Category Archives: Quantum Computing

Graduate student co-chairs Jatin Patil and Kruthika Kikkeri had big plans for the 18th annual Microsystems Annual Research Conference (MARC) in January 2022: After last years all-virtual event, students, faculty, staff, and industry partners would again be able to gather in person to chart the future of microsystems and nanotechnology.

Then the pandemic took another turn. As the Omicron variant surged and with only three weeks to pivot, Kikkeri and Patil led the 16-person MARC student committee to redirect efforts swapping campus event space for an online platform, physical poster displays for digital, live research talks for prerecorded presentations, and social gatherings for virtual trivia.

We are so thankful to have had such a flexible and dedicated team who made this all happen, says Patil, a PhD candidate in the research group of Professor Jeffrey Grossman in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE). Everyone came together to shift gears and take on new responsibilities, despite having their own academic projects to maintain.

In addition to Kikkeri and Patil, the core planning group included Maitreyi Ashok, Will Banner, Jaehwan Kim, Rishabh Mittal, and Nili Persits from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), and Narumi Wong from chemical engineering.

The pivot ended up setting records. MARC attracted 262 attendees, the most ever for the long-standing event co-sponsored by the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) and MIT.nano. In addition, more than 100 student abstracts were presented from 37 MIT research groups, two more record-breaking statistics.

We were delighted to see such high numbers of participation, says Kikkeri, a PhD candidate in the research group of Professor Joel Voldman in EECS. It was energizing to see our community so engaged, particularly during these isolating times.

MARC is like a crystal ball.

Every January, MARC aims to accomplish several goals: highlight scientific achievements of the past year, look to the next set of challenges, and create opportunities for collaboration among MIT students, faculty, and industry partners. MARC 2022 proved to be no different.

We can build a better tomorrow, together, said MIT.nano Director Vladimir Bulovi, the Fariborz Maseeh (1990) Chair in Emerging Technology, in his opening remarks. The projects you hear about today are shaping what the future will be. MARC is like a crystal ball. Every year we get a glimpse at what is coming our way.

Research presentations spanned nine topics: integrated circuits; electronic devices; power; energy-efficient AI; optics, photonics, and magnetics; quantum; medical and biological technologies; materials and manufacturing; and nanostructures and nanomaterials. Each category was carefully curated by one of eight EECS graduate student session chairs: Ruicong Chen, Isaac Harris, Thomas Krause, Wei Liao, Sarah Muschinske, Milica Notaros, Kaidong Peng, and Abigail Zhien Wang.

I am, once again, blown away by the incredible array of mind-boggling research represented by the student posters and pitches at this years MARC, says MTL Director Hae-Seung Lee, professor of electrical engineering and computer science. It makes me so proud to be part of this community.

Fostering a strong research community is an important component of MARC, which includes attendance by members of MTLs Microsystems Industrial Group (MIG) and MIT.nanos Consortium. Concerned that opportunities for organic networking would be lacking in a virtual setting, Kikkeri and Patil added a structured segment for students and company representatives to discuss research collaborations, internships, and full-time opportunities. This new block featured more than 20 one-on-one meetings.

Education to fuel future advancements

Each day opened with a keynote lecture touching on the future of nanoscience and microsystems technology. Professor Tsu-Jae King Liu, the Dean and Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, delivered the first talk on alternative approaches to transistor scaling, discussing the need for new innovations across materials, processes, devices, and chip architecture.

Liu also addressed the current shortage of workers in the semiconductor industry, stressing the importance of education and encouraging collaboration between academia, industry, and government. We all need to work together to revitalize the curriculum for microelectronics, she said. Hands-on training in the clean room is invaluable for preparing students to work efficiently in semiconductor manufacturing.

On the second day, Jay M. Gambetta, IBM fellow and vice president of IBM Quantum, spoke about the current state of quantum computing technologies and gave his thoughts on the next set of inventions, in which he sees scientists pushing what can be done with a single chip to create new systems to accelerate workloads. He also stressed the importance of education, saying universities can play a role by giving students a flavor of both computer science and physics. How we bring these two areas together is where were going to see a lot of innovation in the near future, he said.

Interspersed between keynotes, prerecorded student pitches, and live poster sessions hosted on the virtual platform Gather, MIT faculty joined three technical panels highlighting current work in their research groups and sharing thoughts on the future of their fields. Panelists included School of Engineering Dean and Vannevar Bush Professor Anantha Chandrakasan, Donner Professor of Engineering Jess del Alamo, Joseph F. and Nancy P. Keithley Professor David Perreault, Robert J. Shillman (1974) CD Assistant Professor Song Han, EECS Assistant Professor Jelena Notaros, EECS and Department of Physics Professor William Oliver, EECS Assistant Professor Sixian You, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering Professor Bilge Yildiz, and Assistant Professor Deblina Sarkar of the Program in Media Arts and Sciences.

