What Is Quantum Computing? A Super-Easy Explanation For Anyone

Its fascinating to think about the power in our pockettodays smartphones have the computing power of a military computer from 50 years ago that was the size of an entire room. However, even with the phenomenal strides we made in technology and classical computers since the onset of the computer revolution, there remain problems that classical computers just cant solve. Many believe quantum computers are the answer.

The Limits of Classical Computers

Now that we have made the switching and memory units of computers, known as transistors, almost as small as an atom, we need to find an entirely new way of thinking about and building computers. Even though a classical computer helps us do many amazing things, under the hood its really just a calculator that uses a sequence of bitsvalues of 0 and 1 to represent two states (think on and off switch) to makes sense of and decisions about the data we input following a prearranged set of instructions. Quantum computers are not intended to replace classical computers, they are expected to be a different tool we will use to solve complex problems that are beyond the capabilities of a classical computer.

Basically, as we are entering a big data world in which the information we need to store grows, there is a need for more ones and zeros and transistors to process it. For the most part classical computers are limited to doing one thing at a time, so the more complex the problem, the longer it takes. A problem that requires more power and time than todays computers can accommodate is called an intractable problem. These are the problems that quantum computers are predicted to solve.

The Power of Quantum Computers

When you enter the world of atomic and subatomic particles, things begin to behave in unexpected ways. In fact, these particles can exist in more than one state at a time. Its this ability that quantum computers take advantage of.

Instead of bits, which conventional computers use, a quantum computer uses quantum bitsknown as qubits. To illustrate the difference, imagine a sphere. A bit can be at either of the two poles of the sphere, but a qubit can exist at any point on the sphere. So, this means that a computer using qubits can store an enormous amount of information and uses less energy doing so than a classical computer. By entering into this quantum area of computing where the traditional laws of physics no longer apply, we will be able to create processors that are significantly faster (a million or more times) than the ones we use today. Sounds fantastic, but the challenge is that quantum computing is also incredibly complex.

The pressure is on the computer industry to find ways to make computing more efficient, since we reached the limits of energy efficiency using classical methods. By 2040, according to a report by the Semiconductor Industry Association, we will no longer have the capability to power all of the machines around the world. Thats precisely why the computer industry is racing to make quantum computers work on a commercial scale. No small feat, but one that will pay extraordinary dividends.

How our world will change with quantum computing

Its difficult to predict how quantum computing will change our world simply because there will be applications in all industries. Were venturing into an entirely new realm of physics and there will be solutions and uses we have never even thought of yet. But when you consider how much classical computers revolutionized our world with a relatively simple use of bits and two options of 0 or 1, you can imagine the extraordinary possibilities when you have the processing power of qubits that can perform millions of calculations at the same moment.

What we do know is that it will be game-changing for every industry and will have a huge impact in the way we do business, invent new medicine and materials, safeguard our data, explore space, and predict weather events and climate change. Its no coincidence that some of the worlds most influential companies such as IBM and Google and the worlds governments are investing in quantum computing technology. They are expecting quantum computing to change our world because it will allow us to solve problems and experience efficiencies that arent possible today. In another post, I dig deeper into how quantum computing will change our world.

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What Is Quantum Computing? A Super-Easy Explanation For Anyone

Fermilab to lead $115 million National Quantum Information Science Research Center to build revolutionary quantum computer with Rigetti Computing,…

One of the goals of theSuperconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Centeris to build a beyond-state-of-the-art quantum computer based on superconducting technologies.The center also will develop new quantum sensors, which could lead to the discovery of the nature of dark matter and other elusive subatomic particles.

The U.S. Department of Energys Fermilab has been selected to lead one of five national centers to bring about transformational advances in quantum information science as a part of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative.

The initiative provides the newSuperconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Centerfunding with the goal of building and deploying a beyond-state-of-the-art quantum computer based on superconducting technologies. The center also will develop new quantum sensors, which could lead to the discovery of the nature of dark matter and other elusive subatomic particles. Total planned DOE funding for the center is $115 million over five years, with $15 million in fiscal year 2020 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. SQMS will also receive an additional $8 million in matching contributions from center partners.

The SQMS Center is part of a federal program to facilitate and foster quantum innovation in the United States. The 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act called for a long-term, large-scale commitment of U.S. scientific and technological resources to quantum science.

