Category Archives: Quantum Computer
Risks to Standardisation in Quantum from Geopolitics to Commercial Interest – Quantum Computing Report
By Andre Sariva, Diraq
A Quantum Computing event on the 3rd of April (see footage here) marked the launch of the first two whitepapers about Quantum Technologies commissioned by Standards Australia, a non-governmental not-for-profit organisation, similar to the American ANSI or the European IEC. They were on the topics of Quantum Computing (which is available in full form) and Quantum Communications (only the executive summary is available at the moment). These are fantastic, authoritative reads, and two more reports are planned for later release.
At the launch event, a number of very interesting points were raised about the sustainability of quantum computing research and the role of standardisation.
To set the context it is important to visualise what is the state of quantum technologies in 2023. Australia has had commercial endeavours in quantum communications and quantum sensing now for decades. Moreover, it is home to some of the world-leading quantum computing hardware developers, such as Silicon Quantum Computing, Quantum Brilliance and Diraq. Standards play a very different role in these scenarios the concept of quantum advantage in sensing and communications is well understood and testable with current technology, while it remains elusive and theoretical in quantum computing.
A natural question was then posed to the panel of experts that was invited to the event (including yours truly): could it be too early to set standards in such a nascent field with such a distant horizon for practical commercial applications?
The unanimous view of experts in the room, both quantum scientists and policy makers, was that the standardisation of terminology in quantum technology should have happened sooner. Standards are an instrument for supporting governments and corporations to guarantee that their investments are protected by conventions that remove any technical lack of clarity, an urgent need in the case of the quantum market. For instance, it will be one of the main tools for surviving a potential quantum winter.
The world is becoming increasingly aware that fast-grab quantum advantage with small NISQ algorithms might not happen. The only mathematically provable advantageous algorithms developed so far rely on multimillion qubit processors that can operate fault-tolerantly, or at least with qubits that can tolerate deeper circuits and perform calculations much faster than the current ones. The endeavour to build such a machine is as much a scientific challenge as a financial one. Disillusioned investors that were expecting more immediate returns will abandon the scene, elevating the bar for quantum companies to unlock the needed investments from either governments or private investors with deep enough pockets and flexible investment mandates.
In such a world of less abundance, serious companies can only differentiate themselves if well-defined standards of quality are in place. Moreover, taxpayer money will need to be invested with some serious regard to verifiability of claims and standardised validation of quantum operations. Finally, investors will need metrics for gauging progress in the long valley between the initial blueprints that they signed up for and the actual finalised product.
The problem can be as simple as defining the word qubit. For most scientists, there is no controversy about what the world means. However, there are a number of technologies that elude the standard paradigm of a two-level system with a set of calibrated operations, initialisation and readout. Examples include adiabatic/annealing quantum computing, continuous variables and quantum simulation. In these cases, the use (and, in some cases, abuse) of the use of the term qubit can lead to disparities between what different vendors offer. If a government body starts a tender process for a 100-qubit quantum computer, it is important that those 100 qubits are actually doing what is intended for them to do with a minimum certified fidelity.
Early efforts to determine such standards were self-organised by academics. The field of Quantum Computing Verification and Validation (QCVV) constitutes a vibrant crowd at any scientific conference. However, counting on individuals to do this job is bound to become a problem in the longer run. These volunteers are only efficient gatekeepers if they remain unbiased and agnostic to any particular commercial exploration. But in a world where a huge talent gap exists, the economic pressure to enlist scientists in quantum startups is slowly emptying the rooms of the truly independent QCVV experts.
Some efforts for independent certification as a service have been created. Quantum Benchmark is a former Canadian startup (which is now part of Keysights portfolio) doing precisely that. But it has so far been mostly a spontaneous initiative from hardware makers to gain their seal of approval, rather than a public policy of requiring independent certification. Ultimately, the matter is only meaningful if national standardisation bodies, such as Standards Australia, have frameworks in place to regulate what metrics should be used when discussing a target performance for quantum processors.
There is one current draft International Standard under the Information Technology family of standards led by the joint technical committee (JTC 1) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The ongoing draft is accepting comments at the moment. This document only scratched the surface trying to merely define vocabulary and terminology in the field. This very simple example already highlights the difficulties and commercial frictions generated by simple terms such as qubits, quantum processors and others.
Most standards organisations are still in a very early road-mapping/white paper stage. Here are some examples:
Independence/Impartiality
With the boom in the quantum industry, finding unbiased experts with enough influence in this field to write a widely respected and adopted set of standards is becoming increasingly difficult. Governments must include in their quantum initiatives some money to sustain an independent group of academics, which can consult with industry, but that ultimately are economically independent and able to provide standardisation driven by science, and not by commercial interests.
