Category Archives: Quantum Computing

The global quantum computing market to grow at a CAGR of 35.12% during the period 2017-2021.

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global quantum computing market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from sales of quantum computers only. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is growth of AI and machine learning. AI is a branch of science that deals with computers, machines, software, and computer-operated robots to think intelligently to find solutions for complex problems in a manner that is like how a human brain thinks. AI is applied to the projects that require a human's intellectual processes such as the ability to reason, derive conclusions from the past, and generalize certain learnings. Machine learning is a type of AI that allows computers to self-learn. When a computer is exposed to new data, it can analyze it, make decisions, grow, and learn from this data.

According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is increasing expenditure by stakeholders. There are different stakeholders in the market, namely governments and private enterprises, that have shown an increasing interest in quantum computing. Quantum computing will have potential applications in a variety of sectors such as aerospace and defense, civil aviation, cybersecurity, finance, healthcare, and logistics. The potential applications have compelled governments and companies to focus on developing quantum computers and related technologies. The investments by these stakeholders drive the global quantum computing market.

Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is quantum decoherence. Quantum decoherence is one of the major challenges that is faced by quantum computing firms. This is a process wherein a quantum state tends to become a classical computing bit. Any outside interference can lead to the destruction of the quantum state, which will make the bit transition into either a 0 or a 1 state. Outside interferences include heat, internal defects, and vibrations.

Key vendors

Other prominent vendors

Key Topics Covered:

Part 01: Executive summary

Part 02: Scope of the report

Part 03: Research Methodology

Part 04: Introduction

Part 05: Market landscape

Part 06: Five forces analysis

Part 07: Market segmentation by technology

Part 08: Market segmentation by end-user

Part 09: Future applications for quantum computing

Part 10: Geographical segmentation

Part 11: Key leading countries

Part 12: Decision framework

Part 13: Drivers and challenges

Part 14: Market trends

Part 15: Vendor landscape

Part 16: Key vendor analysis

Part 17: Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nnnvmm/global_quantum

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-quantum-computing-market-growth-at-a-cagr-of-3512-2017-2021---latest-challenges-drivers--trends-300481865.html

SOURCE Research and Markets

http://www.researchandmarkets.com

Originally posted here:

Global Quantum Computing Market Growth at a CAGR of 35.12 ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Photo: INRS University Scientists have built a microchip that can generate two entangled qudits each with 10 states, for 100 dimensions total, more than what six entangled qubits could generate.

Instead of creating quantum computers based on qubits that can each adopt only two possible options, scientists have now developed a microchip that can generate qudits that can each assume 10 or more states, potentially opening up a new way to creating incredibly powerful quantum computers, a new study finds.

Classical computers switch transistors either on or off to symbolize data as ones and zeroes. In contrast, quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubitsthat, because of the bizarre nature of quantum physics, can be in a state ofsuperpositionwhere they simultaneously act as both 1 and 0.

The superpositions that qubits can adopt let them each help perform two calculations at once. If two qubitsare quantum-mechanically linked, orentangled,they can help perform four calculations simultaneously; three qubits, eight calculations; and so on. As a result, aquantum computer with 300 qubits could perform more calculations in an instant than there are atoms in the known universe, solving certain problems much faster than classical computers. However, superpositions are extraordinarily fragile, making it difficult to work with multiple qubits.

Most attempts at building practical quantum computers rely on particles that serve as qubits. However, scientists have long known that they could in principle use quditswith more than two states simultaneously. In principle, a quantum computer with two 32-state qudits, for example, would be able to perform as many operations as 10 qubits while skipping the challenges inherent with working with 10 qubits together.

Researchers used the setup pictured above to create, manipulate, and detect qudits. The experiment starts when a laser fires pulses of light into a micro-ring resonator, which in turn emits entangled pairs of photons.Because the ring has multiple resonances, the photons have optical spectrumswitha set of evenly spaced frequencies(red and blue peaks), a process known as spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM).The researchers were able to use each of thefrequencies to encode information, which means the photons act asqudits.Each quditis in a superposition of 10 possible states, extending the usual binary alphabet (0 and 1) of quantum bits.The researchers also showed they could perform basic gate operations on the qudits using optical filters and modulators, and then detect the results using single-photon counters.