The revolutionary leaps in quantum computing and sensing that SQMS aims for will be enabled by a unique multidisciplinary collaboration that includes 20 partners national laboratories, academic institutions and industry. The collaboration brings together world-leading expertise in all key aspects: from identifying qubits quality limitations at the nanometer scale to fabrication and scale-up capabilities into multiqubit quantum computers to the exploration of new applications enabled by quantum computers and sensors.

The breadth of the SQMS physics, materials science, device fabrication and characterization technology combined with the expertise in large-scale integration capabilities by the SQMS Center is unprecedented for superconducting quantum science and technology, said SQMS Deputy Director James Sauls of Northwestern University. As part of the network of National QIS Research centers, SQMS will contribute to U.S. leadership in quantum science for the years to come.

SQMS researchers are developing long-coherence-time qubits based on Rigetti Computings state-of-the-art quantum processors. Image: Rigetti Computing

At the heart of SQMS research will be solving one of the most pressing problems in quantum information science: the length of time that a qubit, the basic element of a quantum computer, can maintain information, also called quantum coherence. Understanding and mitigating sources of decoherence that limit performance of quantum devices is critical to engineering in next-generation quantum computers and sensors.

Unless we address and overcome the issue of quantum system decoherence, we will not be able to build quantum computers that solve new complex and important problems. The same applies to quantum sensors with the range of sensitivity needed to address long-standing questions in many fields of science, said SQMS Center Director Anna Grassellino of Fermilab. Overcoming this crucial limitation would allow us to have a great impact in the life sciences, biology, medicine, and national security, and enable measurements of incomparable precision and sensitivity in basic science.

The SQMS Centers ambitious goals in computing and sensing are driven by Fermilabs achievement of world-leading coherence times in components called superconducting cavities, which were developed for particle accelerators used in Fermilabs particle physics experiments. Researchers have expanded the use of Fermilab cavities into the quantum regime.

We have the most coherent by a factor of more than 200 3-D superconducting cavities in the world, which will be turned into quantum processors with unprecedented performance by combining them with Rigettis state-of-the-art planar structures, said Fermilab scientist Alexander Romanenko, SQMS technology thrust leader and Fermilab SRF program manager. This long coherence would not only enable qubits to be long-lived, but it would also allow them to be all connected to each other, opening qualitatively new opportunities for applications.

The SQMS Centers goals in computing and sensing are driven by Fermilabs achievement of world-leading coherence times in components called superconducting cavities, which were developed for particle accelerators used in Fermilabs particle physics experiments. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

To advance the coherence even further, SQMS collaborators will launch a materials-science investigation of unprecedented scale to gain insights into the fundamental limiting mechanisms of cavities and qubits, working to understand the quantum properties of superconductors and other materials used at the nanoscale and in the microwave regime.

Now is the time to harness the strengths of the DOE laboratories and partners to identify the underlying mechanisms limiting quantum devices in order to push their performance to the next level for quantum computing and sensing applications, said SQMS Chief Engineer Matt Kramer, Ames Laboratory.

Northwestern University, Ames Laboratory, Fermilab, Rigetti Computing, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and several universities are partnering to contribute world-class materials science and superconductivity expertise to target sources of decoherence.

SQMS partner Rigetti Computing will provide crucial state-of-the-art qubit fabrication and full stack quantum computing capabilities required for building the SQMS quantum computer.

By partnering with world-class experts, our work will translate ground-breaking science into scalable superconducting quantum computing systems and commercialize capabilities that will further the energy, economic and national security interests of the United States, said Rigetti Computing CEO Chad Rigetti.

SQMS will also partner with the NASA Ames Research Center quantum group, led by SQMS Chief Scientist Eleanor Rieffel. Their strengths in quantum algorithms, programming and simulation will be crucial to use the quantum processors developed by the SQMS Center.

The Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics has been successfully collaborating with Fermilab for more than 40 years and is excited to be a member of the extraordinary SQMS team, said INFN President Antonio Zoccoli. With its strong know-how in detector development, cryogenics and environmental measurements, including the Gran Sasso national laboratories, the largest underground laboratory in the world devoted to fundamental physics, INFN looks forward to exciting joint progress in fundamental physics and in quantum science and technology.

