Santa Clara (CA), 6 December 2023 - Airbus and BMW Group launch a global Quantum Computing Challenge entitled The Quantum Mobility Quest to tackle the most pressing challenges in aviation and automotive that have remained insurmountable for classical computers.

This challenge is the first-of-its-kind, bringing together two global industry leaders to harness quantum technologies for real-world industrial applications, unlocking the potential to forge more efficient, sustainable and safer solutions for the future of transportation.

"This is the perfect time to shine a spotlight on quantum technology and its potential impact on our society. Partnering with an industry leader like BMW Group enables us to mature the technology as we need to bridge the gap between scientific exploration and its potential applications. Were seeking the best-in-class students, PhDs, academics, researchers, start-ups, companies, or professionals in the field, worldwide to join our challenge to create a massive paradigm shift in the way aircraft are built and flown." says Isabell Gradert, Vice President Central Research and Technology at Airbus.

Following the success of previous editions of Quantum Computing Challenges by BMW Group and Airbus, we are gearing up for a new wave of innovation, exploring the technology capabilities for sustainability and operational excellence. said Dr. Peter Lehnert, Vice-President, Research Technologies at BMW Group. The BMW Group is clearly aiming at positioning itself at the crossroads of quantum technology, the global ecosystem, and cutting-edge solutions. By doing so, we strongly believe in major advances when it comes to sustainable materials for batteries and fuel cells, to generate unique and efficient designs, or to enhance the overall user experience in the BMW Group Products.

Quantum computing has the potential to significantly enhance computational power and to enable the most complex operations that challenge even todays best computers. In particular, for data-driven industries like the transportation sector, this emerging technology could play a crucial role in simulating various industrial and operational processes, opening up opportunities to shape future mobility products and services.

Challenge candidates are invited to select one or more problem statements: improved aerodynamics design with quantum solvers, future automated mobility with quantum machine learning, more sustainable supply chain with quantum optimisation, and enhanced corrosion inhibition with quantum simulation. Additionally, candidates can put forward their own quantum technologies with the potential to develop native apps yet to be explored in the transportation sector.

The challenge is hosted by The Quantum Insider (TQI) and divided into two parts, a four-month phase where participants will develop a theoretical framework for one of the given statements, and a second phase during which selected finalists will implement and benchmark their solutions. Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides candidates with an opportunity to run their algorithms on their Amazon Braket quantum computing service.

A jury composed of world-leading quantum experts will team up with experts from Airbus, BMW Group, and AWS to evaluate submitted proposals and award one winning-team with a 30,000 prize in each of the five challenges, by the end of 2024.

Registration opens today, and submissions will be accepted from mid-January through April 30, 2024 here: http://www.thequantuminsider.com/quantum-challenge.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Press and Public Relations Janina LatzaSpokesperson BMW Group IT Tel.: +49 (0)151 601 12650 E-Mail: Janina.Latza@bmw.de

Christophe Koenig Leiter BMW Group IT, Digital and Driving Experience Communications, BMW Group Design, Innovations and Digital Car Communications Telefon: +49-89-382-56097 E-Mail: Christophe.Koenig@bmwgroup.com

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Airbus and BMW Group launch Quantum Computing Competition to tackle their most pressing mobility challenges. - BMW Press

The intersection of quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) represents one of the most intriguing frontiers in modern technology. While both fields have made significant strides independently, their convergence promises revolutionary advances in computation, data processing, and problem-solving. In this blog post, we will delve into the basics of quantum computing, explore its relevance to AI, and discuss some quantum algorithms that hold promise for the future.

Quantum Computing: A Brief Overview

To understand the potential synergy between quantum computing and AI, its essential first to grasp the fundamentals of quantum computing. Traditional computers use bits binary units of 0s and 1s to store and process information. In contrast, quantum computers leverage quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously due to the principles of superposition and entanglement.

Superposition allows a qubit to represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously, exponentially increasing computational power. Entanglement, on the other hand, enables qubits to be correlated in such a way that the state of one qubit instantaneously influences the state of another, regardless of distance.

Quantum Computing and AI: A Symbiotic Relationship

The marriage between quantum computing and AI is not merely a theoretical concept but a practical necessity. As AI algorithms grow more complex, the computational demands skyrocket, often exceeding the capabilities of classical computers. Quantum computing offers the potential to overcome these limitations, enabling more efficient algorithms, faster computations, and groundbreaking applications.

Quantum Algorithms for AI

Challenges and Considerations

While the potential benefits of integrating quantum computing and AI are tantalizing, several challenges and considerations warrant attention:

Conclusion

The convergence of quantum computing and AI heralds a new era of technological innovation, offering transformative opportunities across various industries, from healthcare and finance to cybersecurity and logistics. While the path forward is fraught with challenges and uncertainties, the potential rewards justify the investment and exploration of this burgeoning field.

As researchers, scientists, and innovators continue to push the boundaries of quantum computing and AI, collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and interdisciplinary expertise will be crucial. By fostering a symbiotic relationship between quantum computing and AI, we can unlock unprecedented capabilities, solve complex problems, and shape a future defined by innovation, discovery, and progress.

Quantum algorithms hold promise for revolutionizing AI applications, enhancing computational efficiency, and driving advancements in science, technology, and society. As we navigate this exciting frontier, embracing curiosity, collaboration, and creativity will be key to realizing the full potential of quantum computing and AI.

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Quantum Computing and AI: Basics and Quantum Algorithms | by Aamir Aftab | Dec, 2023 - Medium

One of the main issues in developing the machines is they often struggle with data errors. But IBM says its chips could make a difference.

Technology giant IBM has reached a major milestone in its quantum ambitions and has unveiled a new chip and machine that it hopes can help solve problems beyond the scope of traditional computers.

The unveiling at an IBM event in New York on Monday comes as companies and countries race to develop quantum machines, which can carry out large numbers of calculations simultaneously and at incredible speeds.

The new chip has more than 1,000 qubits, which is the equivalent of the digital bits in an ordinary computer.

One of the main issues in developing the machines is they often struggle with data errors. However, IBM said it has a new method to connect chips inside machines which can then connect machines and with a new error-code connection could produce even more capable quantum machines in 10 years.

The first machine to use them is called Quantum System Two, which uses three so-called "Heron" chips.

"We are firmly within the era in which quantum computers are being used as a tool to explore new frontiers of science," said Dario Gil, IBMs senior vice president and director of research.

"As we continue to advance how quantum systems can scale and deliver value through modular architectures, we will further increase the quality of a utility-scale quantum technology stack and put it into the hands of our users and partners who will push the boundaries of more complex problems".

IBM did not predict when it could go commercial with quantum machines.

At the annual IBM Quantum Summit, the company also unveiled 10 projects that showed off the potential power of quantum computing, such as for drug discovery.

The scale-up Algorithmiq, which is developing quantum algorithms to solve problems in life sciences, was one of them and successfully ran one of the largest scale error mitigation experiments to date on IBMs hardware. It said the achievement positions them alongside IBM as front runners to reach quantum utility, referring to quantum computer's ability to perform reliable computations beyond the capabilities of regular computing methods, for real-world use cases.

Today represents further validation that Algorithmiqs core error mitigation techniques are powerful and will enable large-scale experiments on specific use cases leading us well into the quantum utility era for real commercial applications, said Sabrina Maniscalco, co-founder and CEO of Algorithmiq.

Ive dedicated over 20 years of my life to the study of noisy quantum systems, as a professor, and I never thought this type of experiment would be possible so soon, she said in comments to Euronews Next.

Additionally, IBM is pioneering the use of generative AI for quantum code programming IBM's enterprise AI platform watsonx.

"Generative AI and quantum computing are both reaching an inflection point, presenting us with the opportunity to use the trusted foundation model framework of watsonx to simplify how quantum algorithms can be built for utility-scale exploration," said Jay Gambetta, Vice President and IBM Fellow at IBM.

"This is a significant step towards broadening how quantum computing can be accessed and put in the hands of users as an instrument for scientific exploration".

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Has IBM cracked the code of quantum computing by solving data errors? - Euronews

SEOUL, Republic of Korea and PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- POSCO Holdings, and QC Ware Corp., today announced that they are jointly developing revolutionary new techniques for the simulation of battery materials on quantum computers.

POSCO Holdings and QC Ware revolutionize battery simulation with quantum computing.

Proliferation of electric vehicles, growing energy requirements, and the imperative for sustainability are continuing to drive demand for batteries that last longer and require less time to charge. Design of new battery materials involves experimental production and testing, which are both costly and time-consuming. Material simulations could significantly accelerate the design process by predicting the most promising candidates before any experiment is conducted. However, current methods on classical computers suffer from either limited accuracy or excessive computational cost.

POSCO Holdings and QC Ware have joined forces on a grant from the Korean government to quantify the utility and advantage of quantum computers for the accurate and efficient simulation of candidate battery materials. The collaboration will concentrate on the simulation of realistic solid state electrolytes for Lithium batteries and benchmark new quantum computing methods vs the best approaches currently in use today.