Now scientists have for the first time created a microchip that can generate two entangled qudits each with 10 states, for 100 dimensions total, more than what six entangled qubits could generate. We have now achieved the compact and easy generation of high-dimensional quantum states, says study co-lead author Michael Kues, a quantum optics researcher at Canadas National Institute of Scientific Research, or INRS,its French acronym,in Varennes, Quebec.

The researchers developed a photonic chip fabricated using techniques similar to ones used for integrated circuits. A laser fires pulses of light into a micro-ring resonator, a 270-micrometer-diameter circle etched onto silica glass, which in turn emits entangled pairs of photons. Each photon is in a superposition of 10 possible wavelengths or colors.

For example, a high-dimensional photon can be red and yellow and green and blue, although the photons used here were in the infrared wavelength range, Kues says. Specifically, one photon from each pair spanned wavelengths from 1534 to 1550 nanometers, while the other spanned from 1550 to 1566 nanometers.

Using commercial off-the-shelf telecommunications components, the researchers showed they could manipulate these entangled photons. The basic capabilities they show are really what you need to do universal quantum computation, says quantum optics researcher Joseph Lukens at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee, who did not take part in this research. Its pretty exciting stuff.

In addition, by sending the entangled photons through a 24.2-kilometer-long optical fiber telecommunications system, the researchers showed that entanglement was preserved over large distances. This could prove useful for nigh-unhackable quantum communications applications, the researchers say.

What I think is amazing about our system is that it can be created using components that are out on the market, whereas other quantum computer technologies need state-of-the-art cryogenics, state-of-the-art superconductors, state-of-the-art magnets, saysstudy co-senior authorRoberto Morandotti, a physicistatINRSin Varennes. The fact that we use basic telecommunications components to access and control these states means that a lot of researchers could explore this area as well.

The scientists noted that current state-of-the-art components could conceivably generate entangled pairs of 96-state qudits, corresponding to more dimensions than 13 qubits. Conceptually, in principle, I dont see a limit to the number of states of qudits right now, Lukens, from Oak Ridge,says. I do think a 96-by-96-dimensional system is fairly reasonable, and achievable in the near future.

But he adds that several components of the experiment were not on the microchips, such as the programmable filters and phase modulators, which led to photon loss. Kues says that integrating such components with the rest of the chips and optimizing their micro-ring resonator would help reduce such losses to make their system more practical for use.

The next big challenge we will have to solve is to use our system for quantum computation and quantum communications applications, Kues says. While this will take some additional years, it is the final step required to achieve systems that can outperform classical computers and communications.

The scientists detailed their findings in the latest issue of the journal Nature.

IEEE Spectrums general technology blog, featuring news, analysis, and opinions about engineering, consumer electronics, and technology and society, from the editorial staff and freelance contributors.

Sign up for the Tech Alert newsletter and receive ground-breaking technology and science news from IEEE Spectrum every Thursday.

By the end of 2017, Google hopes to make a 49-qubit chip that will prove quantum computers can beat classical machines 24May

Connected quantum dots may form the building blocks of a solid-state quantum computer1Aug2004

A startup challenging Google and IBM sees opportunities for quantum computing in both the short term and long run 26Jun

Control of nuclear spin is key to a practical silicon quantum computer 18Apr2013

HAX executives preview trends in hardware startups 26Jun

The massive 1 billion project has shifted focus from simulation to informatics 21Jun

Personalized medicine, self-driving cars, big data, AI, and machine learning will mainstream supercomputing 21Jun

For the first time since 1996, the U.S. holds none of the world's top three supercomputers. An upgraded Swiss machine takes third 19Jun

Silicon Valleys top employers made big staffing changes, according to Silicon Valley Business Journal 15Jun

Neuroscience will give us what weve sought for decades: computers that think like we do 2Jun