Fermilab is excited to host this National Quantum Information Science Research Center and work with this extraordinary network of collaborators, said Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer. This initiative aligns with Fermilab and its mission. It will help us answer important particle physics questions, and, at the same time, we will contribute to advancements in quantum information science with our strengths in particle accelerator technologies, such as superconducting radio-frequency devices and cryogenics.

We are thankful and honored to have this unique opportunity to be a national center for advancing quantum science and technology, Grassellino said. We have a focused mission: build something revolutionary. This center brings together the right expertise and motivation to accomplish that mission.

The Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center at Fermilab is supported by the DOE Office of Science.

Fermilab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.

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Fermilab to lead $115 million National Quantum Information Science Research Center to build revolutionary quantum computer with Rigetti Computing,...

Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market 2020-2025 Covid-19 Updates With Key Players D-Wave Systems Inc, Qxbranch LLC, IBM Corporation -…

Market Scenario of the Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market:

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Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense

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Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market 2020-2025 Covid-19 Updates With Key Players D-Wave Systems Inc, Qxbranch LLC, IBM Corporation -...

BBVA Uncovers The Promise Of Quantum Computing For Banking And Financial Services – Forbes

Computers have underpinned the digital transformation of the banking and financial services sector, and quantum computing promises to elevate this transformation to a radically new level. BBVA, the digital bank for the 21st centuryestablished in 1857 and today the second largest bank in Spainis at the forefront of investigating the benefits of quantum computing.

Will quantum computing move banking to a new level of digital transformation?

We are trying to understand the potential impact of quantum computing over the next 5 years, says Carlos Kuchkovsky, global head of research and patents at BBVA. Last month, BBVA announced initial results from their recent exploration of quantum computings advantage over traditional computer methods. Kuchkovskys team looked at complex financial problems with many dimensions or variables that require computational calculations that sometimes take days to complete. In the case of investment portfolio optimization, for example, they found that the use of quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms could represent a significant speed-up compared to traditional techniques when there are more than 100 variables.

Carlos Kuchkovsky, Global Head of Research and Patents, BBVA

After hiring researchers with expertise in quantum computing, BBVA identified fifteen challenges that could be solved better with quantum computing, faster and with greater accuracy, says Kuchkovsky. The results released last month were for six of these challenges, serving as proofs-of-concept for, first and foremost, the development of quantum algorithms and also for their application in the following five financial services tasks: Static and dynamic portfolio optimization, credit scoring process optimization, currency arbitrage optimization, and derivative valuations and adjustments.

Another important dimension of BBVAs quantum computing journey is developing an external network. The above six proofs-of-concept were pursued in collaboration with external partners bringing to the various investigations their own set of skills and expertise: The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the startups Zapata Computing and Multiverse, the technology firm Fujitsu, and the consulting firm Accenture.

Kuchkovsky advises technology and business executives in other companies, in any industry, to follow BBVAs initial stepssurveying the current state of the technology and the major players, developing internal expertise and experience with quantum computing and consolidating the internal team, identifying specific business problems, activities and opportunities where quantum computing could provide an advantage over todays computers, and develop an external network by connecting to and collaborating with relevant research centers and companies.

As for how to organize internally for quantum computing explorations, Kuchkovsky thinks there could be different possibilities, depending on the level of maturity of the research and technology functions of the business. In BBVAs case, the effort started in the research function and he thinks will evolve in a year or two to a full-fledged quantum computing center of excellence.

Quantum computing is evolving rapidly and Kuchkovsky predicts that in five years, companies around the world will enjoy full access to quantum computing as a service and will benefit from the application of quantum algorithms, also provided as a service. Specifically, he thinks we will see the successful application of quantum computing to machine learning (e.g., improving fraud detection in the banking sector). With the growing interest in quantum computing, Kuchkovsky believes that in five years there will be a sufficient supply of quantum computing talent to satisfy the demand for quantum computing expertise.

The development of a talent pool of experienced and knowledgeable quantum computing professionals depends among other things on close working relationships between academia and industry. These relationships tend to steer researchers towards practical problems and specific business challenges and, in turn, helps in upgrading the skills of engineers working in large corporations and orient them toward quantum computing.

