The Week in Quantum Computing - February 1st
Issue #21
The Week in Quantum Computing. Brought to you by Sergio Gago (@piratecto) and The Quantum World Association.
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By @piratecto
Quick Recap
My guess is that half of the world has been talking about Gamestop and Robinhood in the last week, so maybe some of the events in our industry have inadvertently passed. We got a few of nice investment rounds. From Riverlane, building a “quantum operating system” to ClassiQ and Qike Quantum. One of the beautiful things of what we will see in 2021 is developments in ecosystem and complementary companies. From development support to frameworks like QCI Qikstart, or like aQuantum’s qPath.
On the science side we have seen a few developments specially in scalability and trapping electrons, as well as potential speedups in algorithms. Then Microsoft Azure surprised everyone with a potential blueprint for scaling their computers, while SpinQ deploys the very first quantum desktop computer! (just for playing, don’t worry!)
Featured Content
Two great conferences are coming up in march:
Quantum Business Europe (March 16th/17th), is the new must-attend digital event to learn about the advancements and business applications of quantum technologies. Discover the first use cases, exchange ideas, and better understand all the challenges of this upcoming revolution.
Quantum Pirates and QWA readers receive a 25% discount booking with this code: QBE-QWA. Register here.
Where Quantum Technology Means Business™
The next Inside Quantum Technology Conference and Exhibition will be held online May 17-21, 2021. This will be the fourth such event and is the foremost gathering of business leaders, product developers, marketing strategists and investors anywhere in the world focused on quantum technology. We are anticipating that over 1,000 people will be attending this event from all over the world and from every area of quantum technology.
This conference includes panels and keynotes on eight topics critical to those seeking new business revenues from quantum-related opportunities.
Early Bird Registration already started
Only $49 Through 4 February
Unitary Fund & QOSF Wittek price winner announced:
Roger Luo is the 2020 Winner of the Wittek Quantum Prize for Open Source Software for his work on Yao.jl and several other projects. The prize has been awarded by the Quantum Open Source Foundation (QOSF) in collaboration with Unitary Fund, reviewing over 50 candidatures from a worldwide community.
See the video in the linkQuantum Definitions (by @quantumfyed)
The folks at @quantumfyed are creating amazing infographies explaining quantum mechanics and quantum computing concepts. We will be posting some of them here. Follow them for great content: Twitter: https://twitter.com/quantumfyed and Instagram: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quantumfyed/
The Summary of the Week
Sydney united to build a Quantum Harbour City
Sydney is fast becoming recognised as the global destination for quantum technology. Research teams at the University of Sydney and UNSW are finding that cooperation alongside competition provide a fertile ground for advancement. Working together: from left, Professor Andrew Dzurak (UNSW), Dr Bas Hensen (UNSW), Anderson West (UNSW), Dr Alexis Jouan (University of Sydney), Professor David Reilly (University of Sydney). Photo by Nyasha Nyakuengama/UNSW.
Link: https://ift.tt/3kV21fk
January 24, 2021 at 02:33PM
A curious observer’s guide to quantum mechanics, pt. 3: Rose colored glasses
One of the quietest revolutions of our current century has been the entry of quantum mechanics into our everyday technology. It used to be that quantum effects were confined to physics laboratories and delicate experiments.
Link: https://ift.tt/3iHQK1l
January 24, 2021 at 05:33PM
Riverlane secures $20M in funding
New funding will accelerate Riverlane’s mission to build a high-performance operating system that makes quantum computers useful, sooner. Riverlane has raised $20m in Series A funding to build Deltaflow, its operating system for quantum computers. Over the past year, we have signed up 20% of the world’s quantum hardware manufacturers to use Deltaflow and will use the funding to expand internationally to the US, Europe and beyond.
The round was led by European technology venture capital fund Draper Esprit, and supported by existing investors, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, and the University of Cambridge.
Link: https://www.riverlane.com/news/2021/01/riverlane-secures-20-million-in-series-a-funding/
January 25, 2021 at 11:33AM
Long-distance and secure quantum key distribution (QKD) over a free-space channel
A concept figure of the MDI-QKD experiment in a city. Telescopes are located in high-rise buildings for transmitting encoded photons.
