic spins of defects in diamond, have precisely the type of interactions needed for our computation process."
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August 16, 2023 at 09:32PM

UK Startup Phasecraft Raises £13 Million for Quantum Algorithm Development

A British startup, Phasecraft Ltd., has raised £13 million ($16.5 million) in funding to develop algorithms specifically designed for quantum machinery.
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August 16, 2023 at 10:30PM

Paper: Unit cell of a Penning micro-trap quantum processor

Trapped ions in radio-frequency traps are among the leading approaches for realizing quantum computers, due to high-fidelity quantum gates and long coherence times. However, the use of radio-frequencies presents a number of challenges to scaling, including requiring compatibility of chips with high voltages, managing power dissipation and restricting transport and placement of ions. By replacing the radio-frequency field with a 3 T magnetic field, we here realize a micro-fabricated Penning ion trap which removes these restrictions. We demonstrate full quantum control of an ion in this setting, as well as the ability to transport the ion arbitrarily in the trapping plane above the chip. This unique feature of the Penning micro-trap approach opens up a modification of the Quantum CCD architecture with improved connectivity and flexibility, facilitating the realization of large-scale trapped-ion quantum computing, quantum simulation and quantum sensing.
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August 17, 2023 at 09:30AM

Error correcting codes for near-term quantum computers

At IBM Quantum, we recognize that fault-tolerant universal quantum computers won’t roll off a manufacturing line tomorrow. Rather, we expect that quantum computers will mature incrementally as hardware and error-handling technology advances, steadily increasing in utility and solving increasingly complex problems in the interim, much like classical computers did before us. IBM scientists published the discovery of new codes ¹ that work with ten times fewer qubits. Practical error correction is far from a solved problem. However, these new codes and other advances across the field are increasing our confidence that fault tolerant quantum computing isn’t just possible, but is possible without having to build an unreasonably large quantum computer.
(Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.07915 )
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August 17, 2023 at 01:32PM

Quantum Computing: The Importance of Fidelity and Error Correction

Let’s say you need to navigate 2,000 meters across a lake from one shore to the other, but your boat has a leak. Because the boat takes on water, it can only travel about 5% of the distance before taking on too much water and sinking. To fix the problem, you decide to build an even bigger boat.
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August 17, 2023 at 03:32PM

Qubits Unleashed: NIST’s “Toggle Switch” and the Future of Quantum Computing

he novel device could lead to more versatile quantum processors with clearer outputs. Introduced by a team of scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the device includes two superconducting quantum bits, or qubits, which are a quantum computer’s analog to the logic bits in a classical computer’s processing chip. The heart of this new strategy relies on a “toggle switch” device that connects the qubits to a circuit called a “readout resonator” that can read the output of the qubits’ calculations.

The Toggle Switch Mechanism

This toggle switch can be flipped into different states to adjust the strength of the connections between the qubits and the readout resonator. When toggled off, all three elements are isolated from each other. When the switch is toggled on to connect the two qubits, they can interact and perform calculations. Once the calculations are complete, the toggle switch can connect either of the qubits and the readout resonator to retrieve the results.
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August 18, 2023 at 08:31AM

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Quantum Cryptography (QC)

NSA continues to evaluate the usage of cryptography solutions to secure the transmission of data in National Security Systems. NSA does not recommend the usage of quantum key distribution and quantum cryptography for securing the transmission of data in National Security Systems (NSS) unless the limitations below are overcome.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) has certain technical limitations. While it generates key material for encryption, it lacks a method to authenticate the source of the transmission, necessitating the use of asymmetric cryptography or preplaced keys. QKD requires specialized equipment, dedicated fiber connections, or managed free-space transmitters, hindering integration into existing networks and making upgrades and patches difficult. Infrastructure costs and insider threats increase due to the need for trusted relays. Validating QKD's security poses challenges, as real-world security relies on hardware and engineering designs, and errors are much less tolerable in cryptographic contexts. Furthermore, QKD's reliance on eavesdropper sensitivity also makes it vulnerable to denial of service attacks.
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August 18, 2023 at 11:30PM

Can Quantum Computers Stop Wildfires?

Can quantum computers stop or prevent wildfires? The short answer is, of course, no.
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August 18, 2023 at 11:30PM

The meaning of quantum

The legendary theoretical physicist Richard Feynman once said: “I think I can safely say that no one understands quantum mechanics.” In reality, Feynman probably understood quantum physics better than most people alive at that time. Describing quantum systems and explaining how they might change the world is, therefore, no easy task. But for Clément Brauner, managing consultant in emerging technologies and quantum at Capgemini Invent, Iftikhar Ahmed, senior business enterprise architect at Capgemini, and Franziska Wolff, quantum technology consultant and project manager with Capgemini Engineering, it’s all in a day’s work.
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August 18, 2023 at 11:30PM

QuEra Computing Inc. Hints At Moving From Analog To Digital Mode With 10,000 Qubits

In the press release announcing these new options, QuEra CEO Alex Keesling had this to say: "As we ramp up the production capabilities and expand our exceptional team of application-focused scientists, we're thrilled to unlock additional avenues for engaging with our ground-breaking technology. The launch of our on-premise and premium access models stems directly from resonant customer demand. This pivotal move is not just a response but an exciting leap forward that opens a realm of new opportunities for our customers and for QuEra."
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August 19, 2023 at 05:30PM

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