The Week in Quantum Computing - December - December 7th
The Week in Quantum Computing. Brought to you by Sergio Gago and The Quantum World Association.
Do you like this Newsletter? Like, share and subscribe! :) (or do the three things in superposition :) ). You can also follow the news in real time by following me on Twitter: @piratecto
Quick Recap
Arguably, the most relevant story of this week for quantum is NOT quantum related, but tightly closed. DeepMind AI has been able to succesfully predict how protein structures fold thanks to their algorithms. This is a BIG deal and it was a major problem in biology for decades. Our computers simply could not cope with that.
Wait, didn’t we have Quantum Computers precisely for that? YES! And this is the beauty of our industry. One company claims quantum advantage and hunderds of classical engineers start working on beating it. Quantum, by pushing the boundaries is helping indirectly improve what we can do in classical computation. And I think it is beautiful, but also makes business sense. Quantum is not here to replace classical computers but to hybridize with them. Let each chip do the job that is better suited to do.
(Note, not everyone is excited about this, and there is a lot of skepticism regarding the hype: https://futurism.com/scientists-unimpressed-googles-protein-folding-algorithm )
You might be wondering “what is this guy talking about, didn’t the chinese just claimend Quantum Supremacy?” Well, yes. I wrote that intro right when Alphafold was released on Dec. 1st thiking “nothing else can happen this size this week”. How wrong I was. 3 days later the group led by Jianwei Pan between Hefei and Shanghai in China claim quantum supremacy using boson sampling detecting up to 70 photons. This is the first supremacy claim on a photonic computer.
Also the usual plethora of news happened this week. Riverlane released the first version of their Quantum Operating System or IBM releases a prize for those who are able to solve an standing problem with SWAP gates. Amazing week!
Featured Content
Event: Dec. 15th. 9:30 - 10:30 CET - Quantum Business Network event - European Quantum Leaderhip https://quantumbusinessnetwork.de/events/european-quantum-leadership-session-1-quantum-computing/
What does it mean that Chinese researchers have achieved (again) Quantum Supremacy?
Scott Aaronson explains it in a great way in his article: Quantum Supremacy, now with Boson Sampling, but let me summarize:
“Quantum supremacy, a term coined by John Preskill in 2012, does not mean useful QC, or scalable QC, or fault-tolerant QC, all of which remain outstanding challenges." […] "It is roughly, the use of a programmable or configurable quantum computer to solve some well-defined computational problem much faster than we know how to solve it with any existing classical computer"
This experiment has more possible output states (~1030 of them, rather than a mere ~9 quadrillion). This makes it infeasible to calculate the whole probability distribution over outputs and store it on a gigantic hard disk.
This is how IBM countered to Google on their Sycamore claim, using the Summit supercomputer to diminish Google's advantage. Although they never actually did it).
— There is still no real application for either "advantage" claims.
— Results are *expensive* to verify beause of the impossibility for classical computers to process it. "they’d now verified their results up to n=40, but it burned $400,000 worth of supercomputer time so they decided to stop there."
More here: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=5122
Also there is an update with claims from Google and the scientific community. Highly recommended read.
On the classical side. What does the Alphafold 2 breakthrough mean?
The Book of the Week
Talking about Aaronson. This book was one of the first ones that was recommended me to start in this field. It is not a book to learn quantum computation but to learn why quantum computation. Scott Aaronson takes us on a trip to the complexity zoo of problems, the evolution, the problems and where we are now. It is a classic, easy to read and with no need to be a physicist to understand it.
The Summary of the Week
Indian-led research team brings quantum internet closer to reality
It sounds like something straight out of spy fiction. When someone breaks into a transmission and tries to intercept it — the message is destroyed. That’s the quantum internet, which builds on the laws governing quantum mechanics, with the promise of “unhackable” transmissions.
Link: https://ift.tt/36hgLQD
November 29, 2020 at 09:33AM
BGU's Prof. Yigal Meir and Colleagues Awarded Prestigious $16 million ERC Synergy Grant
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev theoretical physicist Prof. Yigal Meir and his colleagues have been awarded a 2020 ERC Synergy Grant worth $16 million. It is just one of 34 proposals which received funding out of more than 440 proposals submitted.
Link: https://ift.tt/2VgJwqs
November 29, 2020 at 03:33PM
A boost for quantum research
ETH Zurich intends to further expand its leading position in quantum research, and so it is planning a highly specialised physics laboratory building on the Hönggerberg campus.
Link: https://ift.tt/379n1Jh
November 29, 2020 at 03:33PM
Large investment into Danish quantum cryptography
Quantum communication is a Danish research stronghold. To capitalize on this and foster a new high-tech business area, the Innovation Fund Denmark has invested 22.5M DKK into CryptQ which will develop a cost-effective and telecom compatible quantum secured communication system over the next 3 years.
