The marathon to achieve the promise of quantum computers hasedged a few steps forward as Intel unveils a new chip capable, it believes, of accelerating the process.

Called Horse Ridgeand named after one of the coldest places in Oregon, the system-on-chip can control a total of 128 qubits (quantum bits) which is more than double the number of qubits Intel heralded in its Tangle Lake test chip in early 2018.

While companies like IBM and Microsoft have been leapfrogging each other with systems capable of handling ever greater qubits the breakthrough in this case appears to be an ability to lead to more efficient quantum computers by allowing one chip to handle more tasks. It is therefore a step toward moving quantum computing from the lab and into real commercial viability.

Applying quantum computing to practical problems hinges on the ability to scale, and control, thousands of qubits at the same time with high levels of fidelity. Intel suggests Horse Ridge greatly simplifies current complex electronics required to operate a quantum system.

To recap why this is important lets take it for read that Quantum computing has the potential to tackle problems conventional computers cant by leveraging a phenomena of quantum physics: that Qubits can exist in multiple states simultaneously. As a result, they are able to conduct a large number of calculations at the same time.

This can dramatically speed up complex problem-solving from years to a matter of minutes. But in order for these qubits to do their jobs, hundreds of connective wires have to be strung into and out of the cryogenic refrigerator where quantum computing occurs (at temperatures colder than deep space).

The extensive control cabling for each qubit drastically hinders the ability to control the hundreds or thousands of qubits that will be required to demonstrate quantum practicality in the lab not to mention the millions of qubits that will be required for a commercially viable quantum solution in the real world.

Researchers outlined the capability of Horse Ridge in a paper presented at the 2020 International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco and co-written by collaborators at Dutch institute QuTech.

The integrated SoC design is described as being implemented using Intels 22nm FFL (FinFET Low Power) CMOS technology and integrates four radio frequency channels into a single device. Each channel is able to control up to 32 qubits leveraging frequency multiplexing a technique that divides the total bandwidth available into a series of non-overlapping frequency bands, each of which is used to carry a separate signal.

With these four channels, Horse Ridge can potentially control up to 128 qubits with a single device, substantially reducing the number of cables and rack instrumentations previously required.

The paper goes on to argue that increases in qubit count trigger other issues that challenge the capacity and operation of the quantum system. One such potential impact is a decline in qubit fidelity and performance. In developing Horse Ridge, Intel optimised the multiplexing technology that enables the system to scale and reduce errors from crosstalk among qubits.

While developing control systems isnt, evidently, as hype-worthy as the increase in qubit count has been, it is a necessity, says Jim Clarke, director of quantum hardware, Intel Labs. Horse Ridge could take quantum practicality to the finish line much faster than is currently possible. By systematically working to scale to thousands of qubits required for quantum practicality, were continuing to make steady progress toward making commercially viable quantum computing a reality in our future.

Intels own research suggests it will most likely take at least thousands of qubits working reliably together before the first practical problems can be solved via quantum computing. Other estimates suggest it will require at least one million qubits.

Intel is exploring silicon spin qubits, which have the potential to operate at temperatures as high as 1 kelvin. This research paves the way for integrating silicon spin qubit devices and the cryogenic controls of Horse Ridge to create a solution that delivers the qubits and controls in one package.

Quantum computer applications are thought to include drug development high on the worlds list of priorities just now, logistics optimisation (that is, finding the most efficient way from any number of possible travel routes) and natural disaster prediction.

Excerpt from:
New Intel chip could accelerate the advent of quantum computing - RedShark News

Global Quantum Computing Market 2020-2025

The report covers complete analysis of the Global Quantum Computing Market on the basis of regional and global level. The report comprises several drivers and restraints of the Global Quantum Computing Market. Likewise, it covers the complete segmentation analysis such as type, application, and region. This report provides Quantum Computing Market key Manufactures, industry chain analysis, competitive insights, and macroeconomic analysis. Global Quantum Computing Market reportprovides the latest forecast market data, industry trends, and technological innovations. The in-depth view of Global Quantum Computing Market industry on the basis of market size, market growth, opportunities, and development plans offered by the report analysis. The forecast information, SWOT analysis, and feasibility study are the energetic aspects studied in this report. Along with that PESTEL analysis is also considered to be another major aspect in the market study.

Top Players Included In This Report:D-Wave SystemsGoogleIBMIntelMicrosoft1QB Information TechnologiesAnyon SystemsCambridge Quantum ComputingID QuantiqueIonQQbitLogicQC WareQuantum CircuitsQubitekkQxBranchRigetti Computing

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For the study of the Quantum Computing Market is very important the past statistics. So, the Global Quantum Computing Market gives the in-depth analysis of the past records along with the predicted future data. One of the most important aspects focused in this study is the regional analysis. Regional breakdown of markets helps in thorough analysis of the market in terms of future predictions, business opportunities and revenue generation potential of the market. For Quantum Computing Market report, the important regions highlighted are Middle East, South America, Asia, North America and Europe. Another important aspect of every market research report is the study of the key players or manufacturers driving the market forward. This study can benefit investors and business owners in many ways. In order to make business predictions and fetch good results, business models, strategies, growth, innovations and every information about manufacturers that can help are studied by it. Making right business decisions is an undeniable measure that needs to be taken for market growth. There are manufacturers, vendors and consumers in every that defines that market. These marketers become the subject to study for every stakeholder and market researcher.

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Types Covered In This Report:HardwareSoftwareServices

Applications Covered In This Report:DefenseHealthcare & pharmaceuticalsChemicalsBanking & financeEnergy & power

This report on Quantum Computing Market also has the market analyzed on the basis of end user applications and type. End user application analysis can also help understand consumer behavior. Its important to study product application to predict a products life cycle. Segment type is also an important aspect of any market research study. Reports are product based, they also includes information on sales channel, distributors, traders and dealers. This helps in efficient planning and execution of supply chain management as it drastically affects the overall operations of any business. Thus, a market research report can be called a comprehensive guide that helps in better marketing and management of businesses.

