Quantum present: from adiabatic calculator to Majorana fermion

Quantum Industry

  • How to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines Using Quantum Technologies

Partnership

Fujitsu Corporation and the American startup Entanglement, Inc. were announced in the spring of 2020 and assumed the joint development of the mobile technology ecosystem.However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have taken up optimization tasks for the delivery of personal protective equipment to the areas of the pandemic.

The result of joint work wascomputing platform based on Digital Annealer, a Fujitsu adiabatic quantum computer. The platform has significantly optimized the distribution of available personal protective equipment while minimizing vehicle miles and delivery times, and has been approved for use by the US Department of Defense. It has also created a “vaccine distribution platform,” a streamlined solution for efficiently distributing COVID-19 vaccines in response to rapidly changing demand. The efficiency of both algorithms increases exponentially with the addition of diverse variables and large data sets from various sources.

The “vaccine distribution platform” is planned to be available for use and new data collection by local authorities across the country, which should significantly speed up the vaccination of US residents.

  • Why are quantum random number generators so popular around the world

According to the company, the global market for quantumrandom number generators (QRNG) will grow to $ 7.2 billion by 2026. Experts believe the market will face many mergers and acquisitions and will eventually be shaped by a few big leaders. This is due to the relatively easy entry of tech companies into this market, coupled with the consequent difficulties in positioning the product and generating sustainable profits for small developers.

IQT Report

According to IQT forecasts, the largest consumer of QRNG withThe market volume of $3.1 billion will be data centers. A significant increase in sales (up to $2.2 billion by 2026) is also expected in the financial sector, in particular for problems of information security and financial modeling using the Monte Carlo method.

  • How does a quantum platform based on photonic chips work?

Canadian startup Xanadu using standard andmade an integrated optical chip based on silicon nitride in an easily scalable technology, which implements the so-called cluster (entangled) state of light, which is necessary for conducting quantum computations. To create this state, optical microcavities inside the chip convert ordinary laser light into a type of quantum light called squeezed light, which is then intertwined using a network of mirrors, beam splitters, and optical fibers.

Using the new device, scientists were able todemonstrate not only Gaussian bosonic sampling, but also the solution of two problems that have direct practical meaning: calculating the vibrational spectra of molecules and determining the similarity of mathematical graphs representing different molecules.

  • Why Quantum Machine Learning is Used in Cancer Biomarker Analysis

Crown Bioscience (a subsidiary of JSR LifeSciences, USA) and Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC, UK) announced the start of joint work on the use of quantum computing in the creation of drugs for the treatment of oncological diseases. The companies plan to develop a strategy for applying quantum machine learning algorithms in bioinformatics using a database of preclinical and translational research in oncology accumulated over 15 years and the latest developments of CQC in the field of quantum algorithms.

At the first stage of cooperation, quantumalgorithms developed by CQC for NISQ devices will be used to analyze the genetic database to identify new multigene cancer biomarkers.

  • How oil production and quantum technologies are "friendly"

ExxonMobil will jointlyQuantum algorithms for optimization of the system of sea container transportation have been developed. Maritime logistics account for about 90% of all trade traffic, and creating optimal supply chains to reduce total travel time and take into account the transport priorities is a complex computational task. IBM has tested the applicability of the optimization algorithms using a quantum emulator on the Qiskit platform and detailed various use cases for quantum optimization and the technical details of creating computational solutions.

Specific details of IBM's cooperation with bp have not yet beenare disclosed. It is only known that the main task of their interaction is to increase the efficiency of the energy system to reduce emissions of greenhouse and toxic gases into the atmosphere. bp also announced its decision to join IBM QNetwork as an industry partner.

  • Why Microsoft is withdrawing with proof of Majorana's fermion

Detection of Majorana fermions is important fordeveloping a topological qubit is a key goal for Microsoft. In theory, this type of qubit would be much more resistant to noise and environmental distortion and would reduce the error correction requirements of a fault-tolerant quantum computer.

