The Week in Quantum Computing - February 5th 2024

Issue #172

Feb 05, 2024

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

This week is about benchmarks and how far are we from actual, real utility. A paper claims that business advantage may come sooner than cryptographic havoc. But others claim they resources required for that are still far on the development roadmap. Metriq, a project by the Unitary Fund, seems to agree with their community benchmarks. This alphas been acquisition week with Infleqtion and ORCA going shopping. And Cisco and NuQuantum partnering on the networking side. All that with the error correction shadow in our backs, and a reported reduction on private investment lazy year. (Remember last year we talked about budgets pivoting towards AI. However this year we have started strong).

Quantum computing is a new paradigm with the potential to tackle problems that classical computers cannot solve today. Unfortunately, this also introduces threats to the digital economy and particularly the financial sector.
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January 28, 2024 at 11:30AM

Quantifying the effect of gate errors on variational quantum eigensolvers for quantum chemistry

Variational quantum eigensolvers (VQEs) are leading candidates to demonstrate near-term quantum advantage. Here, we conduct density-matrix simulations of leading gate-based VQEs for a range of molecules. We numerically quantify their level of tolerable depolarizing gate-errors.
Link: https://ift.tt/NRnyXvH
January 28, 2024 at 11:30PM

Infleqtion Accelerates Commercialization of Quantum Products at Scale with Silicon Photonics Acquisitions

AUSTIN, Texas, /PRNewswire/ -- Infleqtion, the world's leading quantum information company, today announced it has acquired two integrated silicon photonics companies: SiNoptiq Inc. and Morton Photonics Inc.
Link: https://ift.tt/dRPrLvi
January 29, 2024 at 05:30PM

Insilico Medicine reveal how quantum computing can unlock understanding of ageing and disease

Researchers from Insilico Medicine have shown how quantum computing can be integrated into the study of living organisms to shed light on biological processes like ageing and disease.
Link: https://ift.tt/OIWKyLz
January 29, 2024 at 05:30PM

Swedish Company ConScience AB Launch First Generation Quantum Device

The Gothenburg based company ConScience AB is launching their first Quantum Device Quantum device manufacturing is very complex.
Link: https://ift.tt/qwzXUYG
January 29, 2024 at 06:30PM

US National Science Foundation Launches National AI Research Resource Pilot

In a major stride toward building a shared national research infrastructure, the U.S. National Science Foundation has launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot program with significant support from NVIDIA.
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January 29, 2024 at 06:30PM

“You have to steer clear of the hype. As I like to say, quantum computing is also interesting if you only say things that are true.”

Interview with Prof. Dr. Eisert.

Berlin has become increasingly recognized as a center for quantum research. How does the Berlin ecosystem foster progress in this field, and what unique advantages does the city offer researchers like you?

Berlin is a scientific center in several respects. First of all, it is a wonderful research location with a large number of bright minds. Then there are also a number of formats that support the Berlin ecosystem. The Einstein Research Unit on Quantum Devices is promoting the topic as part of the Excellence Initiative. It is also part of the DFG Cluster of Excellence MATH+. Above all, the Berlin Senate is funding the ecosystem as part of Berlin Quantum.
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January 30, 2024 at 02:30PM

Is quantum computing the next technology on the EU's regulation agenda?

In the last weeks of 2023, the European Commission announced its new Declaration on Quantum Technologies in a bid to put the advanced technology firmly on the bloc's agenda.
Link: https://ift.tt/k4Qx1I0
January 30, 2024 at 03:30PM

Who needs qubits? Physicists make light-based ‘qumodes’ for quantum computing

Quantum computers are built from qubits: physical objects with properties that have one of two possible results when measured. The prototypical example is an electron, whose spin will always show as either clockwise or counterclockwise. Konno, S. et al. Science 383, 289–293 (2024).
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January 30, 2024 at 09:31PM

IQM–OpenOcean–Lakestar State of Quantum 2024: Quantum resilient to investment slowdown with widespread government backing

Report shows government commitments now outstrip VC investments into quantum computing as national labs accelerate practical quantum applications Today, IQM Quantum Computers, a global leader in building quantum computers, OpenOcean, a leading European venture capital firm, and Lakestar, the leadin
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January 30, 2024 at 11:30PM

Fujitsu and Delft University of Technology establish new quantum lab

Industry-academia collaboration hub Fujitsu Advanced Computing Lab Delft at Delft University of Technology to drive development of advanced quantum computing technologies Fujitsu Limited, Delft University of Technology Fujitsu and Delft University of Technology today announced the establishment of
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January 31, 2024 at 10:30AM