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Few Points From TOC:1 Scope of the Report2 Executive Summary3 Global Quantum Computing by Players4 Quantum Computing by RegionsContinued

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Global Quantum Computing Market is said to have a potential scope for growth in the years by 2025- D-Wave Systems, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft -...

By Adrian ChoMar. 1, 2020 , 12:12 PM

Citing thegrowing threat of the coronavirus, the American Physical Society (APS), the 55,000 member professional society for physicists and researchers in associated fields, cancelled its largest meeting of the year just 34 hours before it was supposed to begin. APSs March Meeting was to be held this week at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, and the society anticipated more than 10,000 people from all over the world would attend. However, late yesterday, APS issued a statementabruptly calling off the meeting.

The decision to cancel was based on the latest scientific data being reported, and the fact that a large number of attendees at this meeting are coming from outside the U.S., including countries where the virus is circulating and for which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised people to avoid non-essential travel, the APS statement says. [T]his decision was made out of deep concern for the health and well-being of our registrants, staff, vendors, and the Denver community.

Unfortunately for many researchers, the notice came only after theyd arrived in Denver.Holy sh*t! #apsmarch meeting is cancelled!,tweeted Kees Storm, an expert in the theory of polymers and soft matter from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. 1000s of people must already be here in Denver, this is major. No idea what I should do now; already here and all booked for a whole week... He later tweeted that he had calmed down and was able to book an earlier flight home.

Others worried about the costs, especially for the thousands of graduate students who typically give contributed talks at the meeting.I understand their decision, but horrible timing,tweeted Una Goncin, a graduate student at the University of Saskatchewan. I feel esp sorry for all the grad students who will have to pay out of pocket for this! APS says it will refund the conference registration fees, which can range up to $695 dollars for regular members and $305 for graduate-student members, and will try to help registrants recoup fees for unused hotel reservations.

Generally, physicists in Denver and elsewhere appeared to be trying to make the best of the situation, with many proposing to post talks on the internet.Maybe this can also become a thing[for future meetings] and we can help those unable to travel and also reduce some carbon output, tweeted Christopher Savoie, cofounder and CEO of Zapata Computing, a quantum computing company spun out of Harvard University.

APS leadership now faces a similar decision for its other big annual confab, the somewhat smaller April Meeting, which is scheduled for 18-21 April in Washington, DC. Elsewhere in the world, the coronovirus outbreak has already snarled research, causing the cancellation or postponement of meetings and research efforts.

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Coronavirus just caused the American Physical Society to cancel its biggest meeting of the year - Science Magazine

Deep technology has the potential to solve the worlds biggest societal issues. This has not gone unnoticed by nations Singapore, for example, has injected an additional S$300 million into its Startup SG Equity scheme in its recent Budget 2020 announcement, to support the commercialisation of startups whose businesses are based on innovative research.

However, with multiple layers of technicalities and complexities involved, transformational deep tech can be a tricky venture for investors, especially non-tech ones, to get into. While some practice the spray and pray approach by channelling funds into every technology company with hopes for one to become the next unicorn, the same approach might not be feasible for deep tech, given that larger, more patient capital is required.

Despite the challenges, deep tech can translate to impactful returns on a global scale. For investors, it pays to understand developments in science and technology. Here are some key trends we have identified.

AI is here to stay

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been trending on almost every investors list, so it is unsurprising to see it remain a key investment area in 2020.

While AI has been touted as the be-all-end-all technology of the future, it is still currently limited to managing simple, specific tasks. However, as we are still quite a distance from achieving artificial general intelligence the stage where machines can perform any tasks a human can a safer bet would be to identify gaps into which AI in its current state of maturity can readily pug.

For instance, AI companies in banking can resolve specific pain points such as speeding up know your customer or anti-money laundering processes.

The resurgence of Medtech and healthcare AI

As societies struggle to cope with ageing populations, demand for quality healthcare will continue to rise exponentially across the world. In fact, the medical technology market in Asia is poised to grow to about $133 billion this year, surpassing the European Union as the second-largest market globally.

We are witnessing medtech companies emerging from stealth after years of undergoing proofs-of-concept and clinical trials. One of our portfolio companies, See-Mode, which helps clinicians improve prediction and assessment of stroke and vascular disease through AI, received a Class B medical device approval from the Singapore Health Sciences Authority for its augmented vascular analysis product and is set to close its first commercial contracts.

In 2020, we expect more medtech players coming to the fore, pushing out innovations with successful case studies and putting investment dollars to good use.

Cracking the quantum code

Quantum technology may sound like science fiction, but we believe that it is an inevitable technology. It has the potential to be a game-changer in a wide range of real-life applications from superfast data processing and computing, defence and security, to managing energy use and production. Recognising this, nations and tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Google are pouring more money into this space.

This nascent sector is both new and expensive, making it difficult for investors to gauge the kind of returns they may see and when. Our view as investors in early-stage quantum companies is to identify those that create an environment which will make quantum computing more accessible to all. The hardware configuration of a general quantum computer is still the subject of debate so unless you have deep pockets, quantum may not be an area the average VC would want to consider.

Sowing the seeds for growth

As a result of climate change and the rapidly growing population, the world is set to face a 56 percent shortfall in food nutrition by 2050. For countries like Singapore, which relies on food imports, finding solutions towards self-sufficiency is critical.

Consumers are also becoming more socially conscious and selective in the food they consume, developing greater appetites for more sustainably produced foods.

These trends are driving demand, leading to greater investor interest in agriculture and food technology startups. We foresee this to be an area of interest in the coming year.