Founding article by researchers fromthe Netherlands laboratory of Microsoft and Delft University of Technology contained data on the world's first experimental evidence of the existence of Majorana quasiparticles. Following a scientific discussion in April 2019, Nature added an "editorial expression of concern" to the article, and in May 2020, the Delft University of Technology Research Integrity Committee launched an investigation that has not yet been completed. In February 2021, the authors published a preprint of a new article on arXiv, acknowledging that the previous conclusions were premature, and the analysis of experimental data not included in the original article contradicts the conclusion about the detection of Majorana quasiparticles.

Research and development

  • How to Apply Quantum Algorithms to Computational Biology

Scientists from the Russian Quantum Center and Skoltechidentified several areas in which quantum computing in biology may be useful in the near future. Among the practically important tasks indicated, for example, the study of nitrogenase - an enzyme that carries out the process of fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Nitrogenase plays an important role in the enrichment of soil and water bodies with bound nitrogen, and is also used in the industrial production of ammonia. Also, it seems realistic to solve the problem of predicting the three-dimensional structure of a protein to qualitatively accelerate the creation of new drugs, to determine the transcription factor of DNA-binding proteins that play a key role in gene transcription, as well as the emergence of efficient and cost-effective computational solutions to problems of genome assembly.

The first significant results from the applicationquantum algorithms in bioinformatics have been expected for 2-3 years. The next step after that will be related to the commercialization of quantum computers and the scaling of their applications.

  • What Quantum Superiority Has Proved in Solving a Practical Math Problem

Quantum supremacy has already beendemonstrated on the problems of random string generation and boson sampling. From an applied point of view, these tasks are not of any value - they show the capabilities of quantum computers and their future as a whole.

An international team of physicists led byIordanis Kerenidis from the University of Paris was able to show experimentally that a quantum computer is faster than a classical one in checking the solution to the problem of the satisfiability of Boolean formulas and considered all possible real-world restrictions that arise in the experiment.

The check was carried out using a linearoptical scheme in polynomial time, as opposed to exponential time, which would be required by a classical calculator. The challenge of verifying the solution takes a step towards real-world applications. Physicists propose to use powerful quantum computers to solve problems, and to check the correctness of solutions on less powerful machines.

  • How to Use Quantum Error Correction to Improve Measurement Accuracy

The existing error correction methods areactive, that is, they require periodic checking of the system for errors and their immediate correction. This requires sufficient hardware resources and therefore hinders the scaling of quantum computers. A team at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, led by Chen Wang, has implemented a new type of quantum error correction in which errors are corrected spontaneously.

In the experiment carried out for continuouserror correction uses controlled dissipative communication processes with the environment or reservoir. Dissipative error correction circuitry operates continuously and does not require measurements or feedback operations. The resulting increased coherence time results in significantly improved quantum measurement accuracy. The new method is fully compatible with existing methods for phase stabilization and error correction.

  • When will the quantum internet appear

Researchers at Andrew Cleland Laboratory(Andrew Cleland) The University of Chicago has for the first time succeeded in entangling two separate qubits by connecting them with a cable. As part of the experiment, the researchers created two quantum nodes, each containing three superconducting qubits. Using a meter-long superconducting cable to connect the nodes, the scientists then selected one qubit at each node and tied them together, sending quantum states through the cable. The entanglement was extended to other qubits at each node. Thus, the scientists "intensified" the entanglement of the qubits until all six qubits in two nodes were connected in one globally entangled state.

In another work of physics at DelftUniversity of Technology in the Netherlands have networked three remote quantum devices based on diamond qubits in such a way that any two devices on the network are mutually entangled qubits. The network provided real-time communication, the distribution of genuine multipart entanglement states across three nodes and the exchange of entanglements through an intermediate node were implemented.

Finally, the team from Purdue Universityimplemented a programmable spectrum-selective optical switch for a scalable quantum information network, capable of independently controlling different channels separated by wavelength without photon loss.