In their closing remarks, Lee and Bulovi congratulated the student committee on another successful MARC and spoke of future opportunities for collaboration.

MARC is coming to a close, but we are just beginning the next set of great ideas, said Bulovi. MIT.nano is proud to be your home; the place where you can do your best work and then take it to the intellectual center of MTL to further hone it in collaboration with colleagues.

This was a professional-level conference, said Lee. The core committee, session chairs, and panel moderators have done a superb job. With several large opportunities ahead of us, we are excited to engage many of you together in the near future.

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Last-minute pivot leads to record-setting Microsystems Annual Research Conference - MIT News

RIYADH, March 9, 2022 Pasqal, a developer of neutral atom-based quantum technology, and ARAMCO announced the signing of an MoU to collaborate on quantum computing capabilities and applications in the energy sector. Objectives include accelerating the design and development of quantum based machine learning models as well as identifying and advancing other use cases for the technology across the Saudi Aramco value chain. To that end, both companies plan to explore ways for collaborating and cultivating the quantum information sciences ecosystem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Quantum computing can be used to address a wide range of upstream, midstream and downstream challenges in the oil and gas industry including network optimization and management, reaction network generation and refinery linear programming. The collaboration will explore potential applications for quantum computing and artificial intelligence in these areas as well.

As part of the project, Pasqal will provide both its quantum expertise and platform to develop new use cases. The companies will explore the applicability and benefit of augmenting Aramcos training programs with Pasqals quantum technologies, as part of the joint efforts.

For its part, ARAMCO is focused on pioneering the use of quantum computing in the energy sector, positioning itself as an early beneficiary of quantum advantage over classical computers. Pasqal aims to establish operations in the Middle East, and grow its business both in Saudi Arabia and across the region.

This is a very promising initiative for Pasqal and a perfect opportunity for us to show not only the energy sector, but the entire world, what our technology can do, said Georges-Olivier Reymond, CEO of Pasqal. It further confirms that our neutral atom technology is one of the most promising in the world.

About Pasqal

Pasqal builds quantum computers from ordered neutral atoms in 2D and 3D arrays with the goal of bringing a practical quantum advantage to its customers in addressing real-world problems, especially in quantum simulation and optimization. Pasqal was founded in 2019 by Georges-Olivier Reymond, Christophe Jurczak, Professor Dr. Alain Aspect, Dr. Antoine Browaeys and Dr. Thierry Lahaye. Based in Palaiseau and Massy, south of Paris, Pasqal has secured more than 40 million in financing combining equity and non-dilutive funding from Quantonation, the Defense Innovation Fund, Runa Capital, BPI France, ENI and Daphni. Website:http://www.pasqal.com

About ARAMCO

Aramco is a global integrated energy and chemicals company. We are driven by the core belief that energy is opportunity. From producing approximately one in every eight barrels of the worlds oil supply to developing new energy technologies, our global team is dedicated to creating impact in all that we do. We focus on making our resources more dependable, more sustainable and more useful. This helps promote stability and long-term growth around the world. Website:www.aramco.com

Source: Pasqual

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Pasqal and ARAMCO Collaborate to Develop Quantum Computing Applications for the Energy Industry - HPCwire

Its still very early days for quantum computing, but even so, were already seeing early signs of hardware and an ecosystem thats starting to resemble the classical computing space, with different startups specializing in the different components that make up a quantum computer. Delft, Netherlands-based QuantWare basically wants to become the chip manufacturer for this ecosystem and today, the company announced that it can now offer researchers and other startups in the space a customer 25-qubit quantum processing unit (QPU). And in an industry with long lead times, QuantWare says it can deliver this new QPU, dubbed the Contralto, in 30 days.

The company launched its first processor last year. That was a five-qubit affair, with each qubit reaching 99.9% fidelity. That made for a nice proof of concept, and QuantWare co-founder and managing director Matthijs Rijlaarsdam noted that it has already been used to build full-stack quantum computers. The five-qubit QPU allows people who are not able to make qubits to for the first time build a quantum computer because they can now get qubits. The 25-qubit QPU allows anyone in the field to get to the state of the art of the best laboratories in the world, he explained and added that there are actually very few laboratories that are currently able to build a similar QPU (think ETH and Lincoln Labs).