Autonomous vehicles on the move

Thanks to strong support from the Singapore government along its Smart Nation journey, development for autonomous vehicles (AVs) has shifted into gear in the last year with autonomous forklifts being tested in warehouses and autonomous trucks being trialled at the Port of Singapore.

However, there are still many technological, infrastructural (including insurance) and regulatory challenges to consider before we see the mass deployment of true Level 5 vehicles or vehicles with full driver automation. In the meantime, technologies that enhance existing sensors, energy storage, navigation and decision support components essential for AVs will offer startups a chance to monetise in the interim period before Level 5 vehicles hit the road.

These components can be deployed as part of existing vehicles and infrastructure, giving them an earlier time-to-market, while the development of a full AV takes place in parallel.

Taking the deep tech leap

Investing in deep tech is akin to investing in the future. Whether its in areas of sustainability, mobility or health, we believe that in deep tech lies the path to solving some of mankinds biggest challenges. The history of technology has proven that those willing to take the plunge early will reap the biggest rewards. That said, as pragmatic investors, we are highly selective as to what areas to place our bets in. It is perhaps more important that a company can to go the distance until its category matures, than for the company to have the brightest, shiniest technology.

Despite its challenges, deep tech is an investment territory with immense potential and opportunities. Those who take the plunge, capitalise and harvest these opportunities now stand to make a positive impact on the world.

Hsien-Hui Tong is the head of venture investing at SGInnovate.

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Guest Post: Investing in deep tech is akin to investing in the future - DealStreetAsia

By Eli Rosner, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Finastra

2020 is already shaping up to be exciting for financial services, especially for banks as they continue to try to differentiate and remain relevant in an increasingly digital environment. Some financial institutions have already embraced the move, realizing that collaboration and platform models can ease access to innovation and open a path to working more closely with fintechs to ultimately better serve customers. The proliferation of cloud infrastructures and emerging technologies within the new financial-services ecosystems has also accelerated the need for an expanded remit of regulation as well as artificial intelligence (AI) and data capabilities. So, what can we expect to see over the next year?

Acceleration towards Open Finance and collaboration

Just recently, Open Banking in the United Kingdom surpassed its millionth customer[i], and the cloud economy in the United States alone has tripled over the last 15 years[ii]. Far from slowing down, we can expect the global banking sector to witness positive disruption driven by fintechs, which continue to flourish, not least in London, which houses more than 10 fintech unicorns.

Further afield, Africas fintech scene has enjoyed a growth rate of 24 percent over the last 10 years, and this is set to continue as the movement begins to reach unbanked populations. In sub-Saharan Africa, the unbanked population is currently as high as 60 percent, according to EY[iii].

In Southeast Asia, the regions internet economy crossed the US$100-billion valuation mark last year, tripling in barely four years[iv]. The region remains a potential goldmine for challenger banks and fintechs wishing to bring digital financial services to the unbanked population. According to the e-Conomy SEA 2019 report[v], 198 million adults in Southeast Asia do not own a bank account, with another 98 million having a bank account but insufficient access to other financial services, such as credit. This year will see fintechs and the region acting quickly to attract this user base, many using cloud technology to scale up affordability.

As Singapore is finding out[vi], a saturated market can be challenging to access. More than 20 companies have applied for the few digital banking licenses on offer in the city-state, ranging from local ride-hailing company Grab to the online payments arm of Alibaba. Only two of the five licenses offered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) allow digital banks to take deposits and provide banking services to retail corporate customers. At the same time, Singapores big three banks have invested considerably in technology, moving their operations online, making it harder for new virtual banks to tempt customers from them. As the year progresses, we can expect a growing emphasis on collaboration between banks and fintechs to deliver services to end-users across the region and beyond.

Facing tech-driven competition for their core businesses, established banks will continue to innovate in 2020. This will be driven in part by fear of elimination. McKinseys banking casualty forecast shows 60 percent of banks printing returns below their cost of equity[vii]. Meanwhile, fintechs will create new payments and financing models, and tech companies will continue to attract money beyond traditional banking rails. This will lead to legacy banks seeking to collaborate with bigtech and fintech players alike, as they aim to supply end-users with cheaper connected products and services, underpinned by software on demand.

Finastra recently surveyed more than 600 banking professionals across the United States, Europe and Asia and found that all markets surveyed have noticed the positive impact that Open Banking has had on their organizations. Eighty-six percent of the responses suggest it is the future of banking, improving services for customers and widening product offerings. This continuing opening up of the marketopen collaboration, driven by the API (application programming interface) economy on the one hand and the need to deliver a great customer experience on the otherwill create a new role for banks and democratise finance.

As the decade progresses, look out for banks also acting as aggregators of financial services via fintechs. This will create new revenue streams as collaboration helps to connect parties, data and technologies to provide new opportunities and bring greater transparency and inclusion to the industry.

Cloud, data and emerging technologies and associated regulation will come to the fore.

This year will see the developer becoming critical to the future of the bank. Open platforms will underpin innovation, as big data and advanced analytics (BD&AA) and machine learning (ML) evolve across the banking industry. Recently the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report[viii] on the recent trends of BD&AA in the banking sector, noting that while most institutions are currently using simple algorithms to leverage their core banking data, there is growing interest in the use of BD&AA.

Accordingly, were seeing banks partnering with AI providers to help them manage data and provide mobile banking services. Well see an increase in financial institutions using predictive analytics and voice-recognition tools to provide tailored services to customers.

Looking further ahead, quantum computing will have a progressively greater role to play in banking, the latter driven by IBM, Google, Microsoft and D-Wave Systems. Time will tell how engaged financial institutions will become in helping to develop uniform quantum practices and standards. Nevertheless, we will see the continued growth of cloud and technology adoption driving opportunities in regtech to respond to more diverse regulatory and compliance requirements.