Link: https://ift.tt/3o8iQV2
November 29, 2020 at 10:33PM
IBM aims for quantum computing safe encryption, security tools
IBM Cloud said it will offer cryptography technology that will be futureproofed for quantum computing deployments. Big Blue, which is among the key players in the quantum computing race, launched Quantum Safe Cryptography for Key Management and Application Transactions.
Link: https://ift.tt/37e3vve
November 30, 2020 at 09:33PM
The Open Science Prize: Solve for SWAP gates and graph states
Today, we’re excited to announce the IBM Quantum Awards: Open Science Prize, an award totaling $100,000 for any person or team who can devise an open source solution — using IBM quantum systems — to two important challenges at the forefront of quantum computing based on superconducting qubits:
reducing gate errors,
and increasing circuit fidelity for graph state preparation.
Link: https://ift.tt/3fN8yH8
November 30, 2020 at 10:33PM
‘It will change everything’: DeepMind’s AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures
An artificial intelligence (AI) network developed by Google AI offshoot DeepMind has made a gargantuan leap in solving one of biology’s grandest challenges — determining a protein’s 3D shape from its amino-acid sequence.
Link: https://ift.tt/2KPkiNL
December 01, 2020 at 08:33AM
Why Quantum Computing Should Be Part Of Your Enterprise AI Strategy
Christopher Savoie, PhD is the CEO & founder of Zapata Computing. He is a published scholar in medicine, biochemistry and computer science. In the coming weeks, the Chinese fintech giant Ant Group is set to raise $34 billion in the world’s largest-ever IPO.
Link: https://ift.tt/2JC4u08
December 02, 2020 at 08:33AM
Amazon Is Laying the Groundwork for Its Own Quantum Computer
(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. is laying the groundwork for a quantum computer, deepening efforts to harness technology that can crunch in seconds vast amounts of data that take even the most powerful supercomputers hours or days to process.
Link: https://ift.tt/2JBYJ2N
December 02, 2020 at 11:33AM
Quantum computing is almost here
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna says quantum computing will arrive as as soon as 2023, fueling innovation in pharmaceuticals, finance, and even weather forecasting.
Link: https://ift.tt/2JAkfF7
December 02, 2020 at 07:33PM
Variational Quantum Algorithms – How do they work?
Dear Reader! This is the third part in a series of articles about Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs). The first two parts were about specific algorithms – VQE and QAOA and in this part I’d like to explain the general structure as well as different components of such algorithms.
Link: https://ift.tt/3olftuf
December 02, 2020 at 09:33PM
Riverlane release first version of quantum operating system, Deltaflow.OS®
In May 2020, Riverlane revealed that they will lead a consortium which has been awarded a £7.6m grant to build a radically new operating system for quantum computers. We marked a ‘hello world’ moment in September, with the first successful trials of Deltaflow.
Link: https://ift.tt/2VrZxK6
December 03, 2020 at 08:33AM
Light-based Quantum Computer Exceeds Fastest Classical Supercomputers
For the first time, a quantum computer made from photons—particles of light—has outperformed even the fastest classical supercomputers.
Link: https://ift.tt/2VyjSxl
December 04, 2020 at 12:33AM
Quantum computing is entering a new dimension
For years, companies have been spending big money to develop quantum capabilities. Now those bets are starting to pay off.
Link: https://ift.tt/33EBoES
December 04, 2020 at 09:33AM
Quantum supremacy via BosonSampling
A group led by Jianwei Pan, based mainly in Hefei and Shanghai, announced today that it achieved BosonSampling with 40-70 detected photons—up to and beyond the limit where a classical supercomputer could feasibly verify the results.
Link: https://ift.tt/33Geqgt
December 04, 2020 at 09:33AM
Quantum computational advantage using photons
Quantum computers promises to perform certain tasks that are believed to be intractable to classical computers. Boson sampling is such a task and is considered as a strong candidate to demonstrate the quantum computational advantage.
Link: https://ift.tt/2Ia0BiT
December 04, 2020 at 04:33PM
Atos announces Q-score, the only universal metrics to assess quantum performance and superiority
– Atos introduces “Q-score”, the first universal quantum metrics, applicable to all programmable quantum processors.
Link: https://ift.tt/3qu0TCo
December 05, 2020 at 09:33AM
A New Theorem Maps Out the Limits of Quantum Physics
The result highlights a fundamental tension: Either the rules of quantum mechanics don’t always apply, or at least one basic assumption about reality must be wrong. The founders of quantum mechanics understood it to be deeply, profoundly weird.
Link: https://ift.tt/3g33COt
December 05, 2020 at 10:33AM