Image Credits: QuantWare

The Netherlands is investing heavily in quantum startups and QuantWare, with its heritage as a spin-off of Delft University, has been able to attract a group of highly qualified researchers and engineers. Alessandro Bruno, another co-founder and the companys director of Engineering, previously spent more than 10 years working on different aspects of quantum computing, including at the DICarlo lab at Delft Universitys QuTech.

While Delft may not be the first place you think about when you think about quantum computing, its worth noting that it has become a hotbed for quantum innovation. In addition to a wide variety of startups that are, like QuantWare, often associated with the school, Microsoft set up a lab at the university in 2019, too, though we havent heard all that much about the companys own efforts to build qubits lately. Maybe its no surprise that QuantWare has also hired engineers away from Microsoft.

Because of this existing tech ecosystem, QuantWare can get access to state-of-the-art cleanroom facilities to produce its superconducting QPUs. But even more importantly, the company has been able to collaborate with a lot of other quantum startups, too. What also helps is this ecosystem of partners that we find ourselves in, Rijlaarsdam said. We are able to collaborate, for instance, with a control hardware maker that needs to test their control hardware. We can provide them with the chip that we need measured anyway.

For the new QPU, potential buyers can choose from a library of components and buyers can choose how the qubits are wired together based on their specific needs. Because every qubit features multiple lines to control and read their state, its this hardware control system that also limits the size of the chip. We chose to go with this particular layout because it shows what is basically the maximum you can do at this size, he said. Beyond this, those lines will become an issue. Youll run out of space at the edges. The team expects to shift to a different technology for its next-generation chip, though Rijlaarsdam wasnt quite ready to provide any details about that yet.

A quantum computer with a 25-qubit QPU cant quite keep up with what IBM, IonQ, Rigetti and others can currently offer, but it is also QuantWares first play at selling its unit to the systems integrator market and especially new players in this market. Rijlaarsdam told me that the company is already talking to a few companies that plan to build full-stack quantum systems based on its design. Were trying to enable people to become Dell the Dell of quantum, he said.

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QuantWare will build you a custom 25-qubit quantum processor in 30 days - TechCrunch

Participation opportunities are available for a limited time. Authorsare invited to submit contributionsfor technical papers, tutorials, workshops, panels, posters, and Birds-of-a-Feather sessions. The submission schedule is available at IEEE Quantum Week Submission Deadlines.

IEEE Quantum Week 2022 features the following topics:

Papers accepted by IEEE Quantum Week will be submitted to the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and the best papers will be invited to the journalsIEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering(TQE)andACM Transactions on Quantum Computing(TQC).

IEEE Quantum Week is bridging the gap between the science of quantum computing and the development of industry surrounding it. Over 1100 attendees from 50 countries and 230+ companies convened for the 2021 event that delivered more than 270 hours of programming on quantum computing and engineering.

VisitIEEE Quantum Week 2022for all event news including sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities.

IEEE Quantum Week 2022 is co-sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Communications Society, IEEE Council of Superconductivity, IEEE Future Directions Committee, and IEEE Photonics Society.

About the IEEE Computer SocietyTheIEEE Computer Societyis the world's home for computer science, engineering, and technology. A global leader in providing access to computer science research, analysis, and information, the IEEE Computer Society offers a comprehensive array of unmatched products, services, and opportunities for individuals at all stages of their professional career. Known as the premier organization that empowers the people who drive technology, the IEEE Computer Society offers international conferences, peer-reviewed publications, a unique digital library, and training programs.

About the IEEE Communications SocietyTheIEEE Communications Societypromotes technological innovation and fosters creation and sharing of information among the global technical community. The Society provides services to members for their technical and professional advancement and forums for technical exchanges among professionals in academia, industry, and public institutions.

About the IEEE Council on SuperconductivityTheIEEE Council on Superconductivityand its activities and programs cover the science and technology of superconductors and their applications, including materials and their applications for electronics, magnetics, and power systems, where the superconductor properties are central to the application.

About the IEEE Future Directions Quantum InitiativeIEEE Quantumis an IEEE Future Directions initiative launched in 2019 that serves as IEEE's leading community for all projects and activities on quantum technologies. IEEE Quantum is supported by leadership and representation across IEEE Societies and OUs. The initiative addresses the current landscape of quantum technologies, identifies challenges and opportunities, leverages and collaborates with existing initiatives, and engages the quantum community at large.

About the IEEE Photonics SocietyTheIEEE Photonics Societyforms the hub of a vibrant technical community of more than 100,000 professionals dedicated to transforming breakthroughs in quantum physics into the devices, systems, and products to revolutionize our daily lives. From ubiquitous and inexpensive global communications via fiber optics, to lasers for medical and other applications, to flat-screen displays, to photovoltaic devices for solar energy, to LEDs for energy-efficient illumination, there are myriad examples of the Society's impact on the world around us.

