Quantum computers could revolutionize the way we tackle problems that stump even the best classical computers.
Single atom transistor recently introduced has been seen as a tool that could lead the way to building a quantum computer. For general introduction how quantum computer work, read A tale of two qubits: how quantum computers work article.
D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer article tells that computing company D-Wave has announced that they’re selling a quantum computing system commercially, which they’re calling the D-Wave One. D-Wave system comes equipped with a 128-qubit processor that’s designed to perform discrete optimization operations. The processor uses quantum annealing to perform these operations.
D-Wave is advertisting a number of different applications for its quantum computing system, primarily in the field of artificial intelligence. According to the company, its system can handle virtually any AI application that can be translated to a Markov random field.
Learning to program the D-Wave One blog article tells that the processor in the D-Wave One – codenamed Rainier – is designed to perform a single mathematical operation called discrete optimization. It is a special purpose processor. When writing applications the D-Wave One is used only for the steps in your task that involve solving optimization problems. All the other parts of your code still run on your conventional systems of choice. Rainier solves optimization problems using quantum annealing (QA), which is a class of problem solving approaches that use quantum effects to help get better solutions, faster. Learning to program the D-Wave One is the first in a series of blog posts describing the algorithms we have run on D-Wave quantum computers, and how to use these to build interesting applications.
But is this the start of the quantum computers era? Maybe not. D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer article comments tell a story that this computer might not be the quantum computer you might be waiting for. It seem that the name “quantum computer” is a bit misleading for this product. There are serious controversies around the working and “quantumness” of the machine. D-Wave has been heavily criticized by some scientists in the quantum computing field. First sale for quantum computing article tells that uncertainty persists around how the impressive black monolith known as D-Wave One actually works. Computer scientists have long questioned whether D-Wave’s systems truly exploit quantum physics on their products.
Slashdot article D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer comments tell that this has the same central problem as before. D-Wave’s computers haven’t demonstrated that their commercial bits are entangled. There’s no way to really distinguish what they are doing from essentially classical simulated annealing. Recommended reading that is skeptical of D-Wave’s claims is much of what Scott Aaronson has wrote about them. See for example http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=639, http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=198 although interestingly after he visited D-Wave’s labs in person his views changed slightly and became slightly more sympathetic to them http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=954.
So it is hard to say if the “128 qubits” part is snake oil or for real. If the 128 “qubits” aren’t entangled at all, which means it is useless for any of the quantum algorithms that one generally thinks of. It seem that this device simply has 128 separate “qubits” that are queried individually, and is, essentially an augmented classical computer that gains a few minor advantages in some very specific algorithms (i.e. the quantum annealing algorithm) due to this qubit querying, but is otherwise indistinguishable from a really expensive classical computer for any other purpose. This has the same central problem as before: D-Wave’s computers haven’t demonstrated that their commercial bits are entangled.
Rather than constantly adding more qubits and issuing more hard-to-evaluate announcements, while leaving the scientific characterization of its devices in a state of limbo, why doesn’t D-Wave just focus all its efforts on demonstrating entanglement, or otherwise getting stronger evidence for a quantum role in the apparent speedup? There’s a reason why academic quantum computing groups focus on pushing down decoherence and demonstrating entanglement in 2, 3, or 4 qubits: because that way, at least you know that the qubits are qubits! Suppose D-Wave were marketing a classical, special-purpose, $10-million computer designed to perform simulated annealing, for 90-bit Ising spin glass problems with a certain fixed topology, somewhat better than an off-the-shelf computing cluster. Would there be even 5% of the public interest that there is now?