Deliberativeness
There is a geopolitical pressure for nations to lead the establishment of standards. However, the field is only nascent and the quantum market is only sustainable when seen at a global scale. We therefore must make sure that standardisation efforts do their best to consult across countries, including countries with less developed quantum industries but with the potential to mediate unbiased discussions and ultimately with the capability to represent the views of future consumers of such technologies.
Moreover, it is important that within each country, input to standards is taken from a balanced representation of industry, academics, stakeholders and the general public.
Legitimacy
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges in assembling a set of experts that have respected opinions, remain unbiased by commercial interests, have clout to make bold standards that might not benefit some commercial entities (especially those with loose scientific standards) and are willing to spend the significant effort needed to concoct such documents. A quick scan in lists of names worldwide involved in quantum standardisation reveals very few household names, which creates worries about the willingness of the community to embrace such standards in the longer run. This creates a vulnerability for the effort of creating a truly unbiased, international set of standards.
The follow up really is on all of us, the people who care about quantum computing.
Firstly, we need a strong sense among providers and consumers of the value of standardisation. A standardisation effort backed by experts and representative of every serious quantum effort is key. Standards are only as useful as their adoption among companies and users. Perhaps this could be an early target for the newly established International Council of Quantum Industry Associations. It is clear that the level of international awareness about the need for immediate action is not yet quite there.
Another important step is to make sure that the people responsible for procuring quantum computing services and hardware are aware of these subtleties and capable of finding the appropriate support. Most tenders dont involve the technical complexity of quantum computing, so it will be rare to find a procurement system in place that is ready for this type of complexity.
Finally, governments need to step in and fund independent bodies that can guarantee that some experts remain unbiased and capable of providing the oversight needed to guarantee that narratives do not dominate over scientific facts.
Dr. Saraiva has worked for over a decade providing theoretical solutions to problems in silicon spin quantum computation, as well as other quantum technologies. He currently is the Head of Solid-State Theory for Diraq, an Australian start-up developing a scalable quantum processor.
April 21, 2023
Excerpt from:
Risks to Standardisation in Quantum from Geopolitics to Commercial Interest - Quantum Computing Report
ASML, Eindhoven Tech University to build new research facility – Reuters.com
AMSTERDAM, April 24 (Reuters) - ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS), Europe's largest technology firm, said on Monday it will build a new research centre including a clean room together with Eindhoven's Technical University, a project expected to cost several hundred million euros.
TU Eindhoven said it expects the project will lead to 40 new PhDs annually at the university in fields related to semiconductor manufacturing including nano materials, photonics and quantum computing.
The facility will have space for around 500 researchers in all, including hundreds from ASML itself, university spokesperson Frans Raaijmakers said.
ASML dominates the global market for lithography equipment, machines that use highly focused beams of light to help create the circuitry of computer chips.
Like many technology firms, ASML has struggled to find engineering talent against a tight labour market.
Spokeswoman Kelsey Zeegers said the project is part of broader plans for "cross-fertilization" between technology firms in the Eindhoven region and the university.
Economic growth in the Dutch province that includes Eindhoven and nearby Veldhoven, where ASML is headquartered, has been stronger than in the rest of the Netherlands over the past decade as the region is becoming a tech hub.
"What's happening in Brainport (the Eindhoven region) is quite amazing," Zeegers said.
Reporting by Toby SterlingEditing by Christina Fincher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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ASML, Eindhoven Tech University to build new research facility - Reuters.com
Sectigo Attends RSAC 2023 to Prepare IT Community for 90-Day TLS – InvestorsObserver
Roseland, NJ, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sectigo, a global leader in automated Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM), and digital certificates, today announced it is sponsoring and speaking at the RSA Conference (RSAC) 2023 in San Francisco, California. Sectigo executives will discuss the importance of establishing digital trust against the backdrop of shortening digital certificate lifespans and quantum computing.
RSAC, which takes place April 24-27, features the most influential thinkers in cybersecurity today, discussing current and future trends to empower organizations around the world to stand against cyber threats. Sectigo, a Silver Sponsor of RSAC (booth #1327), will demo the CA Agnostic automation capabilities of Sectigo Certificate Manager, the industrys most robust Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) Platform. In the wake of recent news of the upcoming reduction in maximum term for SSL certificates to 90 days, IT professionals worldwide are seeking to understand the consequences of this change on their operations. CLM is an indispensable part of that response.
The trend of shrinking certificate lifespans, or short life certificates, is one Sectigo predicted as far back as 2019. In recent years the maximum term for a public TLS certificate has dropped from three years, to two, to one. Recently, Google announced in its Moving Forward, Together roadmap the intention to reduce the maximum possible validity for public TLS certificates from 398 days to just 90.As we enter a new era of shorter certificate lifespans and quantum computing, the need for automation of certificate handling is sky high. said Tim Callan, Chief Experience Officer at Sectigo.