In Kuchocvskys estimation, the connection between academia and industry is relatively weaker in Europe compared to the United States. But there are examples of such collaboration, such as BBVAs work with CSIC and the European Unions Quantum Technologies Flagship, bringing together research centers, industry, and public funding agencies.

On July 29, Fujitsu announced a new collaboration with BBVA, to test whether a quantum computer could outperform traditional computing techniques in optimizing asset portfolios, helping minimize risk while maximizing returns, based on a decades worth of historical data. In the release, Kuchkovsky summarized BBVAs motivation for exploring quantum computing: Our research is helping us identify the areas where quantum computing could represent a greater competitive advantage, once the tools have sufficiently matured. At BBVA, we believe that quantum technology will be key to solving some of the major challenges facing society this decade. Addressing these challenges dovetails with BBVAs strategic priorities, such as fostering the more efficient use of increasingly greater volumes of data for better decision-making as well as supporting the transition to a more sustainable future.

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BBVA Uncovers The Promise Of Quantum Computing For Banking And Financial Services - Forbes

Microsoft to train 900 teachers as part of the Train the Trainer initiative to develop quantum computing workforce in India – Jagran Josh

Microsoft will be launching a new programme to build quantum computing skills and capabilities among the academic community in India. The tech giant will be training 900 faculty members in the country from top institutions in India.

Organized by Microsoft Garage the Train the Trainer programme will be conducted in collaboration with Electronic and ICT Academies as part of the initiative at Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur and National Institute of Technology, Patna.

According to the details provided, the company will train 900 faculty members from universities and institutions across the country through Electronic and ICT academies at institutes of national importance including MNIT Jaipur, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, NIT Patna, IIIT-D Jabalpur, and NIT Warangal. The faculty members will be equipped with the required skills to start building their quantum future.

Quantum Computing applies the properties of quantum physics to process information and enables new discoveries in healthcare, energy, environmental systems, smart materials, and more. The capabilities to develop this quantum future will be brought by Microsoft to the cloud with Azure Quantum which is an open cloud ecosystem enabling developers to access diverse quantum software, hardware along with solutions from Microsoft and its partners. Built on the Azure Cloud platform of Azure, it will continue to adapt to the rapidly evolving cloud future of Microsoft.

The quantum training programme by Microsoft will support the initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology through E&ICT academies, to enhance the skills of the academicians in imparting next level technological skills for the future.

According to a statement released, the important aspects which will be covered includes an introduction to quantum information, quantum concepts including superposition and entanglement, processing of information using qubits and quantum gates along with the introduction of quantum machine learning and quantum programming.

Managing Director and Corporate Vice President - Microsoft India Development Center, Enterprise+Devices India - Rajiv Kumar stated that India is well known across the world for its science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computing workforce, and its tech capable people and through this initiative the company aims to develop the skills in quantum which has the potential to trigger the new concepts of innovation which will shape the future of the IT industry in the country.

Also Read: Jadavpur University starts Virtual Classes for Arts and Science students, Study materials available on official website jaduniv.edu.in

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Microsoft to train 900 teachers as part of the Train the Trainer initiative to develop quantum computing workforce in India - Jagran Josh

What Is Quantum Supremacy And Quantum Computing? (And How Excited Should We Be?) – Forbes

In 2019, Google announced with much fanfare that it had achieved quantum supremacy the point at which a quantum computer can perform a task that would be impossible for a conventional computer (or would take so long it would be entirely impractical for a conventional computer).

What Is Quantum Supremacy And Quantum Computing? (And How Excited Should We Be?)

To achieve quantum supremacy, Googles quantum computer completed a calculation in 200 seconds that Google claimed would have taken even the most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. IBM loudly protested this claim, stating that Google had massively underestimated the capacity of its supercomputers (hardly surprising since IBM also has skin in the quantum computing game). Nonetheless, Googles announcement was hailed as a significant milestone in the quantum computing journey.

But what exactly is quantum computing?

Not sure what quantum computing is? Dont worry, youre not alone. In very simple terms, quantum computers are unimaginably fast computers capable of solving seemingly unsolvable problems. If you think your smartphone makes computers from the 1980s seem painfully old fashioned, quantum computers will make our current state-of-the-art technology look like something out of the Stone Age. Thats how big a leap quantum computing represents.