Link: https://ift.tt/3oijIWK
January 25, 2021 at 11:33PM
Sensors, the other quantum revolution
Identifying every pipe and cavity beneath our cities, anticipating a volcanic eruption, or observing brain activity in the most minute detail, these are only some of the tantalising promises made by a new type of instrument with unprecedented sensitivity: quantum sensors.
Link: https://ift.tt/3qGGRUn
January 26, 2021 at 10:33AM
Researchers Develop New Blueprint for More Stable Quantum Computers
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have put forward a detailed plan of how faster and better defined quantum bits – qubits – can be created.
Link: https://ift.tt/3pwkuRm
January 26, 2021 at 10:33AM
China: The Quantum Competition We Can’t Ignore
Security CEO and Founder of Safe Quantum Inc., working with data-driven companies to define, develop and deploy quantum-safe technologies. When marketers talk about a company’s key differentiators, they often start with the three P's: people, products and processes.
Link: https://ift.tt/2Y2CbfA
January 26, 2021 at 01:33PM
Quantum computing’s next trick? The power of networked clusters
Whatever their underlying technology, to achieve scale, quantum computers will need to go modular and be networked. In 2021 we will see the first demonstration of this. Quantum technology is often linked to three different areas of networking.
Link: https://ift.tt/3sWbCGR
January 27, 2021 at 08:33AM
QCI QikStart™ Program Accelerates Business Adoption of Quantum Computing
Quantum Computing Inc. (OTCQB: QUBT) (QCI), the leader in bridging the power of classic and quantum computing, today unveiled its QikStart™ Program. QikStart will provide access to QCI’s industry-leading quantum acceleration platform, expert resources, and funding to explore and push the boundaries of quantum computing for delivering practical business results. QCI focuses on solving a set of some of the most complex computational problems, known as constrained optimization. Solutions to these problems optimize critical applications for business such as supply chain, logistics, drug discovery, cybersecurity, transportation and others.
Link: https://ift.tt/3iRQAVp
January 27, 2021 at 09:33AM
How quantum computers could hack our brains with fake memories like Total Recall
Note: This is a very debated article with more science fiction than science.
Quantum computers, according to experts, will one day be capable of performing incredible calculations and nearly unfathomable feats of logic. In the near future, we know they’ll help us discover new drugs to fight disease and new materials to build with.
Link: https://ift.tt/3aaT0KG
January 27, 2021 at 09:33AM
First UK 'Knowledge Intensive' deeptech university fund
UK venture capital fund Parkwalk has launched one of the first Knowledge Intensive Funds to be approved by the UK government to invest in deeptech startups. […] The Fund typically makes an initial investment of up to £5m and will make further follow on investments into existing portfolio companies
Link: https://ift.tt/3a9d7sU
January 27, 2021 at 10:33AM
A Benchmark for Single-Electron Quantum Circuits
Manipulating individual electrons with the goal of employing quantum effects offers new possibilities and greater precision in electronics. However, these single-electron circuits are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, meaning that deviations from error-free operation still occur – albeit (in the best possible scenario) only very rarely. Thus, insights into both the physical origin the and metrological aspects of this fundamental uncertainty are crucial for the further development of quantum circuitry. To this end, scientists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the University of Latvia have collaborated to develop a statistical testing methodology. Their results have been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Link: https://ift.tt/3iMiAd7
January 27, 2021 at 10:33AM
Classiq raises $10.5M Series A round for its quantum software development platform
Classiq, a Tel Aviv-based startup that aims to make it easier for computer scientists and developers to create quantum algorithms and applications, today announced that it has raised a $10.5 million Series A round led by Team8 Capital and Wing Capital.
Link: https://ift.tt/3omSZsc
January 27, 2021 at 09:33PM
BMW takes first steps into the quantum computing revolution
BMW is rolling into quantum computing, the German automaker said Wednesday, using a Honeywell quantum computer to find more efficient ways to purchase the myriad components that go into its vehicles.
Link: https://ift.tt/3cdto2r
January 27, 2021 at 09:33PM
Complexity of Quantum State Verification in the Quantum Linear Systems Problem
Quantum computers may one day solve problems related to systems of linear equations exponentially faster than classical computers.
Link: https://ift.tt/36iInV8
January 27, 2021 at 10:33PM
New “Fast Forward” Algorithm Could Unleash the Power of Quantum Computers
Fast-forwarding quantum calculations skips past the time limits imposed by decoherence, which plagues today’s machines.