An inflection point for digital challengers, enhanced through collaboration

This year will be important for digital challengers, as they face profitability and growth challenges. Fifty percent[ix] of consumers anticipate using bigtech for financial services within the next three years, and payment initiatives such as Amazon Pays Cash-Load and Uber Moneys driver benefits continue to move money away from deposit accounts, for both legacy banks and challengers alike. Exacerbating the competitive challenges is regulatory mobilization to stimulate competition. This underscores the need for standardised regulation across the entire ecosystem, particularly in regard to the use of cloud and emerging technologies. Standardised regulation will also be used to counter overreliance on single fintechs and cloud providers and will protect against service outages. Expect the growth of multi-cloud networks to guard against disruption.

Despite stagnant economies and regulatory uncertainty, models such as banking-as-a-service (BaaS) will provide the critical inflection points for challengers to move into profitability, backed by low-cost bases, low infrastructure overheads and automated back-end operations. The rise of banking-as-a-service will be driven by transparency.

From the entry of bigtech into financial services to regulatory mobilisation, financial institutions of all sizes face the challenge of attracting and retaining an increasingly discerning user base. Furthermore, they find themselves operating in a febrile atmosphere, between conflicting economies and between established and emerging technologies. Collaboration and customer service will lead the way.

With half of consumers expecting their financial providers to offer products and services that address their needs beyond traditional financial services, data security, trust and personalisation will remain the guiding lightsin the new decade.

References:

[i] Open Banking, which this month surpassed its millionth customer.

[ii] The US cloud economy has tripled over the last 15 years.

[iii] Africas fintech scene has enjoyed a 24-percent growth over the last 10 years. In sub-Saharan Africa, this is currently as high as 60 percent, according to EY.

[iv] In Southeast Asia, the regions internet economy crossed the US$100-billion valuation mark.

[v] The e-Conomy SEA 2019 report.

[vi] Singapores Digital Licenses.

[vii] McKinseys casualty forecast.

[viii] European Banking Authority (EBA) report.

[ix] World Retail Banking report 2019.

Link:
2020 Vision and Beyond: Open to Opportunity - International Banker

Last year, researchers at Fermilab received over $3.5 million for projects that delve into the burgeoning field of quantum information science. Research funded by the grant runs the gamut, from building and modeling devices for possible use in the development of quantum computers to using ultracold atoms to look for dark matter.

For their quantum computer project, Fermilab particle physicist Adam Lyon and computer scientist Jim Kowalkowski are collaborating with researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, where theyll be running simulations on high-performance computers. Their work will help determine whether instruments called superconducting radio-frequency cavities, also used in particle accelerators, can solve one of the biggest problems facing the successful development of a quantum computer: the decoherence of qubits.

Fermilab has pioneered making superconducting cavities that can accelerate particles to an extremely high degree in a short amount of space, said Lyon, one of the lead scientists on the project. It turns out this is directly applicable to a qubit.

Researchers in the field have worked on developing successful quantum computing devices for the last several decades; so far, its been difficult. This is primarily because quantum computers have to maintain very stable conditions to keep qubits in a quantum state called superposition.

Superconducting radio-frequency cavities, such as the one seen here, are used in particle accelerators. They can also solve one of the biggest problems facing the successful development of a quantum computer: the decoherence of qubits. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

Superposition

Classical computers use a binary system of 0s and 1s called bits to store and analyze data. Eight bits combined make one byte of data, which can be strung together to encode even more information. (There are about 31.8 million bytes in the average three-minute digital song.) In contrast, quantum computers arent constrained by a strict binary system. Rather, they operate on a system of qubits, each of which can take on a continuous range of states during computation. Just as an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus doesnt have a discrete location but rather occupies all positions in its orbit at once in an electron cloud, a qubit can be maintained in a superposition of both 0 and 1

Since there are two possible states for any given qubit, a pair doubles the amount of information that can be manipulated: 22 = 4. Use four qubits, and that amount of information grows to 24 = 16. With this exponential increase, it would take only 300 entangled qubits to encode more information than there is matter in the universe.

Qubits can be in a superposition of 0 and 1, while classical bits can be only one or the other. Image: Jerald Pinson

Parallel positions

Qubits dont represent data in the same way as bits. Because qubits in superposition are both 0 and 1 at the same time, they can similarly represent all possible answers to a given problem simultaneously. This is called quantum parallelism, and its one of the properties that makes quantum computers so much faster than classical systems.

The difference between classical computers and their quantum counterparts could be compared to a situation in which there is a book with some pages randomly printed in blue ink instead of black. The two computers are given the task of determining how many pages were printed in each color.

A classical computer would go through every page, Lyon said. Each page would be marked, one at a time, as either being printed in black or in blue. A quantum computer, instead of going through the pages sequentially, would go through them all at once.

Once the computation was complete, a classical computer would give you a definite, discrete answer. If the book had three pages printed in blue, thats the answer youd get.

But a quantum computer is inherently probabilistic, Kowalkowski said.

This means the data you get back isnt definite. In a book with 100 pages, the data from a quantum computer wouldnt be just three. It also could give you, for example, a 1 percent chance of having three blue pages or a 1 percent chance of 50 blue pages.

An obvious problem arises when trying to interpret this data. A quantum computer can perform incredibly fast calculations using parallel qubits, but it spits out only probabilities, which, of course, isnt very helpful unless, that is, the right answer could somehow be given a higher probability.

Interference

Consider two water waves that approach each other. As they meet, they may constructively interfere, producing one wave with a higher crest. Or they may destructively interfere, canceling each other so that theres no longer any wave to speak of. Qubit states can also act as waves, exhibiting the same patterns of interference, a property researchers can exploit to identify the most likely answer to the problem theyre given.

If you can set up interference between the right answers and the wrong answers, you can increase the likelihood that the right answers pop up more than the wrong answers, Lyon said. Youre trying to find a quantum way to make the correct answers constructively interfere and the wrong answers destructively interfere.

