The Week in Quantum Computing - May 1st
Issue #136
The Week in Quantum Computing. Brought to you by Sergio Gago (@piratecto).
Quick Recap
This week in quantum computing, Israel and the UAE collaborated to improve superconducting quantum processors, while Riverlane raised £15m for its quantum operating system. Quantum technologies continued to see record investments and progress on addressing the talent gap, as detailed in the McKinsey Quantum Monitor. Quantum researchers at the University of Toronto received a $200-million grant to support "self-driving labs" research, which combines AI, robotics, and advanced computing. Meanwhile, ParticleX and HKUST co-invested in quantum computing startup QUANTier. The industry also saw developments in quantum algorithms, such as recession prediction via signature kernels enhanced with quantum features and accelerated quantum Monte Carlo with probabilistic computers.
The University of Illinois at Chicago researchers employed quantum physics to secure wireless devices, and NIST released a draft document on post-quantum encryption. Quantum scientists in Singapore achieved a state-of-the-art defect-free atom array. How do we know? They painted Singapore’s Merlion on it! (Neutral atoms continue taking the spotlight. I was honored to visit QuEra labs this week and I was blown away by their team and devices) SEEQC unveiled Italy's first quantum computing system. The German government has committed €3 billion to bring the country to the forefront of quantum technology.
Now, while some of use were in Boston for the QTech conference, some others were at the RSAC talking about cryptography (will quantum allow us to teleport from one conference to another?). And the one panel I would have loved to attend was the one with Zulfikar Ramzan, Carmela Troncoso, Ross Anderson, Ron Rivest and Adi Shamir (The R and the S on RSA!). You can find the key takeaways here. And another good summary here: You can cross 'Quantum computers to smash crypto' off your list of existential fears for 30 years
On the other side, McKinsey published their latest edition of the Quantum monitor seeing headwinds for established quantum companies. Investment has flattened (but in most industries has decreased or flattened as well) topping $2,34Bn reaching almost 350 startups funded. There is a big shortage of skills, although the number of quantum programs is growing, with the talent concentrating in Europe and India. However the investment happens in the US!
I really recommend downloading the full report. Fantastic work by Michael Bogobowicz, Scarlett Gao, Mateusz Masiowski, Niko Mohr, Henning Soller, Rodney Zemmel, and Matija Zesko
The paper of the week!
The Arxiv is fantastic. A great open and free way of sharing research. But remember: Not everything in there is peer reviewed or has to be correct. (I believe this one is not of course! Thanks Georgios Korpas for the tip!)
Next Events
Commercialising Quantum Global 2023
Under the stewardship of editors from The Economist, at the 2nd annual Commercialising Quantum Global, we will discuss how organisations can get the most out of quantum. The two-day agenda will cover the promise, the perils, the applications, the limitations, the hype and the reality of quantum.
Commercialising Quantum Global 2023 will help senior business leaders to understand if and when they should adopt quantum technology. Offering nuanced perspectives and experiences, our speakers will help to demystify quantum and assess the benefits of investing in the technology. Join us to gain the knowledge and tools to benefit from this fundamental new technology.
Register >> https://bit.ly/3LdtGGp
Quantum Computing Summit London 2023
What advice would you give to a C-suite executive evaluating what to do about quantum computing?
Dr. Faisal Kamran - internationally-renowned technology strategist and sustainability expert, working as Principal Technology Analyst for Sony Electronics - shares the four crucial steps he'd advise for execs looking to stay ahead of the competition and drive innovation.
The Week in Quantum Computing
Israel and Emirates collaborate to perfect quantum computing
Researchers at Israel's Bar-Ilan University, in collaboration with TII - the Quantum Research Center in Abu Dhabi, UAE, are leading a group project to advance quantum computing. They are achieving this goal by improving the performance of the basic computational units of a superconducting quantum processor. The improved qubit, called a "tunable superconducting flux qubit," is a micron-sized superconducting loop where the electric current can flow clockwise, counterclockwise, or in a quantum superposition of both directions.
Link: https://ift.tt/XH5P8Ye
April 23, 2023 at 04:31PM
Riverlane secures £15m Series B for quantum operating system
Cambridge-headquartered quantum computing startup Riverlane has secured £15m in a Series B funding round. Riverlane is developing a self-correcting operating system for quantum computers, which are prone to errors.
Link: https://ift.tt/IgcelAK
April 24, 2023 at 02:31PM
McKinsey Quantum Monitor: Quantum technology sees record investments, progress on talent gap
Last year, quantum technologies moved closer to fulfilling their promise to resolve challenges that are impossible or prohibitively expensive to tackle with today’s technologies. Investors buoy established quantum start-ups, technological progress continues—though at a slower pace—and more academic institutions offer quantum programs. Last year, quantum technologies moved closer to fulfilling their promise to resolve challenges that are impossible or prohibitively expensive to tackle with today’s technologies. Our updated analysis for the 2023 Quantum Technology Monitor shows that the four industries likely to see the earliest economic impact from quantum computing—automotive, chemicals, financial services, and life sciences—stand to potentially gain up to $1.3 trillion in value by 2035.
Link: https://ift.tt/xG0ohsH
April 24, 2023 at 02:31PM
A quantum leap in computational performance of quantum processors
These quantum features would allow the computer to be much faster and more powerful than a normal computer. For the speed potential to be realized, the quantum computer needs to operate several hundred of qubits simultaneously without having them unintentionally interfering with each other.