Traditional computers are, at their heart, very fast versions of the simplest electronic calculators. They are only capable of processing one bit of information at a time, in the form of a binary 1 or 0. Each bit is like an on/off switch with 0 meaning "off" and 1 meaning "on." Every task you complete on a traditional computer, no matter how complex, is ultimately using millions of bits, each one representing either a 0 or a 1.

But quantum computers dont rely on bits; they use qubits. And qubits, thanks to the marvels of quantum mechanics, arent limited to being either on or off. They could be both at the same time, or exist somewhere in between. Thats because quantum computing harnesses the peculiar phenomena that take place at a sub-atomic level in particular, the ability of quantum particles to exist in multiple states at the same time (known as superposition).

This allows quantum computers to look at many different variables at the same time, which means they can crunch through more scenarios in a much shorter space of time than even the fastest computers available today.

What does this mean for our everyday lives?

Reaching quantum supremacy is clearly an important milestone, yet were still a long way from commercially available quantum computers hitting the market. Right now, current quantum computing work is limited to labs and major tech players like Google, IBM, and Microsoft.

Most technology experts, myself included, would admit we dont yet fully understand how quantum computing will transform our world we just know that it will. Its like trying to imagine how the internet or social media would transform our world before they were introduced.

Here are just some of the ways in which quantum computers could be put to good use:

Strengthening cyber security. Quantum computers could change the landscape of data security by creating virtually unbreakable encryption.

Accelerating artificial intelligence. Quantum computing could provide a massive boost to AI, since these superfast computers will prove far more effective at recognizing patterns in data.

Modeling traffic flows to improve our cities. Modeling traffic is an enormously complex process with a huge number of variables, but researchers at Volkswagen have been running quantum pilot programs to model and optimize the flow of traffic through city centers in Beijing, Barcelona, and Lisbon.

Making the weather forecast more accurate. Just about anything that involves complex modeling could be made more efficient with quantum computing. The UKs Met Office has said that it believes quantum computers offer the potential for carrying out far more advanced modeling than is currently possible today, and it is one of the avenues being explored for building next-generation forecasting systems.

Developing new medicines. Biotech startup ProteinQure has been exploring the potential of quantum computing in modeling protein, a key route in drug development. In other words, quantum computing could lead to the discovery of effective new drugs for some of the worlds biggest killers, including cancer and heart disease.

Most experts agree that truly useful quantum computing is not likely to be a feature of everyday life for some time. And even when quantum computers are commercially available, we as individuals will hardly be lining up to buy one. For most of the tasks we carry out on computers and smartphones, a traditional binary computer or smartphone will be all we need. But at an industry and society level, quantum computing could bring many exciting opportunities in the future.

Quantum computing is just one of 25 technology trends that I believe will transform our society. Read more about these key trends including plenty of real-world examples in my new book, Tech Trends in Practice: The 25 Technologies That Are Driving The 4th Industrial Revolution.

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What Is Quantum Supremacy And Quantum Computing? (And How Excited Should We Be?) - Forbes

IBM Flexes Its Quantum-Computing Muscle. Will That Translate to Its Stock? – Barron’s

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The 109-year-old original tech giant IBM, it turns out, is a huge quantum computing player. It has made one of the fastest quantum computers ever assembled. But as is often the case with the weird world of quantum, investors dont know what to do with that information.

IBM (ticker: IBM) published a paper on Thursday, in conjunction with Cornell University, demonstrating that the companys quantum computers have achieved quantum volume of 64. That matches the quantum volume achieved by Honeywell (HON) earlier this year.

Thats great, but what does that mean? Its fast.

Quantum volume measures performance. Its a useful measure, Paul Smith-Goodson said in an interview. It accounts for [factors such as] error correction and noise. Goodson worked at AT&T (T) Bell Labs in the 1980s, back when physicist Richard Feynman was talking about building quantum machines. He now consults for tech consulting firm Moor Insights & Strategy.

Goodson explained that the error rate when punching, say, 10 times 10 into a calculator is about one in a billion. The error rate for a quantum computer is about one in 200. That means quantum computers have to run calculations again and have more qubits to compensate for noise. All the adjustments, noise and error correction boil down to quantum volume.