Why the merger of the Raspberry Pi and CoderDojo foundations makes senseand why it doesnt 2Jun

Large-scale brainlike systems are possible with existing technologyif were willing to spend themoney 1Jun

Massive efforts to better understand the human brain will deliver on the original promise of computer science: machines that think like us 31May

Modeling computers after the brain could revolutionize robotics and big data 31May

Researchers in this specialized field have hitched their wagon to deep learnings star 29May

Artificial intelligence might endow some computers with self-awareness. Heres how wed know 25May

Fujitsus new cooling system promises easy server maintenance while using less power and taking up less space 18May

Scott Borg, director of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, says hardware design engineers hold the future of cybersecurity in their hands 15May

Simulations suggest old ICs should consume less power than they did in their youth 12May

All the coolest 3D printing projects from CHI 2017 11May

Link:

Qudits: The Real Future of Quantum Computing? - IEEE Spectrum

An illustration showing high-dimensional color-entangled photon states from a photonic chip, manipulated and transmitted via telecommunications systems.

Michael Kues

Researchers using off-the-shelf telecommunications equipment have created a 100-dimensional quantum system from the entanglement of two subatomic particles.

The system can be controlled and manipulated to perform high-level gateway functions a critical component of any viable quantum computer the scientists report in the journal Nature.

The team, led by Michael Kues of the University of Glasgow, effectively created a quantum photon generator on a chip. The tiny device uses a micro-ring resonator generate entangled pairs of photons from a laser input.

The entanglement is far from simple. Each photon is composed of a superposition of several different colours, all expressed simultaneously, giving the photon several dimensions. The expression of any individual colour or frequency, if you like is mirrored across the two entangled photons, regardless of the distance between them.

The complexity of the photon pairs represents a major step forward in manipulating quantum entities.

Almost all research into quantum states, for the purpose of developing quantum computing, has to date focussed on qubits: artificially created subatomic particles that exist in a superposition two possible states. (They are the quantum equivalent of standard computing bits, basic units that are capable only of being switched between 1 and 0, or yes/no, or on/off.)

Kues and colleagues are instead working with qudits, which are essentially qubits with superpositions comprising three or more states.

In 2016, Russian researchers showed that qudit-based quantum computing systems were inherently more stable than their two dimensional predecessors.

The Russians, however, were working with a subset of qudits called qutrits, which comprise a superposition of three possible states. Kues and his team upped the ante considerably, fashioning qudits comprising 10 possible states one for each of the colours, or frequencies, of the photon giving an entangled pair a minimum of 100.

And thats just the beginning. Team member Roberto Morandotti of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, in Chengdu, suggests that further refinement will produce entangled two-qudit systems containing as many as 9000 dimensions, bringing a robustness and complexity to quantum computers that is at present unreachable.

Kues adds that perhaps the most attractive feature of his teams achievement is that it was done using commercially available components. This means that the strategy can be quickly and easily adapted by other researchers in the field, potentially ushering in a period of very rapid development.

Continued here:

Multi-coloured photons in 100 dimensions may make quantum ... - Cosmos

Ever heard of quantum entanglement? If you havent, dont feel bad. As I have written about before, quantum theory is the abstract basis of modern physics. It explains the nature and behavior of how matter acts.

Albert Einstein discovered quantum entanglement in 1935.He said it is "spooky action at a distance."It examines how one quantum particle could affect one another, and that effect is faster than the speed of light. It is one of those advanced/emerging technologies that has been around for a while and is really beginning to show promise.

It should be noted that this is just one of a number of Chinas strategic initiatives to develop new technology that will create an extremely secure, ultrahigh-speed, quantum-based global communications network. Researchers in several countries, such as the U.S., Canada and Singapore (as well as Google), are also working on a broad spectrum of quantum theory applications including quantum encryption.

Go here to see the original:

The weird science of quantum computing, communications and encryption - C4ISR & Networks

Quantum bits: Research partnerships, building an ecosystem

To speed development of quantum computers that are at least 10,000 times faster than today's most powerful machines, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity awarded a five-year research contract to a consortium of universities and private companies led by the University of Southern California.