1,092 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4317
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://gizmodo.com/google-says-its-achieved-quantum-supremacy-a-world-fir-1838299829
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/delivering-on-quantum-innovation
Tomi Engdahl says:
To Invent a Quantum Internet
By
NATALIE WOLCHOVER
September 25, 2019
https://www.quantamagazine.org/stephanie-wehner-is-designing-a-quantum-internet-20190925/
Fifty years after the current internet was born, the physicist and computer scientist Stephanie Wehner is planning and designing the next internet — a quantum one.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘QUANTUM APOCALYPSE’: HOW ULTRA-POWERFUL COMPUTERS COULD CRIPPLE GOVERNMENTS AND EFFECTIVELY BREAK THE INTERNET
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/quantum-apocalypse-computers-affect-internet-bitcoin-governments-a9143171.html
‘Our modern systems of finance, commerce, communication, transportation, manufacturing, energy, government, and healthcare will for all intents and purposes cease to function,’ cyber security expert warns
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Poor man’s qubit’ can solve quantum problems without going quantum
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-poor-qubit-quantum-problems.amp
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/the-talk-3
Tomi Engdahl says:
Will the quantum economy change your business?
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/28/will-the-quantum-economy-change-your-business/?tpcc=ECFB2019
Google and NASA have demonstrated that quantum computing isn’t just a fancy trick, but almost certainly something actually useful — and they’re already working on commercial applications. What does that mean for existing startups and businesses? Simply put: nothing. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore it forever.
1. It’ll be a long time before anything really practical comes out of quantum computing.
2. Early applications will be incredibly domain-specific and not generalizable.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum computers are hard to understand, hard to build, hard to operate and hard to program. Since they only work when chilled to a tiny fraction of a degree above absolute zero — colder than outer space — you’re not likely to have a quantum laptop anytime soon
For faster quantum computing, Microsoft builds a better qubit
https://www.cnet.com/news/for-faster-quantum-computing-microsoft-builds-a-better-qubit/#ftag=COS-05-10aaa0i
Microsoft’s new approach to quantum computing is “very close,” an executive says.
Microsoft has been working on a qubit technology called a topological qubit that it expects will deliver benefits from quantum computing technology that today are mostly just a promise. After spending five years figuring out the complicated hardware of topological qubits, the company is almost ready to put them to use, said Krysta Svore, general manager of Microsoft’s quantum computing software work.
running them in data centers where customers can tap into them could deliver profound benefits by tackling computing challenges that classical computers can’t handle.
One of the basic quantum computing problems is that qubits are easily perturbed. That’s why the heart of a quantum computer is housed in a refrigerated container the size of a 55-gallon drum.
Even with that isolation, though, individual qubits today only can perform useful work for a fraction of a second. To compensate, quantum computer designers plan technology called error correction that yokes many qubits together into a single effective qubit, called a logical qubit. The idea is that logical qubits can perform useful processing work when many of their underlying physical qubits have gone astray.
one logical qubit will require 10 to 100 physical qubits with Microsoft’s topological qubits. That compares to something like 1,000 to 20,000 physical qubits for other approaches.
By comparison, Google’s Sycamore quantum computing chip used 53 physical qubits. For serious quantum computing work, researchers are hoping to reach qubit levels of at least a million.
computational chemistry work is a common example among quantum computing fans. Besides Microsoft and Google, they include IBM, Intel, Honeywell, IonQ and Rigetti Computing.
“Nature isn’t classical, dammit, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you’d better make it quantum mechanical,”
Another example of quantum computing usefulness is optimization
Microsoft is also trying to improve other aspects of quantum computing. One is the control system, which in today’s quantum computers is a snarl of hundreds of wires, each an expensive coaxial cable used to communicate with qubits.
University of Sydney that uses many fewer wires — down from 216 to just three,
“New algorithms can be a breakthrough in how to solve something,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
A natural biomolecule has been measured acting like a quantum wave for the first time
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614688/a-natural-biomolecule-has-been-measured-acting-in-a-quantum-wave-for-the-first-time/?utm_medium=tr_social&utm_campaign=site_visitor.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1574981599
Physicists have watched a chain of 15 amino acids interfere with itself, in an experiment that paves the way for a new era of quantum biology.
Numerous experiments have shown that a single particle—an electron or a photon, for example—can interfere with itself, like a wave. The double slit experiment, in which a particle passes through two slits at the same time, is a famous demonstration.