When a calculation is run on a quantum computer, the same calculation is run multiple times, and the qubits are allowed to interfere with one another. The result is a distribution curve in which the correct answer is the most frequent response.

When waves meet, they may constructively interfere, producing one wave with a higher crest. Image: Jerald Pinson

As waves, they may also destructively interfere, canceling each other so that theres no longer any wave to speak of. Image: Jerald Pinson

Listening for signals above the noise

In the last five years, researchers at universities, government facilities and large companies have made encouraging advancements toward the development of a useful quantum computer. Last year, Google announced that it had performed calculations on their quantum processor called Sycamore in a fraction of the time it would have taken the worlds largest supercomputer to complete the same task.

Yet the quantum devices that we have today are still prototypes, akin to the first large vacuum tube computers of the 1940s.

The machines we have now dont scale up much at all, Lyon said.

Theres still a few hurdles researchers have to overcome before quantum computers become viable and competitive. One of the largest is finding a way to keep delicate qubit states isolated long enough for them to perform calculations.

If a stray photon a particle of light from outside the system were to interact with a qubit, its wave would interfere with the qubits superposition, essentially turning the calculations into a jumbled mess a process called decoherence. While the refrigerators do a moderately good job at keeping unwanted interactions to a minimum, they can do so only for a fraction of a second.

Quantum systems like to be isolated, Lyon said, and theres just no easy way to do that.

When a quantum computer is operating, it needs to be placed in a large refrigerator, like the one pictured here, to cool the device to less than a degree above absolute zero. This is done to keep energy from the surrounding environment from entering the machine. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

Which is where Lyon and Kowalkowskis simulation work comes in. If the qubits cant be kept cold enough to maintain an entangled superposition of states, perhaps the devices themselves can be constructed in a way that makes them less susceptible to noise.

It turns out that superconducting cavities made of niobium, normally used to propel particle beams in accelerators, could be the solution. These cavities need to be constructed very precisely and operate at very low temperatures to efficiently propagate the radio waves that accelerate particle beams. Researchers theorize that by placing quantum processors in these cavities, the qubits will be able to interact undisturbed for seconds rather than the current record of milliseconds, giving them enough time to perform complex calculations.

Qubits come in several different varieties. They can be created by trapping ions within a magnetic field or by using nitrogen atoms surrounded by the carbon lattice formed naturally in crystals. The research at Fermilab and Argonne will be focused on qubits made from photons.

Lyon and his team have taken on the job of simulating how well radio-frequency cavities are expected to perform. By carrying out their simulations on high-performance computers, known as HPCs, at Argonne National Laboratory, they can predict how long photon qubits can interact in this ultralow-noise environment and account for any unexpected interactions.

Researchers around the world have used open-source software for desktop computers to simulate different applications of quantum mechanics, providing developers with blueprints for how to incorporate the results into technology. The scope of these programs, however, is limited by the amount of memory available on personal computers. In order to simulate the exponential scaling of multiple qubits, researchers have to use HPCs.

Going from one desktop to an HPC, you might be 10,000 times faster, said Matthew Otten, a fellow at Argonne National Laboratory and collaborator on the project.

Once the team has completed their simulations, the results will be used by Fermilab researchers to help improve and test the cavities for acting as computational devices.

If we set up a simulation framework, we can ask very targeted questions on the best way to store quantum information and the best way to manipulate it, said Eric Holland, the deputy head of quantum technology at Fermilab. We can use that to guide what we develop for quantum technologies.

This work is supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science.

Originally posted here:
Particle accelerator technology could solve one of the most vexing problems in building quantum computers - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Between tiny AI and unhackable internet, this decade's tech trends will revolutionize the business world.

MIT Technology Review unveiled its top 10 breakthrough technology predictions on Wednesday. The trends--which include hype-inducing tech like quantum computing and unhackable internet--are expected to become realities in the next decade, changing the enterprise and world.

SEE: Internet of Things: Progress, risks, and opportunities (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

While many of the trends have a more scientific background, most can also apply to business, said David Rotman editor at MIT Technology Review.

"Even though some of these sound science-y or research-y, all really do have important implications and business impacts. [For example], unhackable internet," Rotman said. "It's early, but we can all see why that would be a big deal.

"Digital money will change how we do commerce; satellite mega constellations will potentially change how we do communications and the price of communications," Rotman added.The methodology behind determining the breakthrough technologies focused on what writers, editors, and journalists have been reporting on in the past year. All of the technologies are still being developed and improved in labs, Rotman said.

The MIT Technology Review outlined the following 10 most exciting technologies being created and deployed in the next 10 years.

One of the most exciting technologies of the bunch, according to Rotman, quantum supremacy indicates that quantum computers are not only becoming a reality, but the functionality is becoming even more advanced.Murmurs of quantum computer development have floated around the enterprise. The technology is able to process massive computational solutions faster than any supercomputer.

While this form of computing hasn't been widely used yet, it will not only be usable by 2030, but possibly reach quantum supremacy, MIT found.

"Quantum supremacy is the point where a quantum computer can do something that a classical conventional computer cannot do or take hundreds of years for a classical computer to do," Rotman said.

The technology is now getting to the point where people can test them in their businesses and try different applications, and will become more popular in the coming years, Rotman said.

Quantum computers are especially useful for massive scheduling or logistical problems, which can be particularly useful in large corporations with many moving parts, he added.

"Satellites have become so small and relatively cheap that people are sending up whole clusters of these satellites," Rotman said. "It's going to have an enormous impact on communication and all the things that we rely on satellites for."

These satellites could be able to cover the entire globe with high-speed internet. Applications of satellite mega-constellation use are currently being tested by companies including SpaceX, OneWeb, Amazon, and Telesat, according to the report.

Another interesting, and surprising, technology in the study concerned tiny AI. The surprising nature of this comes with how quickly AI is growing, Rotman said.