  • How a carbon qubit works and how it behaves at room temperature

Australian company Archer Materialsdevelops quantum chips designed to operate at room temperature and based on the original carbon qubit technology. Archer has successfully performed a direct measurement of the bipolar resistance of the qubit material, which is the main component of the 12CQ chip, at room temperature. The developers managed to reproducibly record current-voltage curves in various voltage ranges, both on separate isolated qubits and on two qubits and qubit clusters. Mostly, the qubits survived the measurements without damage or changes in the electronic structure.

The data obtained confirm the ability of carbon qubits to work under the conditions used in functional semiconductor devices at room temperature.

  • Who managed to implement the largest natural language processing on a quantum computer

Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) in new workpresents the results of the first experiments on natural language processing on an IBM quantum computer for data sets of a hundred or more sentences in size. This research represents the largest experimental implementation of natural language processing tasks on a quantum computer to date.

In the experiment, sentences were presented asparameterized quantum circuits, and the meanings of words as quantum states that "get entangled" in accordance with the grammatical structure of the sentence.

The work also contains a detailed description of the processquantum natural language processing, which the developers believe should make it easier for the NLP community to use quantum language processing coding.

National quantum programs

  • What technologies will be adopted in Canada?

The document, presented by the Department of National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces, identifies the priority research and development tasks in the interests of the military department:

  • Gravimetric sensors for detecting objects hidden behind walls.
  • Compact broadband electromagnetic sensors to replace traditional antennas.
  • Stealthy radars.
  • Ultra-precise rangefinders capable of handling interference and challenging trajectories.
  • Ultrasensitive chemical detectors.
  • Compact inertial sensors to replace the GPS navigation system.

The ministry plans to stimulate quantuminnovation in the country, as well as invest in the world's leading quantum scientific and technological developments and facilitate the transfer of quantum technologies from the laboratory to working prototypes.

  • Who in Germany will create quantum processors

Federal Ministry of Education andresearch will allocate 14.5 million euros for the development of a prototype of a national quantum computer on a superconducting platform, which will be installed at the Walter Meissner Institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. The project, codenamed GeQCoS (German Quantum Computer based on Superconducting Qubits), also involves the Technical University of Munich, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, the Jülich Research Center, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics and the large European semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies.

Another grant of 12.4 million euros will beallocated to the Quantum Project Consortium, which is working to create quantum processors for specific applications. The consortium includes startups ParityQC and IQM, Infineon Technologies, Jülich Research Center, Free University of Berlin and Leibniz Supercomputing Center. The project is expected to last four years and includes the development of a 54-qubit quantum processor.

  • Who joined the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance

A consortium of scientific and industrial organizations wasorganized by the University of Maryland originally as a regional community that includes several major universities and companies, including the CCDC Army Research Laboratory, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, IonQ, Booz Allen Hamilton and AWS. It was later renamed the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance to reflect its increased geography. New members of the Alliance are IBM, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Protiviti, Quantopo, Quaxys, Bowie State University, Georgetown University, Pittsburgh Quantum Institute, University of Delaware and Virginia Tech. There are now a total of 24 major university, government and industrial partners among the participants.

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The Alliance's tasks include the joint development of innovative technologies, stimulating new discoveries in quantum science, as well as supporting quantum startups and training employees.

  • Why Israel is allocating $60 million to create a quantum computer

Israel's Ministry of Defense and the Office ofinnovations announced a competition to create a quantum computer with 30-40 qubits. The grant in the amount of $ 60 million will be able to receive both Israeli enterprises and universities and international companies. The winner will have to start work before the end of the year.

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The new project is part of the nationalIsrael's quantum technology initiatives with a total budget of $ 380 million. Currently, there are only a few startups in Israel, such as Classiq Technologies and Quantum Machines, that develop hardware or software for quantum computers.

Summing up:the influence of national programs has expanded, the amount of investment has grown, the largest commercial developers of quantum technologies have joined forces with industry companies. The full version of the digest can be found on the website of the Russian Quantum Center.

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