And because all objects are fundamentally quantum in nature, they all have an associated wavelength.
So in principle, macroscopic objects should show this kind of wave-particle duality too, given a sensitive enough experiment.
Physicists haven’t yet devised a way to measure the wavelike nature of very large objects
Armin Shayeghi at the University of Vienna and a few colleagues, who for the first time, have demonstrated quantum interference in molecules of gramicidin, a natural antibiotic made up of 15 amino acids. Their work paves the way for the study of the quantum properties of biomolecules and sets the scene for experiments that exploit the quantum nature of enzymes, DNA, and perhaps one day simple life forms such as viruses.
“The molecular coherence is delocalized over more than 20 times the molecular size,” say Shayeghi and co. This kind of “smearing“ of the biomolecules would be impossible if the gramicidin molecules were pure particles. It is possible only with wavelike interference.
Other researchers have measured wave-particle duality for larger molecules.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/physics/quantum-experiment-sees-two-versions-of-reality-existing-at-the-same-time/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This will be the most powerful computer available for outsiders via the cloud.
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614346/ibms-new-53-qubit-quantum-computer-is-the-most-powerful-machine-you-can-use/?utm_medium=tr_social&utm_campaign=site_visitor.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1575478441
Tomi Engdahl says:
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
Intel unveils the “Horse Ridge” cryogenic control chip that it says can control multiple quantum bits and make quantum computing more commercially viable
Intel’s ‘Horse Ridge’ control chip may make quantum computing more viable, scalable
https://www.zdnet.com/article/intels-horse-ridge-control-chip-may-make-quantum-computing-more-viable-scalable/
Intel Labs along with research partner QuTech at TU-Delft can now use Horse Ridge to control multiple quantum bits, or qubits.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The basics of quantum computing—A tutorial
https://www.edn.com/the-basics-of-quantum-computing-a-tutorial/?utm_content=buffer83506&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
In classic computing, uncertainty is unacceptable. With quantum computers, however, it’s an asset. Quantum computers have an innate ability to learn about the world, dealing in probability, as they explore multiple answers to come up with complex decisions.
While interestingly, they are not universally faster than classical computers, they do perform specific types of calculations faster. Each operation may not be faster, however the number of operations necessary to arrive at a result using particular algorithms is exponentially small.
Tomi Engdahl says:
36C3: Build Your Own Quantum Computer At Home
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/30/36c3-build-your-own-quantum-computer-at-home/
A case in point: security veteran [Yann Allain] who is in fact building his own quantum computer in his garage.
Starting with an introduction to quantum computing itself, and what makes it so powerful also in the context of security, [Yann] continues to tell about his journey of building a quantum computer on his own. His goal was to build a stable computer he could “easily” create by himself in his garage, which will work at room temperature, using trapped ion technology.
https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-10808-build_you_own_quantum_computer_home_-_99_of_discount_-_hacker_style
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Releases the Horse Ridge Chip for Quantum Computing!
https://wccftech.com/intel-releases-the-horse-ridge-chip-for-quantum-computing/
Intel has introduced its new cryogenic control chip, codenamed Horse Ridge, that will speed up the development of quantum computing systems. Intel has stated that the Horse Ridge chip will be available to commercially viable quantum computers.
Intel Horse Ridge, a cryogenic control chip, can significantly decrease the size of quantum computers!
The Horse Ridge cryogenic control chip can control multiple qubits (quantum bits) at the same time, an essential feature that is required to build large-scale commercial quantum computer systems, according to Intel. Intel believes that one of the significant challenges of quantum computing isn’t the production of qubits, compute elements that exist in multiple states simultaneously, but instead, the interconnects and control electronics.
Most of the current quantum computers rely on existing electronic tools to link the quantum system inside a cryogenic refrigerator, which controls the qubit performance. While most quantum chips and computers require to be placed in absolute zero to function adequately, the Horse Ridge chip can operate at approximately 4 Kelvin, which is slightly warmer than absolute zero. Since each of these particles is controlled individually, the cabling limits the ability to scale quantum computing systems to the hundred or thousands of qubit to hit significant performance levels. The Horse Ridge SoC uses a complex signal processing techniques to translate instruction into microwave pulses that manipulate states of qubits. Due to that fact, this card can significantly simplify the design of quantum computers.