It isnt directly comparable to classical computing, because the quantum world is weird, with quantum bits, or qubits, having multiple values at the same time. But the goal is to keep increasing volume and getting faster. Honeywells goal is to improve quantum volume by 10x a year, Goodson said. Go from 64 to 640 in 2021 and 6400 in 2022.

Is the magnitude in quantum computing like Moores law for quantum computers? Not really, Goodson said. We are in the noisy phase of quantum computing, still working on error correction.

Moores law says, roughly speaking, that the number of transistors on microchips doubles every two years. Transistors store information referred to as bits. Transistors are laid down on silicon chips. Qubits can also be stored on chips.

IBM uses extreme cold to put its equipment into a quantum state. What are, essentially, quantum microchips are cooled to minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit. That is just above absolute zero, as cold as anything can get.

Our first superconducting qubit was in 2007, IBM Quantum Vice President Bob Sutor said in an interview. He is quick to emphasize that IBM has been doing quantum for a long time. On the IBM cloud now [we have] 20 quantum computers available20 machines.

Wondering how many computations have been run on IBM quantum computers since they became available? Barrons guessed 40,000. Three hundred billion, Sutor said, adding that 1.1 billion circuits ran on Aug. 7. A circuit is, essentially, quantum jargon for a computation.

IBMs quantum business is real, and for now it is essentially free. Companies, researchers or individuals can access the machines via the cloud to program and preform calculations. Down the road, quantum as a service could be come big business for IBM, Honeywell and other players. For now, IBM is creating machines and enabling use cases, Sutor explained.

IBM and Honeywell are quantum players. Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Intel (INTC) are other quantum players Goodson is familiar with. Apple isnt really into this, as far as he knows.

Investors dont trade any of those stocks based on quantum yet. IBM stock, for instance, is down about 8% year to date. Honeywell shares are down about 11%. Both returns trail behind comparable gains of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Quantum gains arent enough to move the stocks yet.

In the case of Honeywella large aerospace supplierpandemic-induced air-travel declines have hurt its shares. Other tech names have performed better than IBM shares. The Nasdaq Composite, for instance, is up almost 25% and Apple (AAPL) stock touched $2 trillion in market value Wednesday.

IBM investors would surely like the company to get more credit as a tech giant with cloud computing as well as a burgeoning quantum computing business.

Thats down the road, according to both Sutor and Goodson. What will be the killer app that brings quantum into the mainstream and how will quantum change the world? Both men answered: I have no idea.

They are both experts in the field and know that new technology tends to change things in unforeseeable ways.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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IBM Flexes Its Quantum-Computing Muscle. Will That Translate to Its Stock? - Barron's

Has the world’s most powerful computer arrived? – The National

The quest to build the ultimate computer has taken a big step forward following breakthroughs in ensuring its answers can be trusted.

Known as a quantum computer, such a machine exploits bizarre effects in the sub-atomic world to perform calculations beyond the reach of conventional computers.

First proposed almost 40 years ago, tech giants Microsoft, Google and IBM are among those racing to exploit the power of quantum computing, which is expected to transform fields ranging from weather forecasting and drug design to artificial intelligence.

The power of quantum computers comes from their use of so-called qubits, the quantum equivalent of the 1s and 0s bits used by conventional number-crunchers.

Unlike bits, qubits exploit a quantum effect allowing them to be both 1s and 0s at the same time. The impact on processing power is astonishing. Instead of processing, say, 100 bits in one go, a quantum computer could crunch 100 qubits, equivalent to 2 to the power 100, or a million trillion trillion bits.

At least, that is the theory. The problem is that the property of qubits that gives them their abilities known as quantum superposition is very unstable.

Once created, even the slightest vibration, temperature shift or electromagnetic signal can disturb the qubits, causing errors in calculations. Unless the superposition can be maintained long enough, the quantum computer either does a few calculations well or a vast amount badly.

For years, the biggest achievement of any quantum computer involved using a few qubits to find the prime factors of 15 (which every schoolchild knows are 3 and 5).

Using complex shielding methods, researchers can now stabilise around 50 qubits long enough to perform impressive calculations.

Last October, Google claimed to have built a quantum computer that solved in 200 seconds a maths problem that would have taken an ultra-fast conventional computer more than 10,000 years.