Starting in the present day, AI will become even more functional, independently running on phones and wearables. This ability would prevent devices from needing the cloud to use AI-driven features, Rotman said.

"It's not just a first step, but it would be an important step in speeding up the search for new drugs," Rotman said.

Scientists have used AI to find drug-like compounds with specific desirable characteristics. In the next three to five years, new drugs might be able to be commercialized for a lesser cost, compared to the current $2.5 billion it takes to currently commercialize a new drug, the report found.

Researchers are now able to detect climate change's role in extreme weather conditions. With this discovery, scientists can help people better prepare for severe weather, according to the report.

In less than five years, researchers will find drugs that treat ailments based on the body's natural aging process, the report found. Potentially, diseases including cancer, heart disease and dementia could be treated by slowing age.

Within five years, the internet could be unhackable, the report found.

Researchers are using quantum encryption to try and make an unhackable internet, which is particularly important as data privacy concerns heighten, Rotman said.

Digital money, also known as cryptocurrency, will become more widely used in 2020. However, the rise of this money will also have major impacts on financial privacy, as the need for an intermediary becomes less necessary, according to the report.

Occupying three trends on the list, medicine is proving to potentially be a huge area for innovation. Currently, doctors and researchers are designing novel drugs to treat unique genetic mutations. These specialized drugs could cure some ailments that were previously uncurable, the report found.

Differential privacy is a technique currently being used by the US government collecting data for the 2020 census. The US Census Bureau has issues keeping the data it collects private, but this tactic helps to anonymize the data, a tactic other countries may also adopt, according to the report.

For more, check out Forget quantum supremacy: This quantum-computing milestone could be just as important on ZDNet.

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March 25-26, 2020, Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --The21st annualInternational Symposium on Quality Electronic Design (ISQED'20) will commence on March 25 with special focus on Quantum Computing, Security, and AI/ML & Electronic Design. The premier electronic design quality conferencerecently announced its 2020 program, consisting of talks by experts that cover multiple topics related to electronic designand semiconductor technology.

"The industry has slowly started to realize the importance of the concept of quality in electronic design and the hypercritical role it plays in the creation of secure, reliable, manufacturable, and user-friendly circuits and systems,"said Dr. Ali Iranmanesh, the conference founder and president of the International Society for Quality in Electronic Design. "Prior to the inception of ISQED in 1998, the lexicon of technical terminologies hardly contained any combination of 'Quality,' 'Design,' and 'Electronic' words. Terms such as 'Quality Electronic Design,' 'Quality in Electronic Design,' etc. could not be found in any Internet search. Then, the concept of 'Quality' in the design of integrated circuits and systems was a foreign concept that confused even ardent industry practitioners."

ISQED convenes Wednesday, March 25, through Thursday, March 26, 2020, at Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA. The event includes free admission to keynote presentations. For information and registration visit http://www.isqed.org.

Conference Highlights

ISQED features twenty technical sessions with near 100 peer-reviewed papers, as well as keynotes, invited speeches, and embedded tutorials, all with a focus on the latest innovations and developments in electronic design and semiconductor technology. A few conference highlights are as follows:

Keynote Speaker

Security as the Enabler of Quality Electronics

Dr. Chi-Foon Chan, President and co-CEO, SynopsysRe-Engineering Computing with

Neuro-Inspired Learning: Devices, Circuits, and Systems

Prof. Kaushik Roy - Edward G. Tiedemann Jr. Distinguished Professor, Purdue University

Semiconductors for and by AI

Anwar Awad - Vice President, Infrastructure and Platform Solutions Group,

General Manager, Mixed-Signal IP Solution Group, Intel

Active Learning for Fast, Comprehensive SPICE Verification

Jeff Dyck, Director of Engineering - Mentor, a Siemens Business

Spintronic Devices for Memory, Logic, and Neuromorphic Computing

Joseph S. Friedman - Assistant Professor, Director of the NeuroSpinCompute Laboratory,

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas

Panel Discussion

Driving forward: Is autonomous vehicle development heading towards a crash?

Panelists:Nirmal R. Saxena - NVIDIA

Jan-Philipp Gehrmann - NXP

Burkhard Huhnke - Synopsys

Vaibhav Garg - Texas Instruments

Lee Harrison - Mentor, A Siemens Business

Embedded Tutorials

Abundant-Data Computing: The N3XT 1,000X

Prof. Subhasish Mitra, Stanford University

Energy-efficient Secure Circuits for Entropy Generation & Cryptography

Dr. Sanu Mathew,Intel

EDA for Quantum Computing

Dr. Leon Stok,IBM Corp., Poughkeepsie, NY

Bitcoin Demystified: Disrupting Technology or Mafia Haven?

Dr. Eric Peeters,Texas Instruments

"We are pleased to see an increase in the number of papers submitted to the conference this year,"said Steven Heinrich-Barna, ISQED'20 General Chair. "The two-day technical program with four parallel sessions packs over 80 peer-reviewed papers, highlighting the latest trends in electronic circuit and system design & automation, testing, verification, sensors, security, semiconductor technologies, cyber-physical systems, etc."

About ISQED

The 21st International Symposium on Quality Electronic Design (ISQED'20) is the premier interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary Electronic Design conference. ISQED'20 is held with the technical sponsorship of IEEE CASS, IEEE EDS, and IEEE Reliability Society. ISQED Corporate sponsors are Synopsys and Mentor, a Siemens Business. Additional technical support has been provided byInnovotekand Silicon Valley Polytechnic Institute.

Editorial Contact:

Lana Dunn lanad@calpt.com

All trademarks and tradenames are the property of their respective owners.