SOURCE IEEE Computer Society

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Quantum Week 2022 Participation Opportunities for Research and Innovations in Quantum Computing and Engineering - PR Newswire

ARLINGTON, Va. U.S. military researchers are asking two research organizations to find new ways of measuring the long-term utility of next-generation quantum computing technology for military applications.

Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., announced contracts in February to Raytheon BBN in Cambridge, Mass., and to the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles for the Quantum Benchmarking program.

DARPA is asking Raytheon BBN and USC to determine if industry could design application-specific and hardware-agnostic benchmarks to test the utility of and best applications for quantum computers, as well as estimate the hardware resources necessary for quantum computing operations.

Raytheon BBN won a $2.9 million contract on 24 Feb. 2022, and USC won a $4.1 million contract on 23 Feb. 2022 for the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking program.

Related: Researchers approach industry for test metrics to measure the utility and efficiency of quantum computing

Future generations of quantum computing are expected to solve computing problems of unprecedented size and complexity, or those that today's most powerful computers are unable to solve. Quantum computing represents a new computing paradigm that capitalizes on the quantum mechanical phenomena of superposition and entanglement to create states that scale exponentially with number of quantum bits.

Experts believe that quantum computers within the next few decades will revolutionize scientific and technical fields like machine learning, quantum chemistry, materials discovery, molecular simulation, many-body physics, classification, nonlinear dynamics, supply chain optimization, drug discovery, battery catalysis, genomic analysis, fluid dynamics, and protein structure prediction.

For some of these examples, quantum computers are expected to be useful simulators. In others, quantum computers will be expected to handle combinatorial complexity that is intractable for conventional computers.

What today's computer scientists don't know, however, is what size, quality, and configuration of quantum computer would enable kinds of advances that military systems integrators will need in the future.

Related: Wanted: quantum computing with size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) small enough for military missions

Still to be answered are questions like what applications could benefit most from quantum computing, and at what kind of scaling; how can systems integrators understand the new core computational capability of quantum computing; and what kind of metrics and testing procedures do scientists need for quantifying progress towards quantum computing capabilities.

That's where the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking project comes in. The project seeks to distil benchmarks for quantum utility to be useful for specific applications at specific scales -- especially using the kinds of metrics that suitable for driving research and development.

The Quantum Benchmarking contractors will create new benchmarks that quantitatively measure progress towards specific computational challenges. In parallel, the program seeks estimate the computer hardware necessary to measure benchmark performance. The project's benchmarks will be hardware-agnostic for problems where quantum approaches most likely will be needed.

The Quantum Benchmarking contractors will quantify the long-term utility of quantum computers by solving some hard problems from a list of application in a variety of military domains, and grouping these application by common enabling capabilities.

Related: The future of artificial intelligence and quantum computing

Raytheon BBN and USC also will develop test procedures for quantifying progress in research; create scalable multi-dimensional benchmarks; and develop tools for estimating necessary quantum hardware resources for hard-to-achieve military capabilities.

The two organizations will analyze applications that require large-scale, universal, fault-tolerant quantum computers; estimates of the classical and quantum resources necessary to execute quantum algorithms on large-scale; applications of fault tolerance and error correction; and nontraditional quantum computing paradigms.

Raytheon BBN and USC researchers will focus on two technical areas: hardware-agnostic approaches, and hardware-specific approaches.

For more information contact Raytheon BBN online at http://www.raytheonintelligenceandspace.com/what-we-do/bbn, USC at https://research.usc.edu, or DARPA at http://www.darpa.mil/program/quantum-benchmarking.

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DARPA asks Raytheon BBN and USC researchers to test limits of quantum computing for military applications - Military & Aerospace Electronics

Join today's leading executives online at the Data Summit on March 9th. Register here.

Over the past decade, encryption has emerged as one of the key solutions that organizations use to secure enterprise communications, services and applications. However, the development of quantum computing is putting these defenses at risk, with the next generation of computers having the capability to decrypt these PKC algorithms.

While quantum computing technology is still in its infancy, the potential threat of PKC decryption remains. Yesterday, the NATO Cyber Security Center (NCSC) announced that it had tested a post-quantum VPN provider by U.K.-based quantum computing provider Post-Quantum, to secure its communication flows.

Post-Quantums VPN uses quantum cryptography that it claims is complex enough to prevent a malicious quantum computer from decrypting transmissions.

The development of these post-quantum cryptographic solutions offers a solution that enterprises and technical decision makers can use to protect their encrypted data from quantum computers.