Yet even this billion-fold speed-up is just a shadow of what would be possible if qubits could be kept stable for longer. At present, many of the qubits have their powers wasted being used to spot and fix errors.

Now two teams of researchers have independently found new ways of tackling the error problem.

Physicists at the University of Chicago have found a way of keeping qubits stable for longer not by blocking disturbances, but by blurring them.

It is like sitting on a merry-go-round with people yelling all around you

Dr Kevin Miao, computing expert

In some quantum computers, the qubits take the form of electrons whose direction of spin is a superposition of both up and down. By adding a constantly flipping magnetic field, the team found that the electrons rotated so quickly that they barely noticed outside disturbances. The researchers explain the trick with an analogy: It's like sitting on a merry-go-round with people yelling all around you, says team member Dr Kevin Miao. When the ride is still, you can hear them perfectly, but if you're rapidly spinning, the noise blurs into a background.

Describing their work in the journal Science, the team reported keeping the qubits working for about 1/50th of a second - around 10,000 times longer than their lifetime if left unshielded. According to the team, the technique is simple to use but effective against all the standard sources of disturbance. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Sydney have come up with an algorithm that allows a quantum computer to work out how its qubits are being affected by disturbances and fix the resulting errors. Reporting their discovery in Nature Physics, the team says their method is ready for use with current quantum computers, and could work with up to 100 qubits.

These breakthroughs come at a key moment for quantum computing. Even without them, the technology is already spreading beyond research laboratories.

In June, the title of worlds most powerful quantum computer was claimed not by a tech giant but by Honeywell a company perhaps best known for central heating thermostats.

Needless to say, the claim is contested by some, not least because the machine is reported to have only six qubits. But Honeywell points out that it has focused its research on making those qubits ultra-stable which allows them to work reliably for far longer than rival systems. Numbers of qubits alone, in other words, are not everything.

And the company insists this is just the start. It plans to boost the performance of its quantum computer ten-fold each year for the next five years, making it 100,000 times more powerful still.

But apart from bragging rights, why is a company like Honeywell trying to take on the tech giants in the race for the ultimate computer ?

A key clue can be found in remarks made by Honeywell insiders to Forbes magazine earlier this month. These reveal that the company wants to use quantum computers to discover new kinds of materials.

Doing this involves working out how different molecules interact together to form materials with the right properties. Thats something conventional computers are already used for. But quantum computers wont just bring extra number-crunching power to bear. Crucially, like molecules themselves, their behaviour reflects the bizarre laws of quantum theory. And this makes them ideal for creating accurate simulations of quantum phenomena like the creation of new materials.

This often-overlooked feature of quantum computers was, in fact, the original motivation of the brilliant American physicist Richard Feynman, who first proposed their development in 1981.

Honeywell already has plans to use quantum computers to identify better refrigerants. These compounds were once notorious for attacking the Earths ozone layer, but replacements still have unwanted environmental effects. Being relatively simple chemicals, the search for better refrigerants is already within the reach of current quantum computers.

But Honeywell sees a time when far more complex molecules such as drugs will also be discovered using the technology.

For the time being, no quantum computer can match the all-round number-crunching power of standard computers. Just as Honeywell made its claim, the Japanese computer maker Fujitsu unveiled a supercomputer capable of over 500 million billion calculations a second.

Even so, the quantum computer is now a reality and before long it will make even the fastest supercomputer seem like an abacus.

Robert Matthews is Visiting Professor of Science at Aston University, Birmingham, UK

Updated: August 21, 2020 12:06 PM

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Has the world's most powerful computer arrived? - The National

Latest Research report on Quantum Computing Technologies Market Size predicts favorable growth and forecast 2020 2025 – Scientect

Latest Research Report: Quantum Computing Technologies industry

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Latest Research report on Quantum Computing Technologies Market Size predicts favorable growth and forecast 2020 2025 - Scientect

Does the Butterfly Effect Exist? Maybe, But Not in the Quantum Realm – Discover Magazine

In A Sound of Thunder, the short story by Ray Bradbury, the main character travels back in time to hunt dinosaurs. He crushes a butterfly underfoot in the prehistoric jungle, and when he returns to the present, the world he knows is changed: the feel of the air, a sign in an office, the election of a U.S. president. The butterfly was a small thing that could upset balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across Time.