This research is supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) of the Ministry of Science and ICT (RS-2023-00257288). Earlier in the year, POSCO Holdings applied for the 'Quantum Advantage Challenge Research based on Quantum Computing' grant under the project titled 'Development of Simulation Technology for Eco-Friendly Material Based on Quantum Computing'.

The collaboration is spearheaded by the AI R&D Laboratories of POSCO Holdings New Experience of Technology Hub with the directive to apply new approaches of simulating battery materials to quantum computers.

"With the world moving toward diverse and flexible energy solutions, it is essential to develop more performant batteries to be integrated in future, sustainable energy grids." said Robert Parrish, SVP of Quantum Chemistry at QC Ware Corp. "Computational simulations are playing a growing role in the design of new materials, and this collaboration with POSCO Holdings is essential to QC Ware's mission: developing quantum algorithms that accelerate the timeline to quantum computers impacting real-world use cases."

POSCO Holdings

POSCO Group, which was launched in 1968 as a steel company, switched to a holding company system centered on POSCO Holdings in March last year. Since then, steel, rechargeable battery materials, lithium and nickel, hydrogen, energy, construction/infrastructure, and food (Agri-Bio) have been selected as seven key projects to discover the group's future growth engines and foster its business portfolio. Based on this, POSCO Group will grow into a leading supplier of eco-friendly future materials that ushers in a sustainable future.

QC Ware

QC Wareis a quantum and classical computing software and services company focused on delivering enterprise value through cutting edge computational technology. With specialization in machine learning and chemistry simulation applications, QC Ware develops for both near-term quantum and state-of-the-art classical computing hardware. QC Ware's team is composed of some of the industry's foremost experts in quantum and classical computing. QC Ware is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and supports its European customers through its subsidiary in Paris and customers in Asia through its business development office in Tokyo, Japan. QC Ware also organizes Q2B, a global series of conferences for industry, practitioner, and academic quantum computing communities.

SOURCE QC Ware Corp.

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POSCO Holdings and QC Ware Revolutionize Battery Simulation with Quantum Computing - PR Newswire

After reaching impressive milestones in 2023, technology giant IBM (NASDAQ: IBM)has announced its quantum computing roadmap with plans to increase the capabilities of its systems tenfold.

In ablog post, IBM says it will adopt a 10-year plan, underscored by rapid quantum innovation, to realize its mission for practical use cases for the emerging technology. With a target for 2033, the road map unveils multiple generations of processors, with each offering building on the technical achievements of others.

The roadmap comes on the heels of the launch of the IBM Condor, a 1,121 qubit quantum processor, leveraging IBMs proprietary cross-resonance gate technology. IBM Condors release has been described as an innovation milestone as it marks the first time IBM has broken the 1000-qubit barrier.

IBM says it will proceed with the mainstream rollout of Heron, its highest performing quantum processor that will be the foundation of the hardware roadmap over the decade.

The roadmap lists several processors to be rolled out in the coming years, targeting 2029 as an inflection point in its quantum computing ambitions. IBM predicts a watershed moment in 2029 via its Starling process, which can execute 100 million gates, a huge gap from Herons 5,000 gates.

By the end of the 10-year roadmap, IBM says it will be able to execute 1 billion gates, a nine-order-of-magnitude increase since rolling out its first device back in 2016.

Then, in 2029, we hit an inflection point: executing 100 million gates over 200 qubits with our Starling processor employing error correction based on the novel Gross code, read the blog post. This is followed by Blue Jay, a system capable of executing 1 billion gates across 2,000 qubits by 2033.

Rather than focusing all its efforts on innovation, IBM says it will update its offering for utility, providing users with a Qiskit Runtime service to power experiments. The company confirmed a similar upgrade for its IBM Quantum Safe and an integration with watsonx for generative AI to push the frontiers for adoption.

Entering the era of utility opens up new opportunities for enterprises to engage with quantum computing and explore workforce integration, said IBM. We are expanding our enterprise offerings to continue to advance industry use cases for utility-scale quantum computing.

A worrying trend for the US and China

Despite taking the lead in quantum computing and otheremerging technologies, pundits have pointed to a growing innovation trend outside the U.S. and China in other emerging jurisdictions. In late November, IBMinstalledthe first utility-scale quantum system outside North America at the University of Tokyo, Japan.

China faces a dilemma after Alibabashut down its quantum computing unit to focus on AI, putting a dent in its plans to become an industry leader.

Experts say the chip embargo placed on China by the U.S. contributes to the shuttering of Alibabas (NASDAQ: BABA) quantum research arm, with the company pledging to donate its lab equipment to Zhejiang University.

Watch: Konstantinos Sgantzos talks AI and BSV blockchain with CoinGeek

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IBM quantum roadmap targets inflection point by 2029 - CoinGeek

Q-day (the day when quantum computers will successfully actually break the internet) may be some time away yet. However, that does not mean that companies and states shouldnt hop on the qubit bandwagon now so as not to be left behind in the race for a technology that could potentially alter how we think about life, the Universe, and well everything.

Spurred on by a discourse that more and more revolves around the concept of digital sovereignty, 11 EU member states this week signed the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies.

The signatories have agreed to align, coordinate, engage, support, monitor, and all those other international collaboration verbs, on various parts of the budding quantum technology ecosystem. They include France, Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Malta, Estonia, and Spain. However, the coalition is still missing some quantum frontrunners, such as the Netherlands, Ireland, and Germany, who reportedly opted out due to the short time frame.

Quantum computing, simulation, communication, and sensing and metrology, are all emerging fields of global strategic importance that will bring about a change of paradigm in technological capacities, the declaration begins.

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It further states that the blocs innovators and industry have not yet sufficiently mobilised to take full advantage of this potential as much as in other regions of the world. As such, it stresses the importance of building domestic R&D capacities for quantum technologies, as well as producing devices and systems based on them.

In addition, it needs to invest in the whole quantum stack from hardware to software and applications and standards, so as to safeguard strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security.

The ultimate aim is to create a globally competitive ecosystem that can support a wide range of scientific and industrial applications, identify the industrial sectors where quantum technologies will have high economic and societal impact, and foster quantum innovation in small and large companies alike, from promising startups and scaleups to major industrial players in short, to become the quantum valley of the world, the declaration reads.

Thierry Breton, whose time as Commissioner for the Internal Market has been marked by a bigtech regulation crusade, has declared quantum one of his favourite subjects. We can expect to see even more of a push towards greater collaboration across the bloc, should he land the top job of Commission President next year.

Potentially, Breton could get more member states on board to coordinate on a more detailed bloc-wide quantum strategy. With quantum engineering talent notoriously difficult to come by, this could indeed be key to keeping Europe from getting left behind in yet another key technology race.

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EU declares aim to become 'quantum valley' of the world - TNW

Few markets as small as the quantum information sciences market generate as much lively discussion. Hyperion Research pegged the worldwide quantum market at $848 million for 2023 and expects it to reach ~$1.5 billion in 2026, according to its annual quantum computing (QC) market update presented at the Q2B Silicon Valley conference held in Santa Clara this week.

Bob Sorensen, Hyperion Researchs chief quantum analyst who presented the market update, told HPCwire, I think that a positive, if not robust, market projection is justified.The QC ecosystem is becoming more sophisticated and granular with increased opportunities from QC processor suppliers, targeted classical control system vendors, QC systems integrators, software orchestration firms, and a growing base of sector-specific QC applications developers. All that adds up to a more finely-tuned QC solution well suited to the particular requirements for any potential QC end user, making quantum computing a more attractive compute option going forward.

It is sobering that there are so many uncertainties remaining in QC writ large, ranging from figuring out what will be the quantum transistor (e.g. preferred qubit modality), to implementing needed error correction and scaling up system size, and ultimately building a library of quantum algorithms and applications to fulfill quantum computings tantalizing promise.

Whats not uncertain is the global race among quantum believers, including governments, companies, and academia all chasing the goal. For example, the U.S. is expected to reauthorize the National Quantum Initiative Act for a second five years sometime this month. Consider the major international organizations that assisted Hyperion in conducting its most recent QC market survey:

Having missed out on the semiconductor revolution the underpinning of the modern electronics industry many regions (small and large) are jumping in so as not to miss the quantum revolution. For the moment, the quantum computing ecosystem retains its roughly bi-modal nature, with a few giants and very many smaller companies jostling for sway.

As shown below, the make-up of Hyperion survey is a broad reflection on the QC market. Twenty-four respondent companies had total (not just quantum) revenues of more than $10 billion and 39 had less than $15 million. Only two companies reported more than $50 million in quantum revenue. The long (irregular) tail of 66 companies with under $1 million is more broadly representative of the aspiring QC market.

A relative newcomer to the Hyperion outlook is a more bullish attitude towards deployment of on-premise quantum systems. Both IBM and D-Wave have deployed their systems at user facilities in the past, but no others. Just this year, both QuEra (neutral atom-based qubits) and IonQ (trapped ion qubits) have announced plans to offer on-premise systems, and HPCwire has talked with at least one quantum industry veteran whos planning a quantum integrator business model to assist in deploying and integrating quantum systems into datacenters.