Horse Ridge is a highly integrated, mix signal SoC that brings the qubit control to the quantum refrigerator, as close as possible to the particle themselves — effectively reducing the number of cables by hundreds running to and from the quantum refrigerator. Horse ridge is programmed with instructions that correlate to some basic qubit operations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists Used IBM’s Quantum Computer to Reverse Time, Possibly Breaking a Law of Physics
By Korey HaynesMarch 13, 2019 6:28 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/scientists-used-ibms-quantum-computer-to-reverse-time-possibly-breaking-a-law-of-physics?utm_source=dscfb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dscfb&fbclid=IwAR3cPC14L64MeE9ac8EluGpm78Qq53XXxA-rHRJVnoJ5Lykyue-LQeSC7Xw
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/10284-kvantti-informaatiota-siirrettiin-kahden-piirin-valilla
Tomi Engdahl says:
“It’s ironic after 50 years or so of trying to clean up semiconductors to make high-quality electronics, our plan is to put the defects back in…”
Building a Quantum Computer From Off-the-Shelf Parts
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/scalable-qubits-quantum-computer-news-silicon-wafer
A new technique for fabricating quantum bits in silicon carbide wafers could provide a scalable platform for future quantum computers. The quantum bits, to the surprise of the researchers, can even be fabricated from a commercial chip built for conventional computing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/10306-piikvanttipiirien-mahdollisuus-todistettiin
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to verify that quantum chips are computing correctly
http://news.mit.edu/2020/verify-quantum-chips-computing-0113
A new method determines whether circuits are accurately executing complex operations that classical computers can’t tackle.
In a step toward practical quantum computing, researchers from MIT, Google, and elsewhere have designed a system that can verify when quantum chips have accurately performed complex computations that classical computers can’t.
Full-scale quantum computers will require millions of qubits, which isn’t yet feasible. In the past few years, researchers have started developing “Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum” (NISQ) chips, which contain around 50 to 100 qubits. That’s just enough to demonstrate “quantum advantage,” meaning the NISQ chip can solve certain algorithms that are intractable for classical computers. Verifying that the chips performed operations as expected, however, can be very inefficient. The chip’s outputs can look entirely random, so it takes a long time to simulate steps to determine if everything went according to plan.
In a paper published today in Nature Physics, the researchers describe a novel protocol to efficiently verify that an NISQ chip has performed all the right quantum operations. They validated their protocol on a notoriously difficult quantum problem running on custom quantum photonic chip.
The researchers’ work essentially traces an output quantum state generated by the quantum circuit back to a known input state. Doing so reveals which circuit operations were performed on the input to produce the output. Those operations should always match what researchers programmed. If not, the researchers can use the information to pinpoint where things went wrong on the chip.