This butterfly effect that Bradbury illustrated where a small change in the past can result in enormous future effects is not reserved for fiction. As the famed mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz discovered by accident, natural systems do exist in which tiny shifts in initial conditions can lead to highly variable outcomes. These systems, including weather and even how fluids mix are known as chaotic. Chaotic systems are normally understood within the realm of classical physics, which is the method we use to predict how objects will move to a certain degree of accuracy (think motion, force or momentum from your high school science class.)

But a new study shows that the effect doesnt work in a quantum realm. Two researchers at Los Alamos National Labs in New Mexico, created a simulation where a qubit, a quantum bit, moved backwards and forwards in time on a quantum computer. Despite being damaged, the qubit held on to its original information instead of becoming unrecognizable like the time travelers world after he killed the butterfly. In the study, the process used to simulate time travel forwards and backwards is known as evolution.

From the point of view of classical physics, it's very unexpected because classical physics predicts that complex evolution has a butterfly effect, so that small changes deep in the past lead to huge changes in our world, says Nikolai Sinitsyn, a theoretical physicist and one of the researchers who conducted the study.

The finding furthers our understanding of quantum systems, and also has potential applications in securing information systems and even determining the quantum-ness of a quantum processor.

The rules of the quantum realm, which explain how subatomic particles move, can be truly mind-boggling because they defy traditional logic. But briefly: Particles as small as electrons and protons don't just exist in one point in space, they can occupy many at a time. The mathematical framework of quantum mechanics tries to explain the motion of these particles.

The laws of quantum mechanics can also be applied to quantum computers. These are very different from computers we use today, and can solve certain problems exponentially faster than normal computers can because they adhere to these completely different laws of physics. A standard computer uses bits with a value of either 0 or 1. A quantum computer uses qubits, which can attain a kind of combined state of 0 or 1, a unique characteristic of quantum systems for example, an electron called superposition.

In a quantum system, small changes to qubits even looking at or measuring them can have immense effects. So in the new study, the researchers wanted to see what would happen when they simulated sending a qubit back in time while also damaging it. Researchers constructing quantum experiments often use the stand-ins Alice and Bob to illustrate their theoretical process. In this case, they let Alice bring her qubit back in time, scrambling the information as part of what they call reverse evolution. Once in the past, Bob, an intruder, measures Alices qubit, changing it. Alice brings her qubit forward in time.

If the butterfly effect had held, the original information in Alices qubit would have been exponentially changed. But instead, the evolution forward in time allowed Alice to recover the original information, even though Bobs intrusion had destroyed all the connections between her qubit and others that travelled with hers.

So normally, many people believe that if you go back in time, and scramble the information, that information is lost forever, says Jordan Kyriakidis, an expert in quantum computing and former physicist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. What they have shown in this paper is that for quantum systems, that under certain circumstances, if you go back in time, you can recover the original information even though someone tried to scramble it on you.

So does this mean that the butterfly effect doesnt exist at all? No. Sinitsyn and his coauthor, Bin Yan, showed it doesnt exist within the quantum realm, specifically.

But this does have implications for real-world problems. One is information encryption. Encryption has two important principles: It should be hidden so well that no one can get to it, but who it was intended for should to be able to reliably decipher it. For example, explains Kyriakidis, if a hacker attempts to crack a code that hides information in todays world, the hacker might not be able to get to it, but they could damage it irreparably, preventing anyone from reading the original message. This study may point to a way to avoid this by protecting information, even after its damaged, so the intended recipient can interpret it.

And because this effect (or non-effect) is so particular to quantum systems, it could theoretically be used to test the integrity of a quantum computer. If one were to replicate Yan and Sinitsyns protocol in a quantum computer, according to the study, it would confirm that the system was truly operating by quantum principles. Because quantum computers are highly prone to errors, a tool to easily test how well they work has huge value. A reliable quantum computer can solve incredibly complex problems, which have applications from chemistry and medicine to traffic direction and financial strategy.

Quantum computing is only in its birth but if Yan and Sinitsyns quantum time machine can exist in a realm usually saved for subatomic particles, well, the possibilities could be endless.

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Does the Butterfly Effect Exist? Maybe, But Not in the Quantum Realm - Discover Magazine