Sorensen said, The positive future of QC installations on-premises is clear, at least to me.Despite many of the current advantages to QC access via cloud (pay as you go options, the ability to switch qubit modalities and vendors easily, andthe relatively low capex requirements during the exploratory phase) there will be an increasing interest by QC end users firms that will have any number of reasons to use an on-prem QC, including the need to protect proprietary information, speed tightly integrated hybrid quantum/classical algorithms, ensure24/7 access to a specific machine, and likely in cases where QC usage is high, secure a lower costset-up than a cloud access alternative.

In addition, many HPC sites are and will be looking to bolster in-house QC expertise and having a system on site offers more opportunity to do that versus a cloud-based option. That said, issues to be ironed out include buy versus lease, especially at a time when hardware advances are happening quickly, decisions about which quantum modality, architecture, and vendor to commit to, and the ability to effectively integrate an on-premises QCinto an existing classical HPC ecosystem, he said.

In keeping with past studies, the top targeted sectors remain steady, although the FS sector dropped from the top spot. Prospective QC end-user attitudes about demand drivers are interesting in that they reflect, for example, the growing recognition that the traditional HPC hardware paradigm is stuck. All netted out, QC user budget expectations are also up.

On balance, Sorensens view of QC prospects is positive.

The QC sector currently is marked by a wide range of innovation with many questions about which quantum hardware and software will eventually reign supreme, he said.However, a sure sign of viable technology, especially one that could drastically redefine something as far reachingand entrenched as the classical IT sector, is that exploration is taking place across the academic, government, and the vast array of commercial entities.

All this does is ensure that every considered quantum option will have its opportunity to shine, but only if it can prove its merits. There will be a range of companies that enter the market, with some departing, some being consolidated, or some pivoting to new opportunities. But as long as the overall scope of innovation stayson an upward trajectory, future prospects for the QC sector are good.

A new consideration is the emergence of LLMs and concern regarding what impact it will have on efforts and funds flowing into the quantum ecosystem. At the moment, the quantum community doesnt seem overly worried. It should also be noted that there are many efforts to harness LLMs as education tools for quantum computing as well as as coding aids to enable developers to write code for quantum computers without having to master quantum specific tools. Jay Gambetta, VP IBM Quantum, told HPCwire recently, We [think] the full power of using quantum computing will be powered by generative AI to simplify the developer experience.

As with all things quantum computing, a measure of caution is smart Hyperion, for example, couched its outlook as estimates rather than firm forecasts. There are still a lot moving pieces in the gradually coalescing quantum landscape puzzle.

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Quantum Market, Though Small, will Grow 22% and Hit $1.5B in 2026 - HPCwire

The primary challenge for practical quantum computing is error suppression, necessitating quantum error correction for extensive processing. However, implementing error-corrected logical qubits, where information is redundantly encoded across multiple physical qubits, presents significant challenges for achieving large-scale logical quantum computing.

A new study by Harvard scientists reports realizing a programmable quantum processor based on encoded logical qubits operating with up to 280 physical qubits. This is a critical milestone in the quest for stable, scalable quantum computing.

This new quantum processor can encode up to 48 logical qubits and execute hundreds of logical gate operations, a vast improvement over prior efforts. This system marks the initial showcase of running large-scale algorithms on an error-corrected quantum computer, signaling the arrival of early fault-tolerant quantum computation that operates reliably without interruption.

Denise Caldwell of the National Science Foundation said,This breakthrough is a tour de force of quantum engineering and design. The team has not only accelerated the development of quantum information processing by using neutral atoms but opened a new door to explorations of large-scale logical qubit devices, which could enable transformative benefits for science and society as a whole.

A quantum bit or qubit is one unit of information in quantum computing. In the world of quantum computing, in principle, it is possible to create physical qubits by manipulating quantum particles be they atoms, ions, or photons.

Harnessing the peculiarities of quantum mechanics for computation is more intricate than merely accumulating a sufficient number of qubits. Qubits are inherently unstable and susceptible to collapsing out of their quantum states.

The accurate measure of success lies in logical qubits, known as the coins of the realm. These are bundles of redundant, error-corrected physical qubits capable of storing information for quantum algorithms. Creating controllable logical qubits, akin to classical bits poses a significant challenge for the field. It is widely acknowledged that until quantum computers can operate reliably on logical qubits, the technology cannot truly advance.

Current computing systems have demonstrated only one or two logical qubits and a single quantum gate operationa unit of codebetween them.

The breakthrough by the Harvard team is built upon years of research on a quantum computing architecture called a neutral atom array, pioneered in Lukins lab. QuEra, a company commercializing this technology, recently entered into a licensing agreement with Harvards Office of Technology Development for a patent portfolio based on Lukins groups innovations.

A block of ultra-cold, suspended rubidium atoms is at the heart of the system. These atoms, serving as the systems physical qubits, can move around and form pairs or become entangled during computations.

Entangled pairs of atoms come together to form gates, representing units of computing power. The team had previously showcased low error rates in their entangling operations, establishing the reliability of their neutral atom array system.

In their logical quantum processor, the scientists have now demonstrated parallel, multiplexed control over an entire section of logical qubits using lasers. This approach is more efficient and scalable compared to individually controlling physical qubits.

Paper first author Dolev Bluvstein, a Griffin School of Arts and Sciences Ph.D. student in Lukins lab, said,We are trying to mark a transition in the field, toward starting to test algorithms with error-corrected qubits instead of physical ones, and enabling a path toward larger devices.

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Scientists created the first programmable, logical quantum processor - Tech Explorist

Using a classical cryptographic algorithm alongside its quantum safe equivalent.

Once quantum computers, more specifically Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs), have become powerful and reliable enough, they will enable adversaries to break current asymmetric encryption, placing important data and assets at risk. New digital signatures and key encapsulation mechanisms (KEMs) are needed, and while considerable progress has been made in recent years to develop new quantum-resistant algorithms, there is still ongoing discussions in the industry about the best way to implement them in the various security protocols that the industry requires.

The concept of hybrid cryptography is to use two or more fundamentally different algorithms that offer similar cryptographic functionality. In the context of Quantum Safe Cryptography more specifically, it refers to using a combination of classical cryptographic algorithms, for example, X25519 elliptic curve key exchange or ECDSA, in combination with Quantum Safe equivalents such as ML-KEM / FIPS 203 and ML-DSA / FIPS 204.

Hybrid cryptography comes in two flavors, which are sometimes referred to as AND hybrid and OR hybrid. The latter, as the name suggests, means that both algorithms are supported, and protocols can choose which of the two algorithms they prefer. This minimizes performance impact and is important to ensure mission continuity during the transition to Quantum Safe algorithms in heterogenous systems where not all components can transition at the same time.

On the other hand, it also means that communications protected only by classical ECC / RSA cryptography are vulnerable to CRQCs, and communications protected by Quantum Safe algorithms suffer from the much newer, less tested code base for these algorithms. On top of that, OR hybrid applications need to be designed specifically to prevent downgrade attacks. OR hybrid is more often simply subsumed within crypto agility discussions.

More often, when people talk about hybrid cryptography in the context of Quantum Safe algorithms, they refer to the AND hybrid model where both a classical and a Quantum Safe algorithm are combined to ensure security even if one of the algorithms or its implementation are broken. In the case of a key exchange, for example, this means that the session key will be derived in equal parts from a classical method such as X25119 and a Quantum Safe algorithm such as ML-KEM / FIPS 203. One example of this can be found in the provision of NIST SP800-56C Rev 2 that allows concatenation of two session secrets into a combined session secret from which the session key is derived. Also, there are various RFC proposals such as, for example, draft-tls-westerbaan-xyber768d00-0314 that are actively being worked on to support AND hybrid key exchanges for use in TLS. In terms of signatures, an AND hybrid scheme would only return valid if both classical and Quantum Safe signatures are successfully verified.

The Rambus Quantum Safe IP Portfolio allows for the implementation of hybrid cryptography. The Rambus QSE-IP-86 Quantum Safe Engine is a standalone cryptographic core that supports the NIST draft standards FIPS 203 ML-KEM and FIPS 204 ML-DSA and provides SHAKE-128 and SHAKE-256 acceleration. It can be combined with an accelerator for traditional asymmetric cryptography such as the Rambus PKE-IP-85 core that accelerates classic public key cryptography and a TRNG-IP-76 core that generates true random numbers. The Rambus RT-600 family of Root of Trust cores provides a robust integrated solution embedding engines and firmware that support both the full suite of CNSA 1.0 classic and CNSA 2.0 Quantum Safe algorithms (including NIST SP 800-208 XMSS/LMS hash-based verification) that can be used to implement AND hybrid solutions, offering system security management for use cases like secure boot, secure debug, secure firmware upgrade, lifecycle and SKU management, platform attestation and authentication.