At the core of the new protocol, called “Variational Quantum Unsampling,” lies a “divide and conquer” approach, Carolan says, that breaks the output quantum state into chunks. “Instead of doing the whole thing in one shot, which takes a very long time, we do this unscrambling layer by layer. This allows us to break the problem up to tackle it in a more efficient way,” Carolan says.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4 Ways to Make Bigger Quantum Computers
As researchers strive to boost the capacity of quantum computers, they’ve run into a problem that many people have after a big holiday: There’s just not enough room in the fridge. Today’s quantum-computer processors must operate inside cryogenic enclosures at near absolute zero, but the electronics needed for readout and control don’t work at such temperatures. So those circuits must reside …
4 Ways to Make Bigger Quantum Computers
Cryochips by Intel, Seeqc, and others could help quantum computers scale
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/4-ways-to-make-bigger-quantum-computers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kvanttitietokoneet – Tekniikan Maailman teema-artikkeli käy läpi kvanttitietokoneiden historian ja nykytilanteen
https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/teemalehti/tiede/kvanttitietokoneet-tekniikan-maailman-teema-artikkeli-kay-lapi-kvanttitietokoneiden-historian-ja-nykytilanteen/
Tekniikan Maailman teema-artikkelissa käydään läpi, mitä lehtemme sivuilla on kirjoitettu kvanttitietokoneista vuosikymmenien varrella. Teema-artikkelia päivitetään niin, että se on aina ajan tasalla.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum Entanglement Meets Superconductivity in Novel Experiment
https://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/computing/hardware/quantum-entanglement-superconductivity-technology-news-novel-experiment
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://phys.org/news/2020-01-quantum-networks.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/security/mixing-quantum-states-boosts-fiber-communications
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/4-ways-to-make-bigger-quantum-computers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toshiba Says It Created An Algorithm That Beats Quantum Computers Using Standard Hardware
https://e-cryptonews.com/toshiba-says-it-created-an-algorithm-that-beats-quantum-computers-using-standard-hardware/
Toshiba Touts Algorithm That’s Faster Than a Supercomputer
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-16/toshiba-says-it-built-an-algo-that-s-faster-than-a-supercomputer
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toshiba says it created an algorithm that beats quantum computers using standard hardware
The company hopes to commercialize it in the financial industry
https://www.techspot.com/news/83628-toshiba-created-algorithm-beats-quantum-computers-using-standard.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Simonite / Wired:
A look at a secretive team of quantum researchers at Alphabet’s X, who are focused on creating new algorithms and applications to run on quantum computers — Google’s parent touted its quantum supremacy achievement last year. It doesn’t talk about a group at X working on software.
Alphabet Has a Second, Secretive Quantum Computing Team
https://www.wired.com/story/alphabet-second-secretive-quantum-computing-team/
Google’s parent touted its quantum supremacy achievement last year. It doesn’t talk about a group at X working on software.
Tomi Engdahl says:
German scientists have figured out how to transmit the spin information of a single atom across a 20 km distance—a crucial early step in producing a quantum repeater.
Extending Quantum Entanglement Across Town
https://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/computing/networks/taking-quantum-entanglement-across-town
Tomi Engdahl says:
36C3: Build Your Own Quantum Computer At Home
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/30/36c3-build-your-own-quantum-computer-at-home/
In any normal situation, if you’d read an article that about building your own quantum computer, a fully understandable and natural reaction would be to call it clickbaity poppycock. But an event like the Chaos Communication Congress is anything but a normal situation, and you never know who will show up and what background they will come from. A case in point: security veteran [Yann Allain] who is in fact building his own quantum computer in his garage.
https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-10808-build_you_own_quantum_computer_home_-_99_of_discount_-_hacker_style
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum technology is the industry of the future – that is why we are now building expertise in Finland
https://vttblog.com/2020/02/04/quantum-technology-is-the-industry-of-the-future-that-is-why-we-are-now-building-expertise-in-finland/
The computing power of quantum technology can revolutionise our everyday lives, create a new branch of industry in Finland and provide solutions to the challenges facing humankind, such as climate change. We do not know exactly what the consequences of quantum computers will be, but it will be something gigantic. Special expertise is springing up fast in Finland at universities, VTT and companies – now is the time to invest in development and ensure that we are among the drivers of the quantum revolution.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dudley Buck’s Forgotten Cryotron Computer
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/heroic-failures/dudley-bucks-forgotten-cryotron-computer
Buck invented the “cryotron,” a superconducting switch he hoped would become the fundamental building block for future digital computers. Inspired by Buck’s vision, GE, IBM, RCA, and the U.S. military all mounted major cryotron-research programs in the late 1950s and early 1960s before shifting their focus to silicon microchips for computer logic and memory.
Buck’s vision outlived him. It survives even today: The cryotron is at the root of efforts at IBM and elsewhere to make superconducting quantum bits—qubits—in pursuit of quantum computing.
a magnetically controlled, superconductive switch. He thought it might beat both tubes and cores. A superconductive switch could be very small and fast and consume very little power.