NATO isnt alone in taking post-quantum cyber attacks seriously. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently announced that it was developing a standard to migrate to post-quantum cryptography to begin replacing hardware, software, and services that rely on public-key algorithms.

At the same time, the White House is also concerned over the threat raised by post-quantum computing, recently releasing a National Security Memorandum which gave the National Security Agency (NSA) 30 days to update the Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite (CNSA Suite) and to add quantum-resistant cryptography.

The memorandum also noted that within 180 days, agencies that handle national security systems must identify all instances of encryption not in compliance with NSA-approved Quantum Resistant Algorithms and chart a timeline to transition these systems to use compliant encryption, to include quantum resistant encryption.

While quantum computers arent capable of decrypting modern public key algorithms like RSA, Post-Quantums CEO Andersen Cheng believes that as quantum technology develops we will reach a Y2Q scenario, where all these security measures are obsolete in the face of the computational power of weaponized quantum computers.

People frequently talk about commercial quantum computers when referencing this Y2Q moment, and thats a long way off potentially 10-15 years away. But from a cybersecurity perspective, were not talking about slick commercial machines; a huge, poorly functioning prototype in the basement is all thats needed to break todays encryption, Cheng said.

It does not need to go through any benchmark review or certification, and this prospect is much closer and it could happen within the next three to five years, Cheng said.

If Cheng is correct that non-commercial quantum computing solutions could be developed to weaponize quantum computing in just a few years, then organizations have a fine timeline to enhance their encryption protections, or they risk handing malicious entities and nation-states a skeleton key to their private data.

However, its not just data that exposed post-Y2Q thats at risk; potentially any data encrypted data thats been harvested in the past could then be unencrypted as part of a retrospective attack.

Quantum decryption can be applied retrospectively, in that the groundwork for a harvest now, decrypt later attack could be laid today. This means that, if a rogue nation-state or bad actor intercepted data today, they could decrypt this harvested data once quantum computers capabilities exceed those of classical computers, he said.

As more enterprises recognize the need for quantum cryptography in a post-quantum world, the post-quantum cryptography market is anticipated to reach $9.5 billion by 2029, with more than 80% of revenues from the market coming from web browsers, the IoT, machine tools, and the cybersecurity industry.

While quantum computing could pose a substantial threat to enterprises down the line, there are a wide range of solution providers emerging who are developing state-of-the-art post-quantum cryptographic solutions to mitigate this.

One such provider is UK-based post-quantum provider PQShield, which offers a range of quantum-secure solutions from IoT firm to PKI mobile and server technologies, as well as end-user applications.

Some of PQShields most recently developments include researchers and engineers contributing to the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process, and the company recently raising $20 million as part of a Series A funding round.

Another promising provider is Crypta Labs, which raised 5.5 million ($7.4 million USD) in seed funding in 2020, and recently developed the worlds first space compliant Quantum Random Number Generator, which will be used to securely encrypt satellite data.

Post-Quantum itself is also in a strong position, with its encryption algorithm NTS-KEM becoming the only code-based finalist in the NIST process to identify a cryptographic standard to replace RSA and Elliptic Curve for PKC in the post-quantum world.

In any case, the wave of providers developing state of the art cryptographic algorithms means there are plenty of solutions for enterprises to deploy to mitigate the risk of quantum computing, now and in the future, to ensure that their private data stays protected.

VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn More

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NATO and White House recognize post-quantum threats and prepare for Y2Q - VentureBeat

President Joe Biden issued a memorandum outlining measures to strengthen the cybersecurity of the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and domestic surveillance networks. The memorandum says that the NSA needs to make available quantum-resistant protocols and pl for the use of quantum encryption where necessary. QAN Platforms unique Lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm implemented in Rust programming language secures against quantum computer attacks. The level of denial is still absurdly high related to the topic, says co-founder Johann Polecsak.

Blockchain and Technology Lawyer |Crypto Veteran | Tokenization | NFTs| DAOs| DeFi and Security Tokens |

In compliance with the cybersecurity executive order released in January 2022, President Joe Biden issued a memorandum outlining measures to strengthen the cybersecurity of the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and domestic surveillance networks.

The memorandum says that the NSA needs to make available quantum-resistant protocols and pl for the use of quantum-resistant cryptography where necessary. QANPlatforms Lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm implemented in Rust programming language secures against quantum computer attacks. QAN uses a proof-of-randomness consensus algorithm, multi-language smart contract development, lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm, and multi-language smart contract programmed in Rust language.