Join me for my webinar Protecting Devices and Data in the Quantum Era on January 10, 2024 to learn about all the latest developments in Quantum Safe Cryptography and how you can protect your past, current, and future data in the quantum computing era.

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Getting Ready For The Quantum Computing Era: Thoughts On Hybrid Cryptography - SemiEngineering

This week, IBM announced a pair of shiny new quantum computers.

The companys Condor processor is the first quantum chip of its kind with over 1,000 qubits, a feat that would have made big headlines just a few years ago. But earlier this year, a startup, Atom Computing, unveiled a 1,180-qubit quantum computer using a different approach. And although IBM says Condor demonstrates it can reliably produce high-quality qubits at scale, itll likely be the largest single chip the company makes until sometime next decade.

Instead of growing the number of qubits crammed onto each chip, IBM will focus on getting the most out of the qubits it has. In this respect, the second chip announced, Heron, is the future.

Though Heron has fewer qubits than Condorjust 133its significantly faster and less error-prone. The company plans to combine several of these smaller chips into increasingly more powerful systems, a bit like the multicore processors powering smartphones. The first of these, System Two, also announced this week, contains three linked Condor chips.

IBM also updated its quantum roadmap, a timeline of key engineering milestones, through 2033. Notably, the company is aiming to complete a fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029. The machine wont be large enough to run complex quantum algorithms, like the one expected to one day break standard encryption. Still, its a bold promise.

Practical quantum computers will be able to tackle problems that cant be solved using classical computers. But todays systems are far too small and error-ridden to realize that dream. To get there, engineers are working on a solution called error-correction.

A qubit is the fundamental unit of a quantum computer. In your laptop, the basic unit of information is a 1 or 0 represented by a transistor thats either on or off. In a quantum computer, the unit of information is 1, 0, orthanks to quantum weirdnesssome combination of the two. The physical component can be an atom, electron, or tiny superconducting loop of wire.

Opting for the latter, IBM makes its quantum computers by cooling loops of wire, or transmons, to temperatures near absolute zero and placing them into quantum states. Heres the problem. Qubits are incredibly fragile, easily falling out of these quantum states throughout a calculation. This introduces errors that make todays machines unreliable.

One way to solve this problem is to minimize errors. IBMs made progress here. Heron uses some new hardware to significantly speed up how quickly the system places pairs of qubits into quantum statesan operation known as a gatelimiting the number of errors that crop up and spread to neighboring qubits (researchers call this crosstalk).

Its a beautiful device, Gambetta told Ars Technica. Its five times better than the previous devices, the errors are way less, [and] crosstalk cant really be measured.

But you cant totally eliminate errors. In the future, redundancy will also be key.

By spreading information between a group of qubits, you can reduce the impact of any one error and also check for and correct errors in the group. Because it takes multiple physical qubits to form one of these error-corrected logical qubits, you need an awful lot of them to complete useful calculations. This is why scale matters.

Software can also help. IBM is already employing a technique called error mitigation, announced earlier this year, in which it simulates likely errors and subtracts them from calculations. Theyve also identified a method of error-correction that reduces the number of physical qubits in a logical qubit by nearly an order of magnitude. But all this will require advanced forms of connectivity between qubits, which could be the biggest challenge ahead.

Youre going to have to tie them together, Dario Gil, senior vice president and director of research at IBM, told Reuters. Youre going to have to do many of these things together to be practical about it. Because if not, its just a paper exercise.

Something that makes IBM unique in the industry is that it publishes a roadmap looking a decade into the future.

This may seem risky, but to date, theyve stuck to it. Alongside the Condor and Heron news, IBM also posted an updated version of its roadmap.

Next year, theyll release an upgraded version of Heron capable of 5,000 gate operations. After Heron comes Flamingo. Theyll link seven of these Flamingo chips into a single system with over 1,000 qubits. They also plan to grow Flamingos gate count by roughly 50 percent a year until it hits 15,000 in 2028. In parallel, the company will work on error-correction, beginning with memory, then moving on to communication and gates.

All this will culminate in a 200-qubit, fault-tolerant chip called Starling in 2029 and a leap in gate operations to 100 million. Starling will give way to the bigger Blue Jay in 2033.

Though it may be the most open about them, IBM isnt alone in its ambitions.

Google is pursuing the same type of quantum computer and has been focused on error-correction over scaling for a few years. Then there are other kinds of quantum computers entirelysome use charged ions as qubits while others use photons, electrons, or like Atom Computing, neutral atoms. Each approach has its tradeoffs.

When it comes down to it, theres a simple set of metrics for you to compare the performance of the quantum processors, Jerry Chow, director of quantum systems at IBM, told the Verge. Its scale: what number of qubits can you get to and build reliably? Quality: how long do those qubits live for you to perform operations and calculations on? And speed: how quickly can you actually run executions and problems through these quantum processors?

Atom Computing favors neutral atoms because theyre identicaleliminating the possibility of manufacturing flawscan be controlled wirelessly, and operate at room temperature. Chow agrees there are interesting things happening in the nuetral atom space but speed is a drawback. It comes down to that speed, he said. Anytime you have these actual atomic items, either an ion or an atom, your clock rates end up hurting you.

The truth is the race isnt yet won, and wont be for awhile yet. New advances or unforeseen challenges could rework the landscape. But Chow said the companys confidence in its approach is what allows them to look ahead 10 years.

And to me its more that there are going to be innovations within that are going to continue to compound over those 10 years, that might make it even more attractive as time goes on. And thats just the nature of technology, he said.

Image Credit: IBM

Originally posted here:
IBM Is Planning to Build Its First Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer by 2029 - Singularity Hub

IBM Corp. today announced the launch of its newest quantum processor Heron, featuring 133 qubits of computing power that will serve as the foundation for a new series of processors capable of providing practical utility for science and research.

Alongside the new processor, the IBM unveiled the Quantum System Two, the companys first modular quantum computer powered by Heron, during Quantum Summit 2023, the companys annual quantum computing conference.

The technology giant also announced Condor, a 1,121-qubit processor that is part of IBMs focus on long-term research into developing large-scale quantum computing efforts. In a press briefing, Mattias Stephan, chief quantum architect and IBM fellow, said the device packed 50% more qubit density, with over a mile of flex cabling. The efforts in building the device, he said unlocked the road to scaling.

Although the processor has a massive number of qubits, Stephan said it has comparable performance to the433-qubit Osprey devicedebut in 2022. This is because simply stacking qubits doesnt make a processor faster or more powerful, architectural changes are needed. According to Stephan, what IBM learned from Condor, and its previous Eagle quantum processor, paved the way for the tunable architecture breakthrough of the Heron processor.

Heron is our best-performing quantum processor to date with up to a five-fold improvement in error reduction compared to our flagship Eagle device, said Stephan. This was a journey that was four years in the making. It was designed for modularity and scale.

In 2021, IBM debuted theEagle quantum processorfeaturing 127 qubits, becoming the first processor to break 100 qubits. Earlier this year, the companydemonstratedthat quantum processors can serve as the foundation for tools to provide as practical utility platforms for scientific research to solve problems for chemistry, physics and materials problems beyond brute force classical simulation of quantum mechanics. This opened up a variety of new use cases for researchers.

Since that demonstration, researchers and scientists at numerous organizations including the U.S. Department of Energy, the University of Tokyo, Q-CTRL and the University of Cologne have expanded their use of quantum computing to solve bigger and harder real-world problems such as drug discovery and tuning materials science.

We are firmly within the era in which quantum computers are being used as a tool to explore new frontiers of science, said Dario Gil, IBM senior vice president and director of research. As we continue to advance how quantum systems can scale and deliver value through modular architectures, we will further increase the quality of a utility-scale quantum technology stack.

The IBM Quantum System Two will become the foundation for IBMs next-generation quantum computing system architecture, powered by three Heron quantum processors. As a unit, it combines a scalable cryogenic refrigeration infrastructure and classical servers with modular qubit control electronics. As a result, it will be able to expand to relate to future needs and IBM plans to use the system to house future generations of quantum processors.

The first Quantum System Two is housed in a facility in Yorktown Heights, New York.

To assist with enabling the use of quantum computing for developers, IBM announced thatQiskitwill hit version 1.0 in February. Qiskit is an open-source software development toolkit for quantum that includes tools for writing and manipulating quantum programs and running them on the IBM Quantum Platform or a simulator.

Aimed at making it easier for developers and engineers to work with quantum computing, IBM announced Qiskit Patterns, a way to allow quantum developers to easily create code. It is a set of tools that will allow them to map classical problems, optimize quantum circuits using Qiskit Runtime and then process results.

With Qiskit Patterns and Quantum Serverless you can build, deploy, run, and in the future, share for other users to use, said Jay Gambetta, vice president of IBM Quantum.

Additionally, in a demonstration, Gambetta revealed that quantum developers will be able to use generative artificial intelligence powered by Watson X to make quantum circuits. Using this tool, a user would only need to write out a description of the quantum problem that they want to solve, and a foundation model named Granite, trained with Qiskit data, would do the heavy lifting for them.