Buck dubbed his invention the cryotron
Buck’s first cryotrons were fantastically simple. They involved nothing more than a short length of tantalum wire around which he wound some copper wire in a tight helix. He then attached electrical leads to both ends of the tantalum and copper wires, so that the cryotron could be dipped into a container of liquid helium while still connected to external circuitry.
By sending a current through the copper helix, thereby creating a magnetic field, Buck could drive the tantalum wire from superconductivity to resistivity.
He imagined making large arrays of cryotrons using the printed-circuitry techniques
offered a switching time of 5 microseconds—not bad, but still much slower than the speediest transistors of the era, which switched 100 times as fast.
wiring together several of his hand-wound cryotrons, Buck successfully fabricated a logic gate, a flip-flop, and a fan-out amplifier. He thus created all the basic circuits required for digital computer memory and logic using cryotrons alone.
Buck proposed using 75 000 cryotrons to form what is known today as a content-addressable memory. Buck himself would come to refer to it as a “recognition unit.”
As Buck prepared a patent application on the cryotron in mid-1955, news of his effort to build a content-addressable memory percolated through U.S. cryptological and computing circles, generating considerable interest.
Buck’s discussion of switching speeds in this paper was, in contrast, coy: “The device is at present somewhat faster than electromechanical relays, but far slower than vacuum tubes and transistors. A program is under way to increase the speed.” Although he had already tested thin-film cryotrons that could come close to the fastest transistors
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toshiba has come up with a new way of solving combinatorial optimization problems. A classic example of such problems is the traveling salesman dilemma, in which a salesman must find the shortest route between many cities.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/software/toshiba–optimization-algorithm-speed-record-combinatorial-problems
Different approaches to Ising machines include D-Wave’s quantum annealer, Fujitsu’s CMOS digital annealer, and NTT Corporation’s laser-based coherent Ising machine that advanced computational speeds to the limit with its 2,000-spin capability in solving a combinatorial problem with three criteria.
The latest entrant into the Ising field is Toshiba with its Simulated Bifurcation Algorithm. SBA is a quantum-inspired classical heuristics algorithm that Toshiba says is 10 times faster than competing technologies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Artificial atoms create stable qubits for quantum computing
https://m.phys.org/news/2020-02-artificial-atoms-stable-qubits-quantum.html
Quantum engineers from UNSW Sydney have created artificial atoms in silicon chips that offer improved stability for quantum computing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Artificial atoms create stable qubits for quantum computing
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-artificial-atoms-stable-qubits-quantum.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
SCIENTISTS MAKE MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN ‘QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT’ THAT COULD CHANGE HOW THE INTERNET WORKS
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/quantum-entanglement-internet-network-memories-processors-a9332476.html
Scientists have managed to entangle two “quantum memories” at a distant much bigger than ever before, a breakthrough that could one day change the way the internet works.
The discovery could be a major step towards a quantum internet, though only a very early one. Scientists hope it can allow for the development of entanglement over long-distances and a number of nodes, which will be required for such a network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chinese scientists report breakthrough on quantum internet technology with entangled atoms
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3050660/chinese-scientists-report-breakthrough-quantum-internet
Paper in the journal ‘Nature’ says team was able to ‘entangle’ two clouds of atoms via a 50km optical fibre
It was the longest distance photons have travelled in such an experiment
Tomi Engdahl says:
Honeywell says it built the world’s most powerful quantum computer
It will share more details on it sometime in the next three months.
https://www.engadget.com/2020/03/03/honeywell-quantum-computer/
When it comes to quantum computers, we tend to think of companies like Google and IBM as the big players in the field, but there could soon be more competition in the space. Honeywell says sometime in the next three months it will unveil a quantum computer that is at least twice as powerful as any current device.
Honeywell takes on Google and IBM at quantum computing
Honeywell says that it has the world’s most powerful quantum computer.
https://www.protocol.com/honeywell-quantum-computing-breakthrough
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google releases quantum computing library
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-03-google-quantum-library.html
Google announced Monday that it is making available an open-source library for quantum machine-learning applications.