Johann Polecsak, Co-founder at QANPlatform, said:

"The recent memorandum published byWhiteHouse.govon Improving the Cybersecurity of National Security must open everyone's eyes how close the problem really is. The level of denial is still absurdly high related to the topic. Unfortunately, a lot of "semi-experts" misinform and convince the general public that the problem can be easily mitigated in the future. Upgrading already running, non-central decision capable distributed systems (e.g. Blockchains) will be IMPOSSIBLE without making cruel sacrifices to existing wallet holders (like losing funds if not migrating to post-quantum wallets in a given timeframe). Everyone holding any crypto-asset should educate themselves on the issue from credible sources."

Hackernoon, in an exclusive interview with Johann Polecask, discussed why Quantum computing can break Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain.

Quantum technologyis a form of technology that relies on the conceptof quantum mechanics, the physics of sub-atomic particles. This is known as quantum entanglement when two atoms are interconnected or intertwined despite being apart. When you alter one of their attributes, the other modifies as well. As if that wasnt sufficient, quantum physics states that simply looking at an atom changes its attributes. One idea is to use quantum-protected encryption keys to enhance communication safety. Entangled atoms can be used to identify whether data transmission has been tampered with.

The quantum superposition principle asserts that subatomic particles can exist in several states simultaneously. The Schrodingers Cat theoretical question revolves around a cat, a vial of poison, and a radioactive source enclosed in a sealed chamber. When a Geiger detector identifies radiation, the flask is shattered, spilling the poison and killing the cat. Because radioactivity detection is a statistical procedure, the cat could be dead or alive. At the same time, the container is shut, with the verdict only being verified when you open the box and see the animal in either condition.

Quantum computers are the most prominent use of thisinterpretation of reality. Quantum computers use qubits, which can be one, zero, sometimes at the same time, as opposed to digital computers, which gather data as bits (ones and zeros in binary). This superposition conditionopens up a virtually endless number of options, enablingextraordinarily quick parallel and synchronous computations.

Catch all the breaking news, and Dont forget to like the story!

Image credits: Farai Gandiya

In compliance with the cybersecurity executive order released in January 2022, President Joe Biden issued a memorandum outlining measures to strengthen the cybersecurity of the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and domestic surveillance networks.

The memorandum says that the NSA needs to make available quantum-resistant protocols and pl for the use of quantum-resistant cryptography where necessary. QANPlatforms Lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm implemented in Rust programming language secures against quantum computer attacks. QAN uses a proof-of-randomness consensus algorithm, multi-language smart contract development, lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm, and multi-language smart contract programmed in Rust language.

Johann Polecsak, Co-founder at QANPlatform, said:

"The recent memorandum published byWhiteHouse.govon Improving the Cybersecurity of National Security must open everyone's eyes how close the problem really is. The level of denial is still absurdly high related to the topic. Unfortunately, a lot of "semi-experts" misinform and convince the general public that the problem can be easily mitigated in the future. Upgrading already running, non-central decision capable distributed systems (e.g. Blockchains) will be IMPOSSIBLE without making cruel sacrifices to existing wallet holders (like losing funds if not migrating to post-quantum wallets in a given timeframe). Everyone holding any crypto-asset should educate themselves on the issue from credible sources."

Hackernoon, in an exclusive interview with Johann Polecask, discussed why Quantum computing can break Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain.

Quantum technologyis a form of technology that relies on the conceptof quantum mechanics, the physics of sub-atomic particles. This is known as quantum entanglement when two atoms are interconnected or intertwined despite being apart. When you alter one of their attributes, the other modifies as well. As if that wasnt sufficient, quantum physics states that simply looking at an atom changes its attributes. One idea is to use quantum-protected encryption keys to enhance communication safety. Entangled atoms can be used to identify whether data transmission has been tampered with.

The quantum superposition principle asserts that subatomic particles can exist in several states simultaneously. The Schrodingers Cat theoretical question revolves around a cat, a vial of poison, and a radioactive source enclosed in a sealed chamber. When a Geiger detector identifies radiation, the flask is shattered, spilling the poison and killing the cat. Because radioactivity detection is a statistical procedure, the cat could be dead or alive. At the same time, the container is shut, with the verdict only being verified when you open the box and see the animal in either condition.

Quantum computers are the most prominent use of thisinterpretation of reality. Quantum computers use qubits, which can be one, zero, sometimes at the same time, as opposed to digital computers, which gather data as bits (ones and zeros in binary). This superposition conditionopens up a virtually endless number of options, enablingextraordinarily quick parallel and synchronous computations.

Catch all the breaking news, and Dont forget to like the story!