We really see the full power of generative AI to simplify the developer experience, said Gambetta.

THANK YOU

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IBM unveils next-gen 133-qubit Heron quantum processor and its first modular quantum computer - SiliconANGLE News

How do you see AI and new technologies accelerating sustainability? and how it can accelerate sustainability as well.

We have very tangible examples of when we talk about sustainability. At least speaking for myself, we struggle in terms of understanding what sustainability is and how we can make it actionable. How can we track if some promises are kept? Can we measure what the Kenyan government is doing in terms of reforestation over time, for example?

The geospatial foundation model we have created [at IBM] is helping us quantify climate mitigating actions like reforestation, but also helping us understand how particular measures like putting up a fence can help. Its very encouraging because, not only can you see masses of trees growing, you can also quantify how many gigatons of carbon you can capture over the years.

So you make it tangible. That's probably one of my favourite aspects of what technology can do for sustainability.

As a computer scientist, there are very rare moments where you see history happening. In quantum this year, we have managed to achieve one which we call quantum utility. We have entered the quantum utility era.

Quantum utility is when you take a problem, and this case it was a small magnetisation problem, and we tasked one of our partners, the University of Berkeley to do their best classically, and we have taken the same problem. We map it to a quantum computer with our hardware today and we apply some error mitigation routines that we have created on top of our stack. These error mitigation routines are now available to everyone.

We were then in a position of showing better performance than the classic. So for the first time, we see for real, quantum utility beating classic in this particular experiment.

When we talk about quantum, we always talk about fault tolerance - having the perfect system with no computing errors. What we are doing now is trying to find, with our partners, more and more examples of this quantum utility - much broader and bigger examples of showing that the current quantum hardware is improving. Our operation routines can get us there.

First of all, how can we change our approach to build the hardware? Because we saw it classically, right? We started with bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger machines until we discovered that we needed to go modular.

What we are doing now is working on modularity for quantum processing - but modularity means that you need to establish the connectivity between the units. So we first started looking at classical links, but in the future we will also see quantum communications happening between the units, which is quite challenging. There's a bit of research behind it, from the hardware perspective, that's probably one of my personal highlights.

Another highlight probably is that I hope that we announce that we keep firmly implementing every milestone that we set ourselves in our roadmap.

You will see many companies working with [IBM] and many partners presenting quantum utility experiments already. That's going to be very refreshing - it's going to create a lot of momentum when more and more people see that. In this particular case, quantum: it's classic. So that's going to create a good vibe in the quantum community.

There is so much happening at the same time and at such speed.

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5 minutes with: Dr. Juan Bernabe Moreno, IBM - Technology Magazine

You can't miss out on these quantum computing picks

Quantum computing stocks should be on your radar. The vast potential of quantum technologies means well likely witness dramatic progress in AI, IoT, and clean energy technologies. These computers will give us the needed horsepower, but the tech is presently under a competitive research and development environment.

Regardless of the speculative nature of quantum computing stocks, we can already observe leaders. These companies are heading the pack in pioneering this new standard for the computing industry.

So, to know the three quantum computing stocks leading us forward, lets explore your best options.

Source: shutterstock.com/LCV

IBM (NYSE:IBM) warrants attention foremost.

Most recently, the company installed a 127-qubit quantum processor in its IBM Quantum System One machine at the University of Tokyo, Japan.

This significant development is not only one of the first quantum computers in East Asia, but also it challenges other regions for market dominance. Typically led by Europe and North America, this sets the stage for Asia to emerge as a pivotal player. And this may have critical competitive considerations for companies like IBM.

IBMs processor is expected to conduct high-level research in various fields ranging from finance to medicine to modeling complex biological processes.

Besides this recent development that should give quantum bulls a reason to smile, IBM is also undervalued on several key metrics. It effectively balances strong cash generation with a dividend yield of 4.14% and a price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 0.43.

Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com

Alphabets (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) position in the quantum computing market is also formidable. The company made significant headway in February by reporting that it reduced computational errors in its quantum bits. Reducing these errors is crucial to making quantum computers usable and a key barrier to commercialization.

Complementing Alphabets goal of commercializing its quantum system this year is its impressive financials. Like IBM, its PEG ratio is 1.26, indicating expected growth at a reasonable price. Furthermore, it has retained robust top and bottom lines with a revenue of $297.13 billion and a net income of $66.73 billion.

Also, Wall Streets stance on Alphabet remains bullish. It carries a strong buy recommendation. Further, analysts predict an average 12-month price increase of 7.32%, with a high target of $180.

Source: Ascannio / Shutterstock.com

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is building an ecosystem to support its quantum computing services with its Q# development suite. Also, it onboards developers early to test its code and tools.

Therefore, the development of MSFTs community is one of the key reasons to be bullish on MSFT. Q# is striving to become the de facto standard. In fact, its similar to the way certain programming languages once fought for dominance amongst the development community. Today, we are left with a handful of the most popular.

Further, MSFT is taking a calculated gamble on its development of quantum technology. Its investing heavily in research and developing novel ways to improve error correction and fault tolerance. This approach is riskier, but if it pays off. It could give MSFT one of the most stable quantum computing systems on the market upon release, if not the most stable, thus giving it a significant advantage over its peers.

On the date of publication, Matthew Farley did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed are those of the writer, subject to theInvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Matthew started writing coverage of the financial markets during the crypto boom of 2017 and was also a team member of several fintech startups. He then started writing about Australian and U.S. equities for various publications. His work has appeared in MarketBeat, FXStreet, Cryptoslate, Seeking Alpha, and the New Scientist magazine, among others.

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Frontiers in Quantum Computing: 3 Stocks Leading the Way - InvestorPlace

IBM announced the unveiling of its 1,121-qubit Condor quantum computing processor on Dec. 4. This is the companys largest by qubit count and, arguably, the worlds most advanced gate-based, superconducting quantum system.

Alongside the new chip, IBM delivered an updated roadmap and a trove of information on the companys planned endeavors in the quantum computing space.

The 1,121-qubit processor represents the apex of IBMs previous roadmap. Its preceded by 2022s 433-qubit Osprey processor and by 2021s 127-qubit Eagle processor.

In quantum computing terms, qubit count isnt necessarily a measure of power or capability so much as it is potential. While more qubits should theoretically lead to more capable systems eventually, the industrys current focus is on error correction and fault tolerance.

Currently, IBM considers its experiments with 100-qubit systems to be the status quo, with much of the current work focused on increasing the number of quantum gates processors can function with.

For the first time, writes IBM fellow and vice president of quantum computing Jay Gambetta in a recent blog post, we have hardware and software capable of executing quantum circuits with no known a priori answer at a scale of 100 qubits and 3,000 gates.

Gates, like qubits, are a potential measure of the usefulness of a quantum system. The more gates a processor can implement, the more complex functions can be performed by the system. According to IBM, at the 3,000 gates scale, its 100-qubit quantum systems are now computational tools.

The next major inflection point, per the blog post, will occur in 2029 when IBM will execute 100 million gates over 200 qubits with a processor its calling Starling.

This is followed, writes Gambetta, by Blue Jay, a system capable of executing 1 billion gates across 2,000 qubits by 2033.

Related: IBM brings utility-scale quantum computing to Japan as China and Europe struggle to compete

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IBM says it will have hit a quantum computing 'inflection point' by 2029 - Cointelegraph

Solutions ReviewsContributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Zibby Kwecka of Quorum Cyber examines the current and future states of quantum computing, and the inevitable threat of a quantum attack.

The threat of quantum computing is very real, today. As of July 2022, 25 percent of Bitcoin and 66 percent of Ether are vulnerable to quantum attacks (Deloitte, 2023). These can be secured with action, however, even if a small number of these currencies are stolen, the market disruption may significantly devalue assets.Quantum computers have the potential to solve certain complex mathematical problems significantly faster than classical computers. One of the most notable implications is their ability to break encryption algorithms that rely on the difficulty of factoring large numbers or solving logarithm problems. There are theoretical methods to crack our current encryption methods that would be possible on a conventional computer, however widely inefficient. Quantum will allow the cracking of keys thousands of times more efficiently, making it possible to break todays encryption in just a few cycles. Thankfully, for now, scale remains a problem for quantum computing.

Once quantum computers become a tool thats commercially available and matured, its expected attackers will take advantage of this to break current encryption methods, creating a significant risk to the security of our sensitive data. Using this technology as a platform for an attack is a concern for organizations, not just on the cryptography front.The threat of quantum computing becoming part of an actors offensive toolbox is likely. Taking advantage of decryption techniques, forging certificates, or its potential ability of rapid machine learning, could vastly speed up network recon and eavesdropping, and forging identities.