USC will lead the Quantum Enhanced Optimization program to design, build and test 100-qubit quantum machines that could enable machine learning for image recognition, resolving scheduling conflicts in events with many participants, as well as sampling for improved prediction of random events. Pending continued success, the contract is worth up to $45 million in funding, university officials said.

The teams goal is to build the specialize processors called quantum annealers that allow the qubits to behave in a quantum fashion for long periods of time. The team aims to design multi-qubit couplers to allow for various configurations that will enable faster-paced calculations.

Other institutions that are part of the five-year research initiative include MIT, Caltech, Harvard, UC Berkeley, University College London, University of Waterloo, Saarland University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Government partner MIT Lincoln Labs will fabricate the hardware designed by the USC-led consortium, while NASA Ames and Texas A&M will serve as government test and evaluation teams.

Meanwhile, the University of Chicago is collaborating with the Department of EnergysArgonne National LaboratoryandFermi National Accelerator Laboratoryto launch an intellectual hub for advancing broader academic, industrial and governmental efforts in the science and engineering of quantum information.

The Chicago Quantum Exchange will focus on development of new applications with the potential to dramatically improve technology for communication, computing and sensing. The collaboration will include scientists and engineers from the two national labs and university's Institute for Molecular Engineering, as well as scholars from the physics, chemistry, computer science, and astronomy and astrophysics departments.

Other efforts are working to build the quantum ecosystem through networking, chip manufacturing and programming.

Fermilab teamed up with the California Institute of Technology and the AT&T Foundry innovation center to develop a prototype quantum information network at the lab. The partners, which have long collaborated on transmitting the massive data sets from the Large Hadron Collider, have formed the Alliance for Quantum Technologies, which aims to speed quantum technology development and emerging practical applications.

The partners are working on the INtelligent Quantum NEtworks and Technologies project that will focus on applying quantum networking technologies to the need for capacity and security in communications.

One of the first demonstrations of intelligent and quantum network technologies will be in quantum entanglement distribution and relevant benchmarking and validation studies using commercial fiber provided by AT&T, company officials said.

Rigetti Computing, which calls itself a "full-stack quantum computing company" that designs and manufactures superconducting quantum integrated circuits, recently announced its Fab-1 facility and Forest 1.0 quantum software development service.

Fab-1 aims to enable engineers to build new designs for 3D integrated quantum circuits in about two weeks, which is much faster than the months it takes university researchers to design and build new quantum computing chips, Spectrum IEEE reported. The "rapid iteration" will accelerate progress in design and manufacturing capabilities, Rigetti said.

Forest, Rigetti's programming and execution environment, gives developers an opportunity to experiment with quantum computers, build algorithms for quantum/classical hybrid computing, simulate those algorithms on Rigetti's 30-qubit simulator or in the cloud and interact with real quantum chips using simple function calls that execute on the company's active system.

About the Author

Susan Miller is executive editor at GCN.

Over a career spent in tech media, Miller has worked in editorial, print production and online, starting on the copy desk at IDGs ComputerWorld, moving to print production for Federal Computer Week and later helping launch websites and email newsletter delivery for FCW. After a turn at Virginias Center for Innovative Technology, where she worked to promote technology-based economic development, she rejoined what was to become 1105 Media in 2004, eventually managing content and production for all the company's government-focused websites. Miller shifted back to editorial in 2012, when she began working with GCN.

Miller has a BA from West Chester University and an MA in English from the University of Delaware.

Connect with Susan at smiller@gcn.com or @sjaymiller.

Read more:

Quantum bits: Research partnerships, building an ecosystem -- GCN - GCN.com

Google is on track to build a working 49-qubit quantum chip by the end of 2017. The above photograph is of the device containing nine quantum bits (qubits).Google Research

Google is on track to develop a powerful chip, which is claimed to be a quantum computing breakthrough if an ongoing research at the company pays off.