Cisco announces new quantum networking collaboration with UK startup

Cisco has announced a new quantum networking collaboration with Nu Quantum, a UK startup. The partnership with Nu Quantum, based in Cambridge, will see Cisco become a prospective end-user for “Lyra,” a project that aims to deliver the world’s first “Quantum Networking Unit” (QNU.
Link: https://ift.tt/c6ZCFNi
January 31, 2024 at 10:30AM

ORCA Computing acquires GXC's integrated photonics division

The acquisition leapfrogs the company ahead, bypassing years of investment in and exploration of traditional integrated photonics materials.
Link: https://ift.tt/b7dJ3yY
January 31, 2024 at 12:30PM

Investors threw 50% less money at quantum last year

Quantum companies received 50 percent less venture cap funding last year as investors switched to generative AI or shied away from risky bets on Silicon Valley startups. Progress in quantum computing is being made, but practical applications of the technology are still likely years away.
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February 01, 2024 at 04:30PM

Quantum Computing Has Entered the Logical Qubit Era. Why Does That Matter?

Quantum computing is on the cusp of a major revolution, a shift that could redefine the boundaries of computation and problem-solving. At the heart of this revolution is the transition to the “logical qubit era” in which errors in quantum computers will be dramatically reduced.
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February 01, 2024 at 11:30PM

Paper: Assessing the Benefits and Risks of Quantum Computers

Quantum computing is an emerging technology with potentially far-reaching implications for national prosperity and security. Understanding the timeframes over which economic benefits and national security risks may manifest themselves is vital for ensuring the prudent development of this technology. To inform security experts and policy decision makers on this matter, we review what is currently known on the potential uses and risks of quantum computers, leveraging current research literature.
The maturity of currently-available quantum computers is not yet at a level such that they can be used in production for large-scale, industrially-relevant problems, but they are not believed to currently pose security risks. We identify 2 large-scale trends -- new approximate methods (variational algorithms, error mitigation, and circuit knitting) and the commercial exploration of business-relevant quantum applications -- which, together, may enable useful and practical quantum computing in the near future.
Crucially, these methods do not appear likely to change the required resources for cryptanalysis on currently-used cryptosystems. From an analysis we perform of the current and known algorithms for cryptanalysis, we find they require circuits of a size exceeding those that can be run by current and near-future quantum computers (and which will require error correction), though we acknowledge improvements in quantum algorithms for these problems are taking place in the literature. In addition, the risk to cybersecurity can be well-managed by the migration to new, quantum-safe cryptographic protocols, which we survey and discuss.
Given the above, we conclude there is a credible expectation that quantum computers will be capable of performing computations which are economically-impactful before they will be capable of performing ones which are cryptographically-relevant.

Link: https://ift.tt/ZiOtW6T
February 02, 2024 at 07:30AM

Colorado is competing for federal funding to aid local advancement of quantum technology

Colorado is competing with Wyoming, New Mexico and Illinois to move into the second phase of the U.S. Department of Commerce's "Tech Hub" program for the advancement of quantum technologies.
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February 02, 2024 at 08:30AM

Quantum Computing - Hype vs. reality | Field Notes

As the race to build the world's first truly useful quantum computer intensifies, so too does the need for clear-eyed assessment. This Field Notes episode brings in the Google Quantum AI team to help answer a few fundamental questions to drive understanding of its impact now and in the future. Reso

Metriq - Community-driven Quantum Benchmarks

Metriq is a platform for tracking and sharing quantum technology benchmarks. Users can make new submissions that show the performance of different methods on platforms against tasks.

https://metriq.info

February 03, 2024 at 04:30PM

Hamiltonian variational ansatz without barren plateaus

Variational quantum algorithms, which combine highly expressive parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) and optimization techniques in machine learning, are one of the most promising applications of a near-term quantum computer. Despite their huge potential, the utility of variational quantum algorithms beyond tens of qubits is still questioned. One of the central problems is the trainability of PQCs. The cost function landscape of a randomly initialized PQC is often too flat, asking for an exponential amount of quantum resources to find a solution. This problem, dubbed barren plateausbarren plateaus, has gained lots of attention recently, but a general solution is still not available. In this paper, we solve this problem for the Hamiltonian variational ansatz (HVA), which is widely studied for solving quantum many-body problems. After showing that a circuit described by a time-evolution operator generated by a local Hamiltonian does not have exponentially small gradients, we derive parameter conditions for which the HVA is well approximated by such an operator. Based on this result, we propose an initialization scheme for the variational quantum algorithms and a parameter-constrained ansatz free from barren plateaus.
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February 03, 2024 at 05:30PM

Quantum Pirates

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