Just because quantum computing isnt here yet doesnt mean we shouldnt be aware of the risk. Data may already have been stolen, or harvested, for later yield. While it may not be currently feasible to decrypt your data yet, once it becomes a viable and affordable measure through quantum computing, harvested data and communication traffic could be decrypted. This may be assisted by projects from Microsoft and IBM aiming to offer cloud-based multi-quantum computing facilities on a consumption model.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been calling for the development of encryption methods that would remain resistant to the advantages of quantum computing, with the first four quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms announced back in 2022 (NIST, 2022). There is a future of using quantum computers to vastly improve our digital security, but theres a risk of being in a very dangerous limbo between the threats posed and the future of greater security. Currently, there are several limitations preventing development at scale, which may take years to overcome.

The most likely quantum attack would involve breaking cryptographic systems of communication methods we use today. This isnt just a future problem; however, its happening already. The widely known Harvest Now, Decrypt Later operations store stolen information that will later be decrypted using advanced technology. This might be years away, but depending on the sensitive information, it could still enable extortion against organizations or individuals. Its a compelling argument to encourage businesses to purge old data thats no longer required.

Future cyber-attacks will involve hybrid approaches that combine classical and quantum computing techniques. Quantum computers are great at operating in parallel states, and thus, it would be natural to apply them to fuzzing systems and finding vulnerabilities. The added fuzzing ability of quantum computers could drastically speed up attacks aiming to penetrate a system. Fuzzing tests programs by using numerous randomized inputs, and could be a perfect use for quantum machines.

Current RSA encryption relies on 2048-bit numbers. In 2019, quantum computers were only able to factor a 6-bit number. In 2022, that number only increased to 48-bits under a highly specialized environment (Swayne, 2022). There is the expectation within the next 10 years we could be at a point where current encryption methods are at risk. The current development is exponential (Deloitte, 2023).A recent mandate from the US Congress declares a 2035 deadline for quantum-resistant cryptography to be implemented (Executive Office of The President, 2022), but it could be sooner.

The exponential development of artificial intelligence (AI) underway may, at some stage, support scientists in solving some of the challenges currently faced. For a quantum computer to undertake a task the problem statement must be translated into a format a quantum computer can actually work with first. This is a laborious task, and hence apart from the high cost of entry to the quantum computing attacks because of the hardware costs, there is an even higher ongoing cost associated with translating targeted problem statements into something that can be tested. This is why cryptographic use cases are currently prevalent when quantum is discussed. They are repetitive, as we only use a handful of cryptographic algorithms to secure the digital world. However, AI will one day enable us to rapidly create translations of human-readable problem statements, and software to be tested, into the code that can be processed by a quantum computer, and this is when the full capabilities of this technology will be reached.

There are several actions that should be considered:

To start using quantum machines to solve real-world problems, we feasibly need a machine capable of at least 1 million stable qubits (Microsoft, 2023). Currently, the qubits in existence suffer at scale for several reasons, one of which is quantum decoherence making each qubit only available for a short period of time. As far as research goes, weve only just reached over 100 qubits (Ball, 2021). Until these challenges are overcome the use of quantum computing is limited.

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The Threat of Quantum Computing - Solutions Review

IBM has just announced the latest breakthrough in its mission to make commercialized and practical quantum computers a reality a 1,000+ qubit processor dubbed Condor' and an error-correction-focused processor dubbed Heron'.

Quantum computers represent a new approach to machine-based computation. Through the use of qubits capable of superposition and entanglement, quantum computers have the potential to perform faster and more complex calculations than classical bits used in more traditional computers. Unlike traditional computing, where bits represent either 0 or 1, qubits in quantum computing can represent both states simultaneously. Importantly, this makes quantum computing complementary to classical computing rather than a replacement; it excels in tasks like molecular simulations and system optimizations, while classical computing is better suited for everyday tasks.

It is because of the types of tasks that quantum computing should excel at that the technology is so vaunted. A computer capable of performing complex calculations orders of magnitudes quicker than its traditional counterparts is worth developing, as its use cases have the potential to change the world and our understanding of it.

With its announcement, IBM has made significant strides in quantum computing by launching two advanced quantum processors: Heron and Condor.

The Heron processor, featured on the ibm_torino quantum system, represents a leap forward with its 133 fixed-frequency qubits and tunable couplers, delivering a 3-5x improvement in performance compared to its previous 127-qubit Eagle processors. This advancement virtually eliminates cross-talk' (undesired interaction or interference between qubits) and lays the groundwork for future hardware development. Notably, IBM is already utilizing these chips in its modular-architecture' Quantum System Two computing platform.

On the other hand, the Condor processor, a 1,121 superconducting qubit quantum processor, is an equally notable innovation. It increases qubit density by 50%, incorporates advancements in qubit fabrication, and integrates over a mile of high-density cryogenic wiring within a single dilution refrigerator (a tool used to achieve extremely low temperatures, typically close to absolute zero). Condor's performance is comparable to the company's earlier 433-qubit Osprey processor, marking a significant milestone in scaling and informing future hardware design in quantum computing.

These developments by IBM are pivotal in pushing the boundaries of quantum utility and advancing toward quantum-centric supercomputing.

As previously mentioned, quantum computers are so vaunted due to their potential to greatly advance our understanding of just about every field of science. The following are just a few examples of these.

Medicine: In medicine, quantum computing could revolutionize drug discovery by simulating the behavior of molecules at a quantum level. This allows for more accurate predictions of how potential drugs might interact with the human body, speeding up the development of new medications and reducing costs.

Meteorology: For meteorology, quantum computers could analyze vast amounts of weather data more efficiently than classical computers. This would lead to more accurate weather predictions and better understanding of climate change, helping to mitigate natural disasters and plan agricultural strategies.

Complex Problem Solving: Quantum computing could tackle problems that are currently unsolvable by classical computers, such as optimizing large systems for logistics and supply chains, or solving intricate mathematical problems. This has broad implications for various sectors, including transportation, energy, and finance.

It is also important to recognize that we can not know what we cannot imagine. Meaning, there will be scores of unexpected advancements made possible through the abilities one day provided by this technology.

Quantum computing is the future of computing. It will open up new possibilities for scientific discovery and technological advancement that we can't even imagine today. Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM, in an interview with CNBC

With quantum computers representing such a monumental technological achievement, it should come as no surprise that there have been, and remain, significant hurdles and limitations that must be overcome in time. For example, quantum computing currently faces challenges in error correction, scalability, and developing practical algorithms.

In time, there are bound to be other hurdles that pop up, which were previously unexpected due to a rudimentary but growing understanding of quantum mechanics. The complexity and potential of quantum physics was emphasized in the following quote.

If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics. Richard Feynman, Nobel laureate in Physics

As it stands, these limitations mean quantum computers are not yet ready for widespread use. With recent advancements, optimistic timelines point to another decade before this is the case.

In past decades, quantum computing seemed to be in such a distant future that courses teaching it were few and far between. Now that a future in which they are actually in use is beginning to come into focus, the need to train the next generation of scientists and engineers who will be responsible for continuing this advancement is only increasing. As a result, many universities are now offering specialized courses and programs in quantum computing to prepare a skilled workforce for this emerging field.

While the aforementioned schools may be training the next generation of quantum computing specialists, the following few companies are currently paving the road to this future.

IBM has long been a leader in the development of quantum computers. The company aims to democratize quantum computing development through initiatives like Qiskit Patterns. IBM has also expanded its roadmap for achieving large-scale, practical quantum computing, focusing on new modular architectures and networking that could enable quantum systems with hundreds of thousands of qubits, essential for practical quantum applications.

Microsoft's efforts in quantum computing are centered around cloud integration and collaboration. The company has introduced quantum machines with the highest quantum volumes in the industry to Azure Quantum, including partnerships with IonQ, Pasqal, Quantinuum, QCI, and Rigetti. This integration facilitates experimentation and is a step towards scaled quantum computing. Microsoft emphasizes the importance of a global ecosystem to realize the full potential of quantum computing and plans to deliver its quantum machine as a cloud service through Azure, ensuring secure and responsible use of this emerging technology.

Alphabet, through its Google Quantum AI lab, has made significant strides in quantum computing. In 2023, Google scientists announced a major milestone in reducing the rate of errors in quantum computing, a long-standing challenge in the field. Its research, published in the journal Nature, describes a system capable of significantly decreasing the error rate and implementing error-correcting codes that can detect and fix errors without compromising the information. Previously, in 2019, Google claimed to have achieved quantum supremacy with its Sycamore machine, performing a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken a conventional supercomputer 10,000 years, demonstrating the potential of quantum computing in solving complex problems far beyond the capabilities of traditional computing.

Quantum computing represents a groundbreaking leap in the world of computing, offering the potential to revolutionize a plethora of fields. While IBM's recent advancements with the Heron and Condor quantum processors signify significant progress toward practical quantum computing, the technology continues to face significant challenges in error correction, scalability, and algorithm development highlighting the need for continued research and innovation.

While these challenges remain, quantum computing holds the promise of unlocking possibilities we can't even imagine today, ushering in a new era of scientific discovery and technological advancement. Its full potential is still unfolding, and its impact on various industries and society promises to be profound.