The search engine giant is currently testing a 20-qubit quantum computing processor, which is the company's most powerful quantum chip yet. However, Google is aiming for a 49-quibt chip by the end of 2017, which will make the company the first to build a quantum computer capable of solving problems that are out of reach for conventional computers.

Qubits, or quantum bits, are the basic units in quantum computing that hold bits of information. Unlike traditional computers that store information in binary bits whose value can be either 1 or 0, qubits can be a combination of 0 and 1 at the same time. It's this ability of photons to exist in multiple states at any time that allows quantum computing perform operations much quicker than conventional machines.

The revelation about Google's progress was made by Alan Ho, an engineer in Google's quantum AI lab, at a quantum computing conference in Munich earlier this week. Ho, however, said that error-corrected quantum computers are unlikely to arrive before 2027, according to reports in New Scientist.

Ho's team is currently working on a 20-qubit processor having "two-qubit fidelity" of 99.5 per cent -- a measurement of errors made by the chip. A high rating equates to fewer errors.

The ambitious 49-qubt chip that Google is aiming for will have a two-qubit fidelity of at least 99.7 percent, a level the company previously described as "quantum supremacy." Until now, Google's only publicly-confirmed quantum success story is a 9-qubit machine, which was built in 2015.

In a research paper published in July 2016, Google's engineers detailed their goal of achieving quantum supremacy, which, according to them, would lead to the first quantum computer capable of performing tasks beyond the abilities of classical computers.

Reseachers are coming together to build quantum computers 10,000 times faster than conventional computers.iStock

While Google is targeting a 49-qubit quantum chip, a consortium of famous universities and private companies is expected to design, build and test powerful 100-qubit quantum machines. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has selected University of Southern California (USC) to lead the consortium to build quantum computers that could be 10,000 times faster than state-of-the-art modern computers.

In May, IBM also announcedthat it had constructed a prototype commercial quantum processor with 17 qubits, which would be the basis for the first IBM Q early-access commercial systems.

Follow this link:

World's most powerful quantum computing chip could be ready by end of 2017, if Google succeeds - International Business Times, India Edition

A few yards from the stockpile of La Croix in the warehouse space behind startup Rigetti Computing s offices in Fremont, California, sits a machine like a steampunk illustration made real. Its steel chambers are studded with bolts, handles, and circular ports. But this monster is powered by electricity, not coal, and evaporates aluminum, not waterit makes superconducting electronics. Rigetti is using the machine and millions of dollars worth of other equipment housed here in hermetically sealed glass lab spaces to try and build a new kind of super-powerful computer that runs on quantum physics.

Its hardly alone in such an undertaking, though it is the underdog: Rigetti is racing against similar projects at Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Intel. Every Bay Area startup will tell you it is doing something momentously difficult, but Rigetti is biting off more than most it's working on quantum computing. All venture-backed startups face the challenge of building a business, but this one has to do it by making progress on one of tech's thorniest problems.

An 8-qubit quantum processor built by Rigetti Computing.

RIGETTI COMPUTING

Rigetti, which has 80 employees, has raised nearly $70 million to develop quantum computers, which by encoding data into the physics apparent only at tiny scales should offer a, well, quantum leap in computing power . This is going to be a very large industryevery major organization in the world will have to have a strategy for how to use this technology, says Chad Rigetti, the companys founder. The strapping 38-year-old physics PhD worked on quantum hardware at Yale and IBM before founding his own company in 2013 and taking it through the Y Combinator incubator better known for software startups like Dropbox.

No company is yet very close to offering up a quantum computer ready to do useful work existing computers can't. But Google has pledged to commercialize the technology within five years. IBM offers a cloud platform intended as a warmup for a future commercial service that lets developers and researchers play with a prototype chip located in Big Blues labs. After a few years of mostly staying quiet, Rigetti is now entering the fray. The company on Tuesday launched its own cloud platform, called Forest, where developers can write code for simulated quantum computers, and some partners get to access the startup's existing quantum hardware. Rigetti gave WIRED a peek at the new manufacturing facility in Fremontgrandly dubbed Fab-1that just started making chips for testing at the company's headquarters in Berkeley.