TensorFlow Quantum, a free library of applications, is an add-on to the widely-used TensorFlow toolkit, which has helped to bring the world of machine learning to developers across the globe.
“We hope this framework provides the necessary tools for the quantum computing and machine learning research communities to explore models of both natural and artificial quantum systems, and ultimately discover new quantum algorithms which could potentially yield a quantum advantage,” a report posted by members of Google’s X unit on the AI Blog states.
https://ai.googleblog.com/2020/03/announcing-tensorflow-quantum-open.html?m=1
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/honeywell-supercomputer
HONEYWELL, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based multinational conglomerate perhaps best known for its home security systems and thermostats, has stunned the world with its announcement of the world’s most powerful quantum computer. The company first announced its quantum capabilities in 2018, but nobody saw a play for global dominance in its future. Well, almost nobody.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://phys.org/news/2020-03-scientists-google-quantum-algorithm.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum Computing via Electroluminescence
https://resonancescience.org/quantum-computing-via-electroluminescence/
The first steps to achieving efficient electroluminescence necessary for quantum computing have just been made.
Quantum computers encode information in quantum bits otherwise known as qubits. These qubits can exist in the form of a photon or an electron, where the polarisation state of the photon or the spin state of the electron is taken as two bits of information.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s a Blueprint for a Practical Quantum Computer
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/heres-a-blueprint-for-a-practical-quantum-computer
Controlling a quantum computer is a lot like solving a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded: The initial state is well known, and there is a limited set of basic elements (qubits) that can be manipulated by a simple set of rules—rotations of the vector that represents the quantum state. But observing the system during those manipulations comes with a severe penalty: If you take a look too soon, the computation will fail. That’s because you are allowed to view only the machine’s final state.
The power of a quantum computer lies in the fact that the system can be put in a combination of a very large number of states. Sometimes this fact is used to argue that it will be impossible to build or control a quantum computer
The main difference between a classical supercomputer and a quantum computer is that the latter makes use of certain quantum mechanical effects to manipulate data in a way that defies intuition.
So how do you begin designing a quantum computer? In engineering, it’s good practice to break down the main function of a machine into groups containing subfunctions that are similar in nature or required performance. These functional groups then can be more easily mapped onto hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Honeywell May Pull Into The Quantum Computer Lead
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/14/honeywell-may-pull-into-the-quantum-computer-lead/
But in recent years, you are more likely to think of Honeywell for thermostats, air filters, and industrial controls. But now, Honeywell has come out of the computer shadows with some impressive quantum computer hardware and they clearly have big plans.
https://www.honeywell.com/en-us/newsroom/news/2020/03/behind-the-scenes-of-a-major-quantum-breakthrough
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Future of Quantum Computing
The three things you will want to know about the technology
https://www.honeywell.com/en-us/newsroom/news/2019/11/the-future-of-quantum-computing
Tomi Engdahl says:
Today, two research teams announce quantum devices that compute with silicon spin qubits at temps above 1 Kelvin. One expert describes it as “a technology breakthrough for semiconductor-based quantum computing.”
Quantum Computing Milestone: Researchers Compute With ‘Hot’ Silicon Qubits
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/quantum-computing-milestone-researchers-compute-with-hot-silicon-qubits
Two research groups say they’ve independently built quantum devices that can operate at temperatures above 1 Kelvin—15 times hotter than rival technologies can withstand.
The ability to work at higher temperatures is key to scaling up to the many qubits thought to be required for future commercial-grade quantum computers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/quantum-computing-milestone-researchers-compute-with-hot-silicon-qubits
Tomi Engdahl says:
There’s a new quantum-computing platform available for public use. We spoke with the system architect to learn how such a thing is built.
Q&A: Architect of New “Inspire” Quantum-Computing Platform on Spin Qubits and Programming Quantum Chips
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/quantum-inspire-launches