Image credits: Farai Gandiya

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How QANPlatform is solving the White House's Problem of Quantum Attacks - hackernoon.com

VALENCIA, Spain & BURNABY, BC, Canada, March 3, 2022 CaixaBank, the leading financial group in Spain, and D-Wave Systems Inc., a global leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, and the only provider building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers, today announced the business results for two significant financial quantum hybrid computing applications for investment portfolio optimization and investment hedging calculation. The quantum hybrid applications have significantly decreased compute time to solve complex financial problems, improving investment portfolio optimization, increasing a bond portfolio internal rate of return (IRR), and minimizing the capital needed for hedging operations, as a result of their collaboration.

Quantum in Investment Portfolio Hedging and Bond Portfolio Optimization

CaixaBanks Life insurance and Pensions company, VidaCaixa, leveraged D-Waves Leapquantum cloud service and quantum hybrid solvers which combine the strengths of classical and quantum computing to build a quantum computing application within their investment portfolio selection and allocation, and within their portfolio hedging efforts. With this project, CaixaBank Group becomes the first known financial services company in the world to apply quantum computing in investment hedging in the insurance sector. The group is evaluating putting the application into regular production not only in VidaCaixa but in other areas in the organization, over the coming months.

The CaixaBank Group team utilized D-Waves quantum hybrid solver services to code a faster algorithm, which markedly reduces the computing time necessary to reach an optimal solution to improve the investment portfolio hedging. What normally took the bank several hours of compute time was reduced to just minutes via quantum computing technology an up to 90% decrease in compute time over the traditional solution. This reduction of compute time facilitates increased modeling complexity, allowing for a more dynamic model that is better adapted to real-time markets; optimizes the invested capital while maintaining constant risk levels; and improves the hedging decision-making process.

When it comes to investment portfolio selection and allocation, the algorithm rapidly generates portfolios that can be optimized against a higher variety of constraints in a reduced timeframe. The result was a successful application which optimizes IRR by 10% in a chosen portfolio of bonds.

We have always been an innovation-first organization, and very early on we recognized that investing in quantum computing could help us more efficiently provide state-of-the art products and services in order to offer the best client experience. This has been the case with this proof of concept, which confirms the bank as the first one in Spain, and one of the first in the world, to incorporate quantum computing into its daily activity, says Gonzalo Gortazar, CEO of CaixaBank. During his participation in a commissioning ceremony in Jlich, Germany, in which D-Wave announced the first Leap quantum cloud-based system outside North America at Forschungszentrum Jlich Supercomputing Centre, Gortazar confirmed CaixaBanks commitment to continue to explore the potential of quantum computing in the financial services industry: We are very appreciative of seeing this industry growing and maturing, and we look forward to upping our investment and our efforts in quantum, which is surely going to be transformational for our industry. We are very keen to work with D-Wave in this process.

Our focus has always been on the development and delivery of quantum computing for practical applications and business value, said Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. The finance industry is undergoing massive transformation at this moment in time, which is why the industry is poised for great business benefit from quantum computing investment. CaixaBank has a clear vision for implementing market-ready quantum applications to drive efficiency, client value, and scale. We look forward to continued collaboration with them as they expand their offerings and identify additional quantum computing use-cases.

CaixaBanks Quantum Journey

In 2019, CaixaBank set up a team of experts with IT technicians, mathematicians, and risk analysts dedicated to innovation in the quantum field in a multidisciplinary way, in order to explore the potential for quantum technology to enhance the banks different capacities in diverse fields, such as risk assessment and tail risk simulators, fraud detection with artificial intelligence and machine learning, quantum safe cryptography, portfolio selection and allocation, and data mining optimization.

One of the first projects was the implementation of a quantum algorithm capable of assessing the financial risk of two portfolios created specifically for the project based on real data, one consisting of mortgages and the other, treasury bills.

In 2020, CaixaBank developed the first machine learning algorithm to classify risks in Spanish banking leveraging quantum computing. In that case, CaixaBank combined quantum computing and conventional computing in different phases of the calculation process to classify credit risk profiles. To do this, CaixaBank used a public data set corresponding to 1,000 artificial users, with a similar profile to existing customers, but with information configured specifically for the test.

In this project, CaixaBank used the Leap quantum cloud service to access D-Waves quantum hybrid solver service that incorporates the Advantage quantum computer. The cloud-access and real-time service empowers businesses like the bank and countless others across industries to solve large and complex business-scale problems. To date, D-Wave customers have built hundreds of early applications using their systems, including protein folding, financial modeling, scheduling, logistics, manufacturing optimization, machine learning, route optimization, and more. With these results, CaixaBank is working towards putting hybrid quantum applications into production.

About CaixaBank

CaixaBank is the leading financial group in Spain. After its merger with Bankia, the bank has assets of 685.74 billion, making it Spains largest bank, and one of the leading banks in Europe. CaixaBank also has a strong presence in Portugal, where it controls 100% of BPI.