The startup's founder, who has a rare fluency in both quantum information theory and Silicon Valley business-speak, says that being smaller than its giant competitors gives his company an advantage. Were pursuing this long-term objective with the urgency and product clarity of a startup, says Rigetti. That's something that large corporations arent culturally matched to do. The urgency is existential: Google's effort is a hunt for a new line of business; Rigetti's a quest to have one at all.

A silicon wafer of future quantum processors.

RIGETTI COMPUTING

At very small scales, different rules to those of our everyday reality become apparent. Particles can pull weird tricks, like kinda, sorta, doing two different things at the same time. Many millions are being sunk into quantum computing R&D because information encoded into quantum effects can do weird things, too. For certain problems, that should allow a quantum chip the size of your palm to provide more computing power than a team of giant supercomputers. Rigettilike Google, IBM, and Intelpreaches the idea that this advance will bring about a wild new phase of the cloud computing revolution. Data centers stuffed with quantum processors will be rented out to companies freed to design chemical processes and drugs more quickly, or deploy powerful new forms of machine learning.

But for now, the quantum computing chips in existence are too small to do things conventional computers can't. IBM recently announced one with 16 qubitsthe components needed to build a quantum computerand Google is gunning for around 50 qubits this year. Rigetti has made chips with 8 qubits; it says the new fab will speed up the experimentation needed to increase that number. No one knows for sure, but its estimated youd need hundreds of qubits or more to do useful work on chemistry problems, which seem to be the lowest-hanging fruit for quantum computers.

Rigettis new cloud platform, Forest, is supposed to put the time it will take to get to that point to good use. The idea is to prime the pump, getting coders to practice writing programs for quantum processors now so they're ready to release killer apps when the technology becomes practical. Forest is designed to support programs that use a quantum processor to give new powers to conventional software, a bit like a computer might have a graphics card, a hybrid model Rigetti claims will be vital to making the technology practical. The platform allows coders to write quantum algorithms for a simulation of a quantum chip with 36 qubits. Select partners can access Rigetti's early quantum chips through Forest today, similar to how IBM has put its own quantum chips online.

All that might sound like Apple deciding to open the App Store before the iPhone even existed, but Rigetti argues that with a technology this different, people will need plenty of time to adjust. Building a community of people who understand and know how to use the hardware is just as important as the hardware itself to have a successful product, says Andrew Bestwick, the company's director of engineering.

Quantum equipment at Rigetti Computings Berkeley, California, office.

RIGETTI COMPUTING

Rigetti will need time, more money, and some hard science to get to that successful product. There has been a genuine acceleration of progress on quantum hardware recently, says Michael Biercuk , a professor who works on quantum computing at the University of Sydney, and previously advised DARPA on the technology. But theres still a lot to be figured out. The entry of commercial players and startups has not changed the fundamental challenges in the field, he says. One of the most difficult is getting qubits to work reliably when packed together into larger groups, says Biercuk. Quantum states are very delicate, and making qubits less flaky at holding onto information they encode is a major preoccupation for researchers in the field.

Despite all the confident talk of products and future customers, Rigettis founder doesnt dodge when asked about the challenges. No-ones built this technology before and so as a field, and community, and company we just don't know how long things are going to take, he says.

Vijay Pande, a general partner with venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz who led the firms investment in Rigetti, says he isnt worried. He sees the startup bringing in some revenue even before its chips are ready to do real work, because some organizations and companies will pay to access them for R&D purposes. Rigetti is already talking to NASA, which believes quantum computers could help plan missions more efficiently, for example. And besides, this startup isn't held to the same standards as one building a consumer mobile app. This is old school, classic venture capital, with a high upside, says Pande. Its part of Silicon Valleys own laws of physics. When theres a really big potential payoff dangling somewhere up ahead, different rules apply.