Link: https://ift.tt/bWd8hyX
April 25, 2023 at 02:32PM
Recession Prediction via Signature Kernels Enhanced with Quantum Features
Quantum computing is a transformative emerging technology with the potential to significantly improve how we solve complex computational problems. [...] In this blog post, we illustrate a novel approach for addressing the problem of forecasting economic recession periods using cutting-edge quantum machine learning techniques, combining classical signature methods with a quantum data transformation. To demonstrate the computational power of the method, we simulated the quantum computer on classical hardware, separating the effects of the quantum computer’s errors from the algorithmic results.
Link: https://ift.tt/GPlzEFT
April 25, 2023 at 08:31PM
Quantum computing: Hype or reality? OVH says businesses would be better off prepared
Euro cloud biz OVH recently announced the purchase of its first quantum-powered system as part of long-term plans to build a quantum environment for developers and other users.
Link: https://ift.tt/ZSlY2yJ
April 26, 2023 at 04:31AM
ParticleX and HKUST Co-Invest in Quantum Computing Startup QUANTier
HONG KONG, /PRNewswire/ -- ParticleX, a leading venture capital company for startups, is thrilled to announce its partnership with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Entrepreneurship Fund ("E-Fund") to co-invest in QUANTier, an innovative quantum computing startup.
Link: https://ift.tt/SeGJbuN
April 27, 2023 at 12:32AM
NIST Releases Draft Post-Quantum Encryption Document
The latest step in post-quantum cryptography guidance is helping organizations identify where current public-key algorithms will need to be replaced, as the National Institute of Standards and Technology continues its push to fortify U.S. digital networks ahead of the maturity of quantum computing.
Link: https://ift.tt/xP3EKco
April 27, 2023 at 12:32AM
What are Qiskit Primitives?
This has recently been the case with a new access model for quantum computers that is gaining momentum: Primitives. Many similar terms such as Qiskit Primitives, Qiskit Runtime, and Runtime Primitives have emerged, resulting in confusion. So in this blog post, we’re going to break down these key concepts, explore how to use these features effectively, and provide context around how they may affect you as a user of Qiskit.
Link: https://ift.tt/LHF1wsB
April 27, 2023 at 03:31AM
Quantum scientists achieve state-of-the-art defect-free atom array
The glowing dots in these images are single rubidium atoms, pristinely arranged in arrays about as wide as a human hair. The team of CQT Principal Investigator Loh Huanqian captured these pictures to show how they can assemble atoms into any pattern—even Singapore's Lion Head symbol—fitting within a 15 by 15 triangular grid. The researchers describe the setup and novel algorithm that makes this possible in a paper published 15 March 2023 in Physical Review Applied.
Link: https://ift.tt/pMw84nW
April 27, 2023 at 01:36PM
Using quantum physics to secure wireless devices
In a new paper, UIC scientists report a method inspired by quantum physics to improve wireless device identification and protect device-to-device communication. It uses a truly random and unique digital fingerprint to create a hardware encryption system that is virtually unbreakable.
The scientists, led by Pai-Yen Chen, used a theory from quantum physics in math-based experiments to identify a "divergent exceptional point."
Link: https://ift.tt/m0MSkAK
April 28, 2023 at 01:34PM
SEEQC Unveils Italy’s First Quantum Computing System
SEEQC, the digital quantum computing company, today unveiled and demonstrated Italy’s first full-stack quantum computer in its laboratory in Naples. The development of the quantum computer, SEEQC System Red, marks a major technology and innovation milestone for the country and the industry. SEEQC Red is the company’s first-generation reference class quantum computer and utilizes the company’s proprietary quantum computing platform incorporating firmware, software packages and cloud portal. This platform allows users to access the reference system to run any universal application or algorithm.
Link: https://ift.tt/cVGNSOl
April 29, 2023 at 01:30AM
Accelerated quantum Monte Carlo with probabilistic computers
Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques are widely used in a variety of scientific problems and much work has been dedicated to developing optimized algorithms that can accelerate QMC on standard processors (CPU). With the advent of various special purpose devices and domain specific hardware, it has become increasingly important to establish clear benchmarks of what improvements these technologies offer compared to existing technologies. In this paper, we demonstrate 2 to 3 orders of magnitude acceleration of a standard QMC algorithm using a specially designed digital processor, and a further 2 to 3 orders of magnitude by mapping it to a clockless analog processor. Our demonstration provides a roadmap for 5 to 6 orders of magnitude acceleration for a transverse field Ising model (TFIM) and could possibly be extended to other QMC models as well.
Link: https://ift.tt/vMDtiWk
April 29, 2023 at 09:31PM
U of T receives $200-million grant to support Acceleration Consortium's ‘self-driving labs’ research
The University of Toronto's Acceleration Consortium has been awarded a $200-million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) to revolutionize the speed and impact of scientific discovery. The funding – the largest federal research grant ever awarded to a Canadian university – will support the consortium’s work on “self-driving labs” that combine artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced computing to discover new materials and molecules in a fraction of the usual time and cost. Applications include everything from life-saving medications and biodegradable plastics to low-carbon cement and renewable energy.
Link: https://ift.tt/W7M5Qwv
April 30, 2023 at 04:31AM
Australia could be a leader in quantum technology: Q-Ctrl CEO
The uptake of quantum in Australia amongst enterprise users is not high in Australia and Michael Biercuk, CEO and founder of quantum technology company Q-Ctrl wants to change that.
Link: https://ift.tt/SiPYWfK
April 30, 2023 at 04:31AM
Quantentechnologien: Deutschland soll mit 3 Milliarden Euro an die Weltspitze
Die Bundesregierung hat ein Handlungskonzept Quantentechnologien beschlossen. Sie will mit Standards künftige Märkte sichern und die Datensicherheit stärken.
Link: https://ift.tt/CZA89pL
April 30, 2023 at 06:31AM