Callan continued: Sectigo recognizes that organizations of all sizes are struggling to reconcile growing numbers of digital certificates within their ecosystems. Many still take a manual approach to certificate lifecycle management. Our latest research found that 47% [1] of organizations cited using spreadsheets, scripts, or CA-provided tools to manage digital certificate lifecycles. As the security perimeter continues to widen, and certificate lifespans to reduce, this manual approach to digital certificate management will compound IT team workloads and hamper visibility into all digital identities. Ultimately, this creates risk of outage or exploit.
The Sectigo team will be conducting hourly demos at RSAC 2023 to show the power of automated certificate management to solve issues arising from the manual management of increasing numbers of short-life certificates, as well as:
In addition, Sectigo experts will look ahead at an exclusive session at RSAC, designed to help IT leaders future-proof their cryptography against the upcoming threat of quantum computing, which will require switching all encryption to quantum-resistant post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
Are You Ready for the Quantum Apocalypse? 4:20pm April 25, presented by Sectigos Tim Callan, Chief Experience Officer: Quantum computing is a very real threat, and now is the time to start planning for fast, efficient, and error-free deployment to new cryptographic standards soon to be available. The immense processing power of a quantum computer is capable of breaking encryption at great speed, leaving important data vulnerable. Both government and private industry alike should be preparing today, or they risk being late.Find out more here .
Sectigo also won two Global InfoSec Awards 2023 from Cyber Defense Magazine, announced today at RSAC: Next Gen Enterprise Security and Cutting Edge Security Company of the Year. These accolades closely follow recognition for Sectigo executives popular industry podcast, Root Causes, which was designated Webby Honoree at the recent Webby Awards 2023.
Visit http://www.sectigo.com/rsac23 to schedule a meeting or book a demo at RSAC.
About Sectigo Sectigo is a leading provider of automated Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions and digital certificates- trusted by the worlds largest brands. Its cloud-based universal CLM platform issues and manages the lifecycles of digital certificates issued by Sectigo and other Certificate Authorities (CAs) to secure every human and machine identity across the enterprise. With over 20 years establishing digital trust, Sectigo is one of the longest-standing and largest CAs with more than 700,000 customers. For more information, visit http://www.sectigo.com .
[1] Managing Digital Identities:Tools & Tactics, Priorities & Threats, Sectigo Research, Conducted by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), 2021.
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Sectigo Attends RSAC 2023 to Prepare IT Community for 90-Day TLS - InvestorsObserver
Physicists Create the Fattest Schrdinger’s Cat Ever – Gizmodo
Picture a cat. Im assuming youre imagining a live one. It doesnt matter. Youre wrong either waybut youre also right.
What Is Carbon Capture? With Gizmodos Molly Taft | Techmodo
This is the premise of Erwin Schrdingers 1935 thought experiment to describe quantum states, and now, researchers have managed to create a fat (which is to say, massive) Schrdinger cat, testing the limits of the quantum world and where it gives way to classical physics.
Schrdingers experiment is thus: A cat is in a box with a poison that is released from its container if an atom of a radioactive substance, also in the box, decays. Because it is impossible to know whether or not the substance will decay in a given timeframe, the cat is both alive and dead until the box is opened and some objective truth is determined. (You can read more about the thought experiment here.)
In the same way, particles in quantum states (qubits, if theyre being used as bits in a quantum computer) are in a quantum superposition (which is to say, both alive and dead) until theyre measured, at which point the superposition breaks down. Unlike ordinary computer bits that hold a value of either 0 or 1, qubits can be both 0 and 1 simultaneously.
Now, researchers made a Schrdingers cat thats much heavier than those previously created, testing the muddy waters where the world of quantum mechanics gives way to the classical physics of the familiar macroscopic world. Their research is published this week in the journal Science.
In the place of the hypothetical cat was a small crystal, put in a superposition of two oscillation states. The oscillation states (up or down) are equivalent to alive or dead in Schrdingers thought experiment. A superconducting circuit, effectively a qubit, was used to represent the atom. The team coupled electric-field creating material to the circuit, allowing its superposition to transfer over to the crystal. Capiche?
By putting the two oscillation states of the crystal in a superposition, we have effectively created a Schrdinger cat weighing 16 micrograms, said Yiwen Chu, a physicist at ETH Zurich and the studys lead author, in a university release.
16 micrograms is roughly equivalent to the mass of a grain of sand, and thats a very fat cat on a quantum level. Its several billion times heavier than an atom or molecule, making it the fattest quantum cat to date, according to the release.