Visit link:

The Quantum Computer Factory That's Taking on Google and IBM ... - WIRED

By

June 23, 2017, 11:36 AM EDT

SoftBank Group Corp.s $100 billion Vision Fund is scouting for possible investments in quantum computing, an experimental science being researched by companies such as Google and IBM to succeed current computer processor technology.

Shu Nyatta, who helps invest money for the fund, said the group wanted to find and back the company whose quantum computing hardware or software that runs atop it would become the de facto industry standard.

We are happy to invest enough to create that standard around which the whole industry can coalesce, Nyatta said, speaking during a panel discussion at a conference on quantum computing in Munich Thursday.

The Vision Fund, which has attracted investment from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Apple Inc. and other large institutional backers, is investing in cutting edge technologies from virtual reality to the Internet of Things. It recently invested $500 million for a minority stake in Improbable, a London-based simulation and virtual reality software startup, that has few customers and little revenue.

Once considered purely theoretical, researchers have made strides in building functioning quantum computers based around a number of different designs and approaches.

International Business Machines Corp., Alphabet Inc.s Google and Rigetti Computing, a San Francisco-based quantum computing startup, have created working machines around one method, while IonQ, a spin-out from the University of Maryland and Duke University, is working on technologies based on another. Microsoft is backing a third architecture, but has yet to create a working machine.

D-Wave, a Canadian company, is the only firm to sell quantum computers today. D-Waves system is based around yet another architecture, but its machine can only solve a limited set of problems compared to those Google, IBM and the others have been working on.

Exclusive insights on technology around the world.

Get Fully Charged, from Bloomberg Technology.

In conventional computing, information is encoded in bits that can have a value of either 0 or 1. In quantum computing, information is encoded in qubits that take advantage of quantum mechanical principals such as superposition, which allows the qubit to be both 0 and 1 simultaneously. In theory, a quantum computer could tackle complex problems in seconds or minutes that would take a conventional supercomputer many hours or days to complete.

Nyatta compared what needed to happen in quantum computing to what has happened in genomics, where Illumina Inc.s gene sequencing technology has become the technology around which an entire ecosystem of companies has been built, or what has happened in artificial intelligence, where Nvidia Corps graphics processors have become the preferred hardware on which to run neural networks.

We are happy to do it alone and at massive size to facilitate the future, Nyatta said, speaking of SoftBanks approach to investing in these frontier technologies.

Read more from the original source:

SoftBank's $100 Billion Vision Fund Eyes Quantum Computing - Bloomberg

Newswise Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has selected the University of Southern California to lead a consortium of universities and private companies to build quantum computers that are at least 10,000 times faster than the best state-of-the-art classical computers.

USC will lead the effort among various universities and private contractors to design, build and test 100 qubit quantum machines. Such high-powered machines could help facilitate the solution of some of the most difficult optimization problems such as machine learning for image recognition, resolving scheduling conflicts in events with many participants, as well as sampling for improved prediction of random events. Pending continued success, the contract is worth up to $45 million in funding.

At USC, the effort includes the USC Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology in the Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Center for Quantum Computing at the Information Sciences Institute, a unit of the Viterbi School. Quantum computing expert Daniel Lidar, director of the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology and the Viterbi Professor of Engineering, will serve as the Principal Investigator of the multi-institutional effort and Professor Stephen Crago of the Information Sciences Institute will serve as the Program/Technical Manager.

The consortium will focus on the design and testing of algorithms and new hardware. They will develop the computational framework and design quantum annealers, which are the specialized processors behind quantum optimization. The researchers will design ways to connect the building blocks of quantum annealers--qubits or the basic units in quantum computing that hold bits of information and the couplers, which connect the qubits to one another. The team aims to design multi-qubit couplers to allow for various configurations that will enable faster paced calculations. Government partner MIT Lincoln Labs will fabricate the hardware designed by the USC-led consortium.

The teams goal is to build quantum annealers that allow for what quantum computing researchers call high coherence or long coherence time so that the qubits behave in a quantum fashion for long periods of time. This would mean that qubits can sustain quantum states like superposition, when they are simultaneously in two or more states.