The Group, chaired by Jos Ignacio Goirigolzarri and led by Gonzalo Gortzar, has around 21 million customers and the largest commercial network in Spain and Portugal, and it is a leader in digital banking with 73.1% of clients being digital.

About D-Wave Systems Inc.

D-Wave is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software and services and is the worlds first commercial supplier of quantum computers and the only company developing both annealing quantum computers and gate-model quantum computers. Our mission is to unlock the power of quantum computing for business and society, today. We do this by delivering customer value with practical quantum applications for problems as diverse as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, scheduling, cybersecurity, fault detection, and financial modeling. D-Waves systems are being used by some of the worlds most advanced organizations, including NEC Corporation, Volkswagen, DENSO, Lockheed Martin, University of Southern California, Forschungszentrum Jlich and Los Alamos National Laboratory. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, D-Waves US operations are based in Palo Alto, CA. With headquarters and the Quantum Engineering Center of Excellence based near Vancouver, Canada, D-Waves U.S. operations are based in Palo Alto, Calif. D-Wave has a blue-chip investor base that includes PSP Investments, Goldman Sachs, BDC Capital, NEC Corp., Aegis Group Partners, and In-Q-Tel.

D-Wave announced in February it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with DPCM Capital, Inc. (DPCM Capital) (NYSE:XPOA), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. Upon closing of the transaction, shares of D-Wave Quantum Inc., a newly formed parent company of D-Wave and DPCM Capital, are expected to trade on the NYSE under the symbol QBTS. Learn more atwww.dwavesys.com/investors.

Source: D-Wave

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D-Wave and CaixaBank Collaborate on Quantum Applications for Finance Industry - HPCwire

The Global Photonic Integrated Circuit And Quantum Computing Market report conducted by MarketQuest.biz analyses the projection period of 2021-2027 and includes a detailed competitive analysis and market growth outlook for the industrial sector. The study looks at the industrys history, development prospects, and the success of the key dealers in the industry. Photonic Integrated Circuit And Quantum Computing evaluates feasible options as well as the contributing elements that will lead to sector improvement. The research investigates historical growth trends, current development factors, and anticipated tenders.

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Global Photonic Integrated Circuit And Quantum Computing Market 2021 Latest Innovations, Technological Progress, Regional Outlook and Forecast to 2027...

Quantum computer technology has made great strides in recent years and is becoming increasingly affordable to develop and build. That's good news because the demand for progressively powerful computing units is ballooning with the expansion of cloud computing and the proliferation of digital devices.

Quantum computing could emerge as a key technology and investment trend in the decades ahead. Nevertheless, because it's still in its infancy, the best way to invest in the industry could be via a quantum computing ETF.

Image source: Getty Images.

Since quantum computing is still being developed, there are few companies out there solely dedicated to the technology. However, there are some well-known businesses funneling lots of research dollars into quantum computing, a newly public pure-play, and a couple more soon-to-be-public pure-plays in the quantum realm.

The best quantum computing stocks include:

Besides investing in individual companies, there is one ETF, or exchange-traded fund, dedicated to the quantum computing industry: Defiance Quantum ETF (NYSEMKT:QTUM). Defiance ETFs -- the company that sponsors this and other themed ETFs -- launched in 2018, with its Quantum ETF debuting in September 2018.

The Defiance Quantum ETF is made up of 70 individual stocks, primarily semiconductor and software companies that are working on, or have exposure to, quantum computing in some form or another. The fund is small, with total net assets under management of just $172 million. It has an expense ratio of 0.40%, which works out to $40 in annual fees for every $1,000 invested. The top 10 holdings in the fund are:

Data source: Defiance ETFs. Data as of Nov. 22, 2021.

Although there is only one quantum computing ETF available at the moment, there are other opportunities available for investors wanting to bet on the technology. IonQ is the first publicly traded pure-play stock in quantum technology. Likewise, the merger between Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum Computing will offer another opportunity for investors to get in on the movement early, although it's currently unclear when that deal will be complete. Rigetti Computing's pending merger via SPAC is another early-stage investment in the development of quantum processors.

IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and Honeywell are not a part of the Defiance Quantum ETF portfolio of stocks at this time.

For investors looking for an affordable way to passively benefit from the development of quantum computing, the Defiance Quantum ETF is worth considering. It's well-diversified across dozens of technology stocks, but it won't implode if quantum computing never takes off since most of these companies also rely on other tech trends such as AI and machine learning. If you want in on quantum computing at an early stage, this ETF is a good place to start.

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Investing in a Quantum Computing ETF | The Motley Fool