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(MENAFN - GetNews)

When you hear quantum computing, what do you think of? Mathematical equations swirling around you? Einstein standing at a blackboard? A computer running extensive code? Quantum computing may initially sound confusing, but it is currently a big factor in where banks are moving. According to IBM , quantum computers provide the potential for quite a few developments in the fields of science and finance. From medications to machine learning diagnosis to financial strategies for retirement, these are just some of the ways quantum computing has real-life impacts. It can also drastically impact banking as we know it. Here is what you should know.

Quantum computing 101

Quantum computing as its name would suggest is computing based on the principles of quantum theory. A classic computer encodes information in the binary value of 1 or 0, which ultimately restricts their ability. Conversely, quantum computing differs by manipulating its information utilizing quantum mechanical phenomena also known as 'qubits. The difference is that subatomic participles allow them to exist in more than one state simultaneously, which means that you can have both a 1 and a 0. The topic largely relies on the ideas of superposition and entanglement which are not used in typical computing. By bring quantum physics into computing, you create new avenues and developments.

How does quantum computing serve banks?

Security is one of the most significant problems that banks are faced with. As such, they are constantly reviewing their current systems and seeking new technology that could add to their defenses. Quantum computing is one of those technologies that could change the ways that banks protect themselves.

According to Deltec Bank, Bahamas - 'Quantum computing could help build systems that protect vital customer information and transaction details and safeguard against market vulnerability and financial crashes. That said, the technology is not being used to its fullest potential yet. It might take some time before quantum computers have the ability to overtake traditional computers, but when they do, it will be a swift switch because it is a better option overall.

It is becoming known as the 'quantum advantage to use quantum computing to run everyday banking tasks rather than a traditional computer. It is more efficient and more secure, which has both customers and banks on board.

Are there any other impacts?

The impact of quantum computing on banking is enormous. Big names in banking like JP Morgan and Barclays are preparing to make the switch. IBM has released a full report detailing the potential uses and applications of quantum computing in the financial sector. Yet, even beyond that, there is a prediction that quantum computing may be competition for another well-known method of data protection that is on the rise. Some believe that quantum encryption could actually eclipse blockchain, which is key to the use of cryptocurrencies as it stores information about monetary transactions. Quantum encryption enables banks to send highly secure data over its quantum network.

Final thoughts

'The greatest benefit of quantum computing is that it provides banks a highly secure way to solve problems that were at one point very resource-intensive or entirely impossible to complete, says Deltec Bank, Bahamas That said, will quantum computing change the face of banking as we know it tomorrow? Probably not.

The technology exists and is being tested to see how it can be practically implemented. Banks must calculate financial models due to complex hardware requirements and that takes time. The most important takeaway is that the technology exists and it is something that banks are both aware of and working towards. When a new system is capable of running the same calculations in a matter of seconds and provides the high level of security necessary for financial transactions, it is only a matter of time before it begins to see massive implementation.

Disclaimer: The author of this text, Robin Trehan, has an Undergraduate degree in economics, Masters in international business and finance and MBA in electronic business. Trehan is Senior VP at Deltec International http://www.deltecbank.com . The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this text are solely the views of the author, and not necessarily reflecting the views of Deltec International Group, its subsidiaries and/or employees.

About Deltec Bank

Headquartered in The Bahamas, Deltec is an independent financial services group that delivers bespoke solutions to meet clients' unique needs. The Deltec group of companies includes Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, Deltec Fund Services Limited, and Deltec Investment Advisers Limited, Deltec Securities Ltd. and Long Cay Captive Management.

Media Contact Company Name: Deltec International Group Contact Person: Media Manager Email: Send Email Phone: 242 302 4100 Country: Bahamas Website: https://www.deltecbank.com/

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Quantum Computing Will Have a Huge Impact on Banking, says Deltec Bank Bahamas - MENAFN.COM

Analyst Brian Solis explains why he is also excited about quantum computing, cognitive automation, and robotic process automation.

TechRepublic's Karen Roby talked with Brian Solis, independent digital analyst, author, speaker, about digital transformation, quantum computing, customer experience, and enterprise innovation. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Karen Roby: You were telling me that you feel like the conversation is maybe shifting a little bit around digital transformation. Explain what you mean.

Brian Solis: I'm hoping that it's shifting a bit. There are so many disruptive trends that are happening, and by disruptive I mean beyond modernization, beyond cloud migration, beyond the innovation on all of the digital fronts within a business that deserve the attention and resources beyond that traditional digital transformation roadmap.

SEE: Digital transformation road map (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

For example, I was just in India speaking at the NASSCOM event out there, and my topic--well, one of my topics--was on the state and evolution of quantum computing. When you look at enterprise organizations today, whether they're big brands, whatever industry they're in, some of them haven't yet started thinking about quantum. And when you think about something like quantum, you have to apply resources. Now, even though we're still several years away from having something that shows that it's going to be promising in business applications, the sooner you could dedicate resources to it to learn, to be part of experiments, even if you're testing on models rather than the real thing. Where does that fall? Does that fall in digital transformation, or is that something more on the innovation front?

Back to your question, what I'm hoping to see are things that... in digital transformation, there's always going to be a new trend. There's always going to be a new technology. There's always going to be things that you can improve within the enterprise. And that means that digital transformation is now an infinite game. So, when we talk about this, it's essentially now an everyday part of business, but one of the things I was covering today was Aera Technologies' release of its cognitive automation platform, and that now tells me that alongside digital transformation, we're also looking at this sort of post-digital transformation evolution of the cognitive enterprise now with companies like Aera becoming a reality. So what does that look like? That's going to need its own dedicated resources to look at ways to implement these new platforms in ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] and CRM [Customer Relationship Management] systems to help the enterprise become, as Aera calls it, self-driving. And then you can look at the same thing for quantum. You could look at the same thing for other disruptive trends.

Karen Roby: How do CIOs, and just companies in general, how do their ways of thinking shift? I mean you're asking people to, when it comes to digital transformation, that's a big change for people to still come on board with. Mindsets have to really kind of shift here.