We are enormously gratified to have been selected by IARPA to lead the development of a new generation of quantum annealers for enhanced quantum optimization. This project has the potential to reshape the landscape of quantum computing, and I could not have asked for a better team to pursue this exciting goal, said Lidar.

IARPAs QEO program promises to propel the US into a clear leadership position in the worldwide race to develop a quantum computer at scale. We are fortunate to have a scientific leader of Dr. Lidars caliber and accomplishment. We are grateful to IARPA for their investment in our team and we look forward to redeeming QEOs promise in full measure, said Prem Natarajan, The Michael Keston Executive Director of the Information Sciences Institute.

The following institutions will be part of the five-year research initiative: MIT, Caltech, Harvard, UC Berkeley, University College London, University of Waterloo, Saarland University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. MIT Lincoln Labs will provide government furnished capability, while NASA Ames and Texas A&M will serve as government test and evaluation teams.

USC Viterbi School of Engineering

Engineering Studies began at the University of Southern California in 1905. Nearly a century later, the Viterbi School of Engineering received a naming gift in 2004 from alumnus Andrew J. Viterbi, inventor of the Viterbi algorithm that is now key to cell phone technology and numerous data applications. One of the schools guiding principles is engineering +, a term coined by current DeanYannisC.Yortsos, to use the power of engineering to address the worlds greatest challenges. USC Viterbi is ranked among the top graduate programs in the world and enrolls more than 6,500 undergraduate and graduate students taught by 185 tenured and tenure-track faculty, with 73 endowed chairs and professorships. http://viterbi.usc.edu/

Here is the original post:

USC to Lead IARPA Quantum Computing Project - Newswise (press release)

USC has been selected to lead a consortium of universities and private companies to build quantum computers that are at least 10,000 times faster than the best state-of-the-art classical computers.

USC will lead the effort among various universities and private contractors to design, build and test 100 qubit quantum machines. Such high-powered machines could help facilitate the solution of some of the most difficult optimization problems such as machine learning for image recognition, resolving scheduling conflicts in events with many participants, as well as sampling for improved prediction of random events. Pending continued success, theIntelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA)contract is worth up to $45 million in funding.

The effort includes the USC Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Center for Quantum Computing at the Information Sciences Institute, a unit of the Viterbi School. Quantum computing expert Daniel Lidar, director of the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology and the Viterbi Professor of Engineering, will serve as the principal investigator of the multi-institutional effort and Professor Stephen Crago of the Information Sciences Institute will serve as the program/technical manager.

This project has the potential to reshape the landscape of quantum computing.

Daniel Lidar

This project has the potential to reshape the landscape of quantum computing, and I could not have asked for a better team to pursue this exciting goal, Lidar said.

Prem Natarajan, the Michael Keston Executive Director of the Information Sciences Institute, said IARPAs Quantum Enhanced Optimization programpromises to propel the U.S. into a clear leadership position in the worldwide race to develop a quantum computer at scale.

Other institutions participating in the five-year research initiative are: theMassachusetts Institute of Technology; Caltech; Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley; University College London; University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; Saarland University, Saarland, Germany; Tokyo Institute of Technology; Lockheed Martin; and Northrop Grumman. MIT Lincoln Labs will provide government furnished capability, while NASA Ames and Texas A&M University will serve as government test and evaluation teams.

More stories about: Computer Sciences

The new processor will be used to investigate the possibilities of the advanced technology on real-world problems.

USC researchers discover a method to reduce heating, a problem that challenges the potential of the high-powered devices.

The institute leads a team of international researchers on the $31 million project.

USC scientist predicts people soon will interact with technology the same way we interact with other people.

USC experts explain how political events become a highly watched spectacle influenced by pop culture and entertainment.

Acting instructors become students again and reconnect with their art as USC hosts national Teacher Development Program.

The move sets up the mammoth online retailer to adopt new technologies that with continue to change how people shop, USC experts say.

See the article here:

USC to lead project to build super-speedy quantum computers - USC News