Link: https://ift.tt/3a7vbDI
January 28, 2021 at 08:33AM
The Lattice, the Clock, and the Microscope
Understanding systems of many interacting quantum particles remains one of the grand challenges in physics. Simulating such systems on supercomputers is impossible for more than a few particles, but promising approaches based on quantum simulators are on the horizon.
Link: https://ift.tt/3t3pSOc
January 28, 2021 at 03:33PM
Roche to use quantum computing for drug discovery
Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche is partnering with a U.K. company to use quantum computing techniques to find new treatments for diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
Link: https://ift.tt/3pv6OWV
January 28, 2021 at 08:33PM
Full stack ahead: Pioneering quantum hardware allows for controlling up to thousands of qubits at cryogenic temperatures
Quantum computing offers the promise of solutions to previously unsolvable problems, but in order to deliver on this promise, it will be necessary to preserve and manipulate information that is contained in the most delicate of resources: highly entangled quantum states.
Link: https://ift.tt/3iPyfIF
January 28, 2021 at 11:33PM
Bringing a two-qubit desktop quantum computer to life
SpinQ Chief Scientist Prof. Bei Zeng from University of Guelph, announced the SpinQ Gemini, a two-qubit desktop quantum computer based on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) technology. It is the first time that a desktop quantum computer is commercially available. SpinQ Gemini is built by the state-of-the-art technology of permanent magnets, providing 1T magnetic field, running at room temperature, and maintenance free. It demonstrates quantum algorithms such as Deutsch’s algorithm and Grover’s algorithm for teaching quantum computing to university and high school students, also provides advanced models for quantum circuit design and control sequence design for researchers. SpinQ is a Shenzhen based company supported by venture capital, with an initial investment of 2 million CAD.
Link: https://ift.tt/2Gb1sLk
January 29, 2021 at 09:33AM
Cambridge Quantum to Develop Quantum Algorithms with Roche for Drug Discovery & Development
Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) is pleased to announce their collaboration with Roche, to design and implement noisy-intermediate-scale-quantum (NISQ) algorithms for early-stage drug discovery and development.
Link: https://ift.tt/3pzppkI
January 29, 2021 at 01:33PM
Quantum communication R & D enterprise "Qike quantum" won 50 million yuan Angel round financing
Recently, the quantum communication research and development enterprise "Qike quantum" has completed an angel round of financing of 50 million yuan, and the investors are Zhongguancun Development frontier fund, Zhongguancun gold seed fund, etc.
Link: https://ift.tt/3a9FU0o
January 29, 2021 at 05:33PM
Research project on quantum computing: Infineon contributes expertise in industrialization
Munich – 29 January 2021 – Infineon Technologies AG is working in the joint project “German Quantum Computer based on Superconducting Qubits” (GeQCoS) together with leading scientists from five research institutes in Germany to drive forward the development and industrialization of quantum c
Link: https://ift.tt/3covigY
January 29, 2021 at 11:33PM
Cineca-Pasqal agreement on Quantum Computing
CINECA will give access to Pasqal's neutral atoms quantum computing technology to its members through Pasqal's quantum cloud. CINECA is at the forefront of innovation and committed to provide its members access to the most promising computing technologies.
Link: https://ift.tt/3pwwWRq
January 30, 2021 at 09:33AM
New Electron Trap Might Help Quantum Computers
Trapping single electrons for long times isn’t easy. It has been achieved before in configurations that would not be good for a qubit—for example, using strong magnetic fields that would interfere with the qubit’s operation. Single ion qubits, meanwhile, have usually been held in Paul traps, which use oscillating electric fields that can be generated by electrodes in a chip-based circuit. […]
Link: https://ift.tt/36p76Hh
January 30, 2021 at 12:33PM
Video: Quantum Computing for Finance
Multiverse Computing worked with major banks like BBVA and Bankia to solve real world problems in finance using a D-Wave quantum computers. In a project with Bankia, they tackled the problem of dynamic portfolio optimization - determining the optimal trading trajectory for an investment portfolio of
Microsoft is hard at work on its own quantum computing system
Researchers from Microsoft and the University of Sydney in Australia are currently working on developing their own quantum computing system that uses CMOS-based silicon chips.
Link: https://ift.tt/2NJ1Qrv
January 30, 2021 at 09:33PM