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Taking Flight with Heron and Condor: The Latest Advancements in Quantum Computers - Securities.io

BOSTON, Dec. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QuEra Computing, the leader in neutral-atom quantum computers, today announced a significant breakthrough published in the scientific journal Nature. In experiments led by Harvard University in close collaboration with QuEra Computing, MIT, and NIST/UMD, researchers successfully executed large-scale algorithms on an error-corrected quantum computer with 48 logical qubits and hundreds of entangling logical operations. This advancement, a significant leap in quantum computing, sets the stage for developing truly scalable and fault-tolerant quantum computers that could solve practical classically intractable problems. The complete paper can be accessed on Nature at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06927-3.

"We at Moodys Analytics recognize the monumental significance of achieving 48 logical qubits in a fault-tolerant quantum computing environment and its potential to revolutionize data analytics and financial simulations, said Sergio Gago, Managing Director of Quantum and AI at Moodys Analytics, This brings us closer to a future where quantum computing is not just an experimental endeavor but a practical tool that can deliver real-world solutions for our clients. This pivotal moment could redefine how industries approach complex computational challenges."

A critical challenge preventing quantum computing from reaching its enormous potential is the noise that affects qubits, corrupting computations before reaching the desired results. Quantum error correction overcomes these limitations by creating logical qubits," groups of physical qubits that are entangled to store information redundantly. This redundancy allows for identifying and correcting errors that may occur during quantum computations. By using logical qubits instead of individual physical qubits, quantum systems can achieve a level of fault tolerance, making them more robust and reliable for complex computations.

This is a truly exciting time in our field as the fundamental ideas of quantum error correction and fault tolerance are starting to bear fruit, said Mikhail Lukin, the Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor, co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative, and co-founder of QuEra Computing. This work, leveraging the outstanding recent progress in the neutral-atom quantum computing community, is a testament to the incredible effort of exceptionally talented students and postdocs as well as our remarkable collaborators at QuEra, MIT, and NIST/UMD. Although we are clear-eyed about the challenges ahead, we expect that this new advance will greatly accelerate the progress towards large-scale, useful quantum computers, enabling the next phase of discovery and innovation.

Previous demonstrations of error correction have showcased one, two, or three logical qubits. This new work demonstrates quantum error correction in 48 logical qubits, enhancing computational stability and reliability while addressing the error problem. On the path to large-scale quantum computation, Harvard, QuEra, and the collaborators reported the following critical achievements:

The breakthrough utilized an advanced neutral-atom system quantum computer, combining hundreds of qubits, high two-qubit gate fidelities, arbitrary connectivity, fully programmable single-qubit rotations, and mid-circuit readout.

The system also included hardware-efficient control in reconfigurable neutral-atom arrays, employing direct, parallel control over an entire group of logical qubits. This parallel control dramatically reduces the control overhead and complexity of performing logical operations. While using as many as 280 physical qubits, researchers needed to program fewer than ten control signals to execute all of the required operations in the study. Other quantum modalities typically require hundreds of control signals for the same number of qubits. As quantum computers scale to many thousands of qubits, efficient control becomes critically important.

"The achievement of 48 logical qubits with high fault tolerance is a watershed moment in the quantum computing industry, said Matt Langione, Partner at the Boston Consulting Group. This breakthrough not only accelerates the timeline for practical quantum applications but also opens up new avenues for solving problems that were previously considered intractable by classical computing methods. It's a game-changer that significantly elevates the commercial viability of quantum computing. Businesses across sectors should take note, as the race to quantum advantage just got a major boost."

"Today marks a historic milestone for QuEra and the broader quantum computing community, said Alex Keesling, CEO, QuEra Computing, These achievements are the culmination of a multi-year effort, led by our Harvard and MIT academic collaborators together with QuEra scientists and engineers, to push the boundaries of what's possible in quantum computing. This isn't just a technological leap; it's a testament to the power of collaboration and investment in pioneering research. We're thrilled to set the stage for a new era of scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computing that can tackle some of the world's most complex problems. The future of quantum is here, and QuEra is proud to be at the forefront of this revolution."

Our experience in manufacturing and operating quantum computers - such as our first-generation machine available on a public cloud since 2022 - coupled with this groundbreaking research, puts us in a prime position to lead the quantum revolution, added Keesling.

The work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency through the Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices (ONISQ) program, the National Science Foundation, the Center for Ultracold Atoms (an NSF Physics Frontiers Center), and the Army Research Office.

QuEra also announced a special event on Jan 9th at 11:30 AM ET, where QuEra will reveal its commercial roadmap for fault-tolerant quantum computers. Register for this online event at https://quera.link/roadmap

About QuEra QuEra Computing is the leader in commercializing quantum computers using neutral atoms, which is widely recognized as a highly promising quantum modality. Based in Boston and built on pioneering research from nearby Harvard University and MIT, QuEra operates the worlds largest publicly accessible quantum computer, available over a major public cloud and for on-premises delivery. QuEra is developing large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers to tackle classically intractable problems, becoming the partner of choice in the quantum field. Simply put, QuEra is the best way to quantum. For more information, visit us at quera.com and follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contact Merrill Freund press@quera.com +1-415-577-8637

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Harvard, QuEra, MIT, and the NIST/University of Maryland Usher in New Era of Quantum Computing by Performing ... - GlobeNewswire

IBM has revealed a new utility scale quantum processor, a landmark modular quantum computer, and teased the coming release of Qiskit 1.0 a significantly improved open source software development kit to build powerful quantum computing qubit circuits with comparative ease.

Extending its quantum computing roadmap out to 2033 meanwhile, Big Blue pledged to release a Blue Jay, a system capable of executing 1 billion gates across 2,000 qubits by 2033 a nine order-of-magnitude increase in performed gates since we put our first device on the cloud in 2016.

The trio of releases, made at the annual IBM Quantum Summit in New York, come six months after the company said it successfully worked around the quantum noise that introduces errors in calculations, to get reliable results at a scale beyond brute-force classical computation detailing that progress in a paper published in the journal Nature.

The techniques that enabled this represent a foundational tool for the realization of near-term quantum applications IBM said in June 2023.

Classical computing deploys bits that use the 0 and 1 vocabulary of binary code. Quantum computers use qubits that draw on two-state quantum-mechanical systems the ability of quantum particles to be in superposition; two different states at the same time.

As IBM Researchs Edwin Pednault puts it: A qubit can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously in fact, in weighted combinations; for example, 37%-0, 63%-1. Three qubits can represent 2^3, or eight values simultaneously: 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111; 50 qubits can represent over one quadrillion values simultaneously.

Whilst classical computing circuits use ANDs and ORs and NOTs and XORs (binary gates) on which users build up higher level instructions, then support for languages like Java, Python, etc., quantum computers use different kinds of gates like CNOTs and Hadamards.

For quantum computing to work effectively, calculations need to keep going in superposition for the duration of the computational cycle.But they can easily be thrown off by noise ( the central obstacle to building large-scale quantum computers) which could stem from diverse sources including disturbances in Earths magnetic field, local radiation, cosmic rays, or the influence that qubits exert on each other by proximity.

This is in part tackled physically: signals for configuring and programming a quantum computer come from outside the machines, travel down coaxial cables where they are amplified and filtered, and eventually reach the quantum device with its qubits at ~0.015K (-273.135 degrees C) and noise tackled by minimising the exposure of the chips and cables to heat and electromagnetic radiation in all its forms, by minimizing device defects, by constantly improving the performance of the electronics, and by using all sorts of novel mathematical schemes to compensate for noise.

The Stack reviewed the three new releases and associated academic papers for our readers to distil precisely what IBM has/aims to achieve, as Dario Gil, IBM SVP and Director of Research pledged on December 4 to further increase the quality of a utility-scale quantum technology stack.

At the heart of its IBM Quantum System Two, a new modular quantum computer and cornerstone of IBM's quantum-centric supercomputing architecture is the new Quantum Heron 133-qubit processor.(This summers quantum achievements highlighted above were made on IBMs previous generation of semiconductor, its Quantum Eagle.)

The Quantum Heron offers a five-times improvement over the previous records set by IBM Eagle when it comes to reducing errors, IBM said. It is making the new chips available for users today via the cloud with more of the chips to join a utility-scale fleet of systems over the next year.

Featuring 133 fixed-frequency qubits with tunable couplers, Heron yields a 3-5x improvement in device performance over its 127-qubit Eagle processors, and virtually eliminates cross-talk IBMs Gil said, adding we have developed a qubit and the gate technology that were confident will form the foundation of our hardware roadmap going forward.

(A coupler helps determine the performance of a superconducting quantum computer. Tunable couplers link qubits and perform quantum computations by turning on and off the coupling between them.)

The chip is built with whats known as a heavy-hex processor architecture in which each unit cell of the lattice consists of a hexagonal arrangement of qubits, with an additional qubit on each edge.

As analyst Paul Smith-Goodson notes: The Herons modular architectureis different from previous quantum processor architecture.

The new architecture connects quantum processors to a common control infrastructure so that data can flow classically and in real time between the QPU and other chips in a multi-chip environment.