SEE: Guide to becoming a digital transformation champion (TechRepublic Premium)

Brian Solis: Every time I talk to an enterprise, and I'll usually talk to different stakeholders within the organization... whether it's the CIO or CDO, whether it's somebody in a specific application within the organization. For example, with cognitive automation, I'm speaking to a lot of people on the ERP side of things, supply chain-side of things, retail side of things, logistics. And then also on that side of the conversation with cognitive automation, I'm also talking to a lot of CEOs, which is new.

The reason is it kind of comes back to what you were asking, which is at some point it can't just be about modernization, and it can't just be about infrastructure, right? These are all big things, these are all must-do's, but at the same time, when we look at it from a market perspective, we have digital natives who are coming out of nowhere and disrupting entire markets that are... It's happening so fast, and it's at such an accelerated pace that you have leading organizations, tried-and-true organizations that just can't keep up, yet with inside of the enterprise, there's still a lack of urgency, there's still a sense of entitlement.

SEE:Top digital transformation priorities in the enterprise(TechRepublic)

There's sort of this, they're not seeing the need to kind of cut right through, cut corners, stop making decisions by committee, and stop having hundreds of meetings to make a decision, and start implementing pilots that allow the organization to be more agile, and be more flexible, be more adaptive to these trends. Those conversations on the digital transformation side are in many cases cross-functional, because we're affecting lines of business in addition to technology groups. But when we're looking at things like cognitive automation and ultimately things like artificial intelligence and quantum, we have to go right to the stakeholder groups where these things can be implemented and experimented with so that we're improving operations, we're improving processes, and we're maximizing legacy systems to start performing at these innovative and also digitally native levels.

Karen Roby: Do you find sometimes that it's difficult when you talk to companies, as you mentioned, you've got some over here that are so very comfortable with technology and they want to make quick decisions, and if something doesn't work, they want to move fast from it to something different, often butting heads with the people that have been there for a long time? Do you find that tension when you try to help companies and you talk with them?

Brian Solis: Yeah, all the time. I often joke that I'm not an analyst in those cases, I'm a therapist.

A lot of the times, it's really just egos, it's politics, it's budget, it's fiefdoms. You have stuff where people are really trying to protect what they have, but they also don't want to disrupt themselves. In fact, I just had an interview with a massive CPG [Consumer Packaged Goods] brand today where we were talking through the business case for cognitive automation. In that particular case, the stakeholder--who's not in the CIO group and not in the C-suite, but somebody who is a lead on the practitioner level--had to make these one-two-three cases at a business level to be able to create a unity in order to be able to launch a pilot. And that case was made at a business level. I think honestly the C-suite is painfully aware--at least they better be--of the disruption that they're facing internally and externally, that their systems are aging, that their systems are disparate and fragmented, that their data isn't probably as clean as it needs to be in order to make decisions a lot faster and more augmented and automated across the organization.

SEE:Digital transformation: Business modernization requires a new mindset(TechRepublic)

But when you can make the business case to look beyond digital transformation for all of these things we're doing here in terms of modernization, and improvement, and digitization, this particular investment is going to change how we make decisions and how we learn from those decisions, which is going to improve, for example in this case, decision-making accuracy in the supply chain around orders from 35% accuracy to 90% accuracy. That's a pretty solid business case, and I think that's the way we have to start thinking as stakeholders within the organization, is what's that business case? What is this going to do for me? Especially as we start looking to some of these more bold technology investments that are now here on the horizon.

Karen Roby: What are the big talking points for 2020? What do you see as we get toward, say, closer to the third, fourth quarter of this year?

Brian Solis: I have a tab open right now where I was actually starting to formulate a lot of these thoughts, because I have to write about this. There's just so many things. I mean, when we talked about, for example, cognitive automation, you have things like RPA, or robotic process automation, or business process automation, where we're looking at the repetitive tasks of knowledge workers. But that's one side of the conversation. And then on the other side, this whole idea of a self-driving enterprise, a system that can learn and ultimately make decisions and allow knowledge workers to sort of become the operators rather than the practitioners, letting them be more creative and also helping them strategize, and where to make improvements across the organization. You have things like conversational AI that's now really starting to look beyond the knowledge base or the transactional base of today's chatbots. For example, like Google's MENA is starting to show the power of what human conversation could look like in those applications. So essentially, ironically, I say putting humanity in artificial intelligence, making the business more human.

SEE: An IT pro's guide to robotic process automation (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

And then you have all kinds of things, especially on the data fronts, whether beyond cognitive automation where we're looking at visualization, we're looking at integration, we're looking at applying AI and machine learning to make sense of data in ways that organizations haven't really been asking questions for it to make sense of, if that makes sense.

[There are] so many trends about improving how a business operates. And to your point earlier around mindsets, that's really what this is about, is taking all of the different technology frontiers that are emerging now and over the course of the year looking for ways to implement them in improving not just the business infrastructure, but also in customer experience, or the customer journey, or the employee experience. The idea of even kind of stepping before the cognitive enterprise and looking at AI-powered enterprise systems for example, like Salesforce and Einstein, and adding voice as a user interface in terms of data. Not just in terms of visualization, but being able to more humanly interact with your enterprise data to make faster decisions and get faster insights. I mean, these are all trends pointing toward a smarter enterprise to be able to perform at internet speed and at scale.

Karen Roby: As you mentioned, you've been traveling a lot, been doing a lot of speaking engagements, and what is it at this very moment that excites you the most that you will be talking about?

Brian Solis: I'm fascinated by the impact of artificial intelligence and cognitive automation on a lot of stuff, because it allows companies to bypass decades of legacy-based systems and technologies and also mindsets in order to be able to do things fast, test them fast, and learn from them fast, and that is super exciting for me. It's actually an area that I just started covering in the last quarter.

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