It also uses a new multi-qubit gate scheme that is both faster and provides higher fidelity. The Heron is the first IBM chip to use the new architecture that allows multiple processors to be linked using classical couplers to permit classical parallelization he added.

The new modular IBM Quantum System Two meanwhile combines what Big Blue described as scalable cryogenic infrastructure and classical runtime servers with modular qubit control electronics. As the building block for IBM's quantum computing roadmap, it will house IBM's future generations of quantum processors and be accessible via the cloud.

The system gets updated middleware too and after six years of development, IBM is gearing up for the release of Qiskit 1.0 early in Q1 2024. (Qiskit is an open-source SDK with extensive documentation for both the hardware and software layer and for working with quantum computers at the level of circuits, pulses, and algorithms that ships with has several domain specific application APIs on top of its core module.)

IBM touted what it described as a stable Qiskit focused on programming with Patterns, plus new set of tools using AI to help write and optimize Qiskit and QASM3 code the beta release of Quantum Serverless on the IBM Quantum Platform, to facilitate run remote execution Qiksit Patterns, in a quantum function style lets unpack this quantum verbiage!

A stable Qiskit is self-explanatory: After six years as a core SDK Qiskit has become what IBM describes as the lingua franca of quantum computing allowing programmers to write circuits, then execute them on hardware from more than eight different hardware manufacturers.

The 1.0 release adds stability, major improvements in memory footprint of circuits a claimed 55% decrease in memory usage compared to summer 2022s Qiskit 0.39 for example, and other improvements.

Qiskit patterns meanwhile are a collection of tools to simply map classical problems, optimize them to quantum circuits using Qiskit, executing those circuits using Qiskit Runtime, and then postprocess the results the release of a serverless execution option means users wont have to sit and wait over a stable network whilst a job is queued and executed but punt it out for managed execution, leave, and come back when the results are ready for you; combined, IBM thinks that these will democratise access to quantum computing and mean end-users do not [need to] be fluent in quantum circuits toutilize quantum computing.

Quantum computing, of course, is not immune to the allure of LLMs and IBM is also shipping a generative AI code assistant called Qiskit Code Assistant, based on the IBM Granite 20-billion-parameter Code Qiskit model, which was trained with about 370 million text tokens, based on a large collection of Qiskit examples and designed to remove some of the heavy lifting for programmers as they explore the suite of new tools.

Qubits, meanwhile, remain some distance from being the go-to solution for traditional computational problems, but IBM has and continues to be a genuine trail-blazer in the quantum computing space and as this summer's research showed, is making significant progress. A tipping point will arrive and then, the world will likely change. Those interested in exploring the shape of things to come could do worse than start with Qiskit.

Link:
New quantum chip, modular computer and SDK revealed by IBM - The Stack

Quantum computing is a rapidly emerging technology that utilizes quantum mechanics to solve complex problems faster than classical computers. Researchers are working hard to develop quantum computers that can perform certain computations that are beyond the reach of classical silicon-based computers.

Some of the biggest players in the tech industry, such as Microsoft and Google, along with startups and nation-states, are all racing to develop and scale up quantum machines.

However, they are still facing challenges in making these machines reliable enough in the real world to beat conventional computers consistently. As quantum computing machines have grown in size and power, researchers have faced the challenge of dealing with data errors that arise due to the complexity of the technology.

IBM has recently unveiled the first quantum computer with more than 1,000 qubits the equivalent of the digital bits in an ordinary computer. The company hopes the new quantum computing chip and machine will serve as building blocks of much larger systems a decade from now.

But, the company has also decided to shift its focus towards making its machines more error-resistant rather than larger.

IBM has been steadily increasing the number of qubits in its quantum-computing chips every year, following a road map that aims to double them annually. Its latest quantum computing processor, called Condor, has 1,121 superconducting qubits arranged in a honeycomb pattern. This chip follows on from their other record-setting, bird-named machines, including a 127-qubit Eagle processor in 2021 and a 433-qubit Osprey last year.

As part of its new tack, the company has also introduced a new chip, called the IBM Quantum Heron, that features 133 fixed-frequency qubits with a record-low error rate. Its newly built architecture offers up to five-fold improvement in error reduction. It is the first in a new series of utility-scale quantum processors with an architecture engineered over the past four years to deliver IBMs highest performance metrics and lowest error rates of any IBM Quantum processor to date.

Error correction in quantum computing is a critical concept, as it helps to overcome the inherent noise and instability in quantum systems. However, researchers have stated that state-of-the-art error correction techniques require more than 1,000 physical qubits for each logical qubit that performs useful computation. This means that a quantum computer would need millions of physical qubits, making a useful machine very difficult to build.

However, a new error-correction technique called quantum low-density parity check (qLDPC) has recently attracted a lot of attention from physicists. This technique promises to cut that number by a factor of 10 or more, according to a preprint by IBM researchers. IBM is now focusing on building chips that can hold a few qLDPC-corrected qubits in just 400 or so physical qubits and then networking those chips together to form a larger quantum system.

At the annual IBM Quantum Summit in New York, the computer and artificial intelligence technology giant also unveiled IBM Quantum System Two, its first modular quantum computer and cornerstone of IBMs quantum-centric supercomputing architecture. The first IBM Quantum System Two, located in Yorktown Heights, New York, has already begun operations with three IBM Heron processors and supporting control electronics.

With this critical foundation now in place, along with other breakthroughs in quantum hardware, theory, and software, the company is extending its IBM Quantum Development Roadmap to 2033 with new targets to significantly advance the quality of gate operations. This would enable larger and more complex quantum circuits to be run and help to realize the full potential of quantum computing at scale.

The company aims to reach 5,000 gates with Heron in 2024 and then introduce new generations of processors with higher quality and gate counts. By 2029, they expect to reach a milestone executing 100 million gates over 200 qubits with its Starling processor that uses the innovative Gross code for error correction. This will be followed by Blue Jay, a system that can execute 1 billion gates across 2,000 qubits by 2033. This innovative roadmap will also demonstrate the technology that will enable the Gross code through l-, m-, and c-couplers, which will be demonstrated by Flamingo, Crossbill, and Kookaburra, respectively.

Link:
IBM unveils first-ever quantum computer with more than 1000 qubits - Inceptive Mind

A new project will bring together leading UK and Canadian companies to develop the imaging systems to measure qubit states. This is a vital capability for quantum computers to scale.

Quantum computers are based on building blocks called qubits (quantum bits), but they are not yet powerful enough to unlock any real-world applications. To achieve this, the number and quality of qubits must grow, together with the optical and electronic systems needed to perform operations with qubits and read out the results.

Steve Brierley, CEO and Founder at Riverlane, said: "We need to reach the scale where quantum computers can perform roughly a trillion reliable quantum operations a threshold we call the 'TeraQuop'. Todays quantum computers are only capable of a few hundred error-free operations. This project pushes us closer to this TeraQuop goal, but we cannot do this alone and this is why collaboration with leaders likeInfleqtion andNv Camras is vital, enabling the continued, long-term growth of quantum computing."

In the Scalable Qubit Array Detection for Rydberg Quantum Computers project, quantum computing companies Infleqtion and Riverlane will collaborate with imaging systems specialists Nv Camras to develop systems to greatly improve the readout of the status of the qubits.

The partnership between Infleqtion,Nv Camrasand Riverlane will allow for collaborative development in this area of the quantum computing supply chain, helpingNv Camrasto develop cameras targeting the next generation of quantum computers, Riverlane to equip its quantum control systems with advanced readout capabilities and Infleqtion to validate the necessary hardware control layer.

There are many qubit types. This project focuses on the neutral atom qubits that Infleqtion's quantum computing platform uses. Accurate knowledge of the state of these atoms is crucial for the quantum computer to perform its operations. This requires high detection sensitivity, accurate measurements, and low latency to enable real-time image processing and faster operations.

Marie-Eve Ducharme, President and Co-Founder at Nv Camras, said: "Weve been pioneering projects in the space sector for over a decade, but demand for our unique imaging capabilities is exploding in the quantum physics field. This project marks a new milestone for Nv Camras and showcases the transformative potential of our technology in accelerating quantum computing advancements. We are grateful for the contribution of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC-IRAP) to enable this work."

Dr Timothy Ballance, President of Infleqtion UK, said, "Neutral atom quantum computing holds great promise for practical quantum computing through the scalability of atomic qubits compared to alternative methodologies. To truly unlock this scalability, we will need to work hand-in-hand with hardware providers and integrators across the quantum stack to ensure that the sub-systems are interoperable. We are thrilled to collaborate with Riverlane and Nv Camras on this exciting project which will advance high-speed detection of large arrays of atomic qubits."

The project is funded jointly by Innovate UK and the NRC-IRAP through the Canada-UK Commercialising Quantum Technology Programme. Innovate UK is investing 4.2 million in 11 projects to strengthen collaborative research and development through Canada-UK partnerships.

Source:https://www.riverlane.com/

Read more here:
Riverlane Partners with Infleqtion and Nv Cameras to Help Quantum Computers 'See' Their Qubits - AZoOptics