Its not the first time physicists have tested whether quantum behaviors can be observed in classical objects. Last year, a different team declared they had quantum-entangled a tardigrade, though a number of physicists told Gizmodo that claim was poppycock.
This is slightly different, as the recent team was just testing the mass of an object in a quantum state, not the possibility of entangling a living thing. While thats not in the teams plans, working with even larger masses will allow us to better understand the reason behind the disappearance of quantum effects in the macroscopic world of real cats, Chu said.
As for the true boundary between the two worlds? No one knows, wrote Matteo Fadel, a physicist at ETH Zurich and a co-author of the paper, in an email to Gizmodo. Thats the interesting thing, and the reason why demonstrating quantum effects in systems of increasing mass is so groundbreaking.
The new research takes Schrdingers famous thought experiment and gives it some practical applications. Controlling quantum materials in superposition could be useful in a number of fields that require very precise measurements; for example, helping reduce noise in the interferometers that measure gravitational waves.
Fadel is currently studying whether gravity plays a role in the decoherence of quantum states, namely if it is responsible for the quantum-to-classical transition as proposed a couple of decades ago by Penrose. Gravity doesnt seem to exist on the subatomic level and is not accounted for in the Standard Model of particle physics.
The quantum world ripe for new discoveries, but alas, its crammed full of unknowables, dead ends, and vexing new problems.
More: Scientists Save Schrdingers Cat
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Physicists Create the Fattest Schrdinger's Cat Ever - Gizmodo
Over 200 students from 24 countries to participate in NYUAD … – Emirates News Agency
ABU DHABI, 24th April, 2023 (WAM) -- New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) will host the 11th edition of the NYUAD Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World with sustainability as its key theme.
The event will take place from 27th to 30th April and welcomes over 200 students from 24 countries who will leverage Quantum Computing to develop innovative solutions to challenges related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This hackathon will cover various sectors, including health, education, film, music, business, and science.
This year will see renowned global computer science professors, founders of successful startups, technology professionals, and venture capitalists come together at NYUAD to lead teams of talented computer science students from across the globe, with a majority from the Arab world, to create mobile and web applications for the betterment of society.
Students will have the opportunity to learn critical practices in Quantum Computing (QC), Quantum hardware, and software developments from 51 mentors, who are global leaders across industry and academia.
Participants will explore quantum computing solutions to various challenging projects from machine learning and AI to physics (complex simulation problems), chemistry, computer science, healthcare, and maths to online gaming, security, social sciences and the arts (quantum-generated artwork).
The diverse and cross-disciplinary teams (consisting of five to seven students and two mentors per team) will then work together to use these new QC skills for social good and to make a positive impact on the future of society.
Bringing experts from world-leading institutions, like MIT, ETH, and Stanford, as a source of sponsorship and mentorship for participants, this event provides valuable insight into the full cycle of creating a tech startup. It cultivates future international project collaboration opportunities, launching startups, and undertaking academic research.
The NYUAD Hackathon for Social Good will be supported by top global Quantum Computing experts from both industry and academia, such as The NYUAD Center for Quantum and Topological Systems; Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), ETH Zurich in Quantum Information, University of Calgarys Institute for Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), the MITs iQuHACK, QWorld, as well as experts from world-class businesses including IBM, qBraid, and NIEW.
NYUAD Affiliated Faculty and Clinical Professor of Computer Science at NYU, Sana Odeh, who organises the event, announced the launch of the 2023 Hackathon event with a focus on finding sustainable solutions to challenging problems related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals using quantum computing technologies.
With UAEs Year of Sustainability and NYUAD's participation in the COP28 Universities Climate Network, Odeh emphasised the commitment to drive sustainable growth in the UAE and beyond.
The event is an opportunity for young climate leaders to showcase the potential of technology and quantum computing to find solutions to sustainability challenges. The Hackathon has garnered a global reputation, and its past participants have gained scholarships, jobs, and even launched their own startups, she added.
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Over 200 students from 24 countries to participate in NYUAD ... - Emirates News Agency
UC Riverside turns to cloud to supercharge scientific research – CIO
For research institutions, a solid IT foundation can prove to be the difference in delivering meaningful results for scientific endeavors and thereby in securing valuable funding for further research.
To that end, University of California, Riverside has launched an ambitious cloud transformation to shift from a small on-premises data center to an advanced research platform powered by Google Cloud Platform and its various service offerings.
As part of a three-year partnership with Google Public Sector, which kicked off in January, UC Riverside aims to empower its researchers in computer science, materials and quantum engineering, genomics, and precision agriculture to fully exploit Googles location-agnostic application modernization platform, as well as its scalable compute and high performance computing (HPC) capabilities, says Matthew Gunkel, CIO of IT solutions at UCR.
Gunkel enlisted Google Public Sector professional services specifically as part of a strategy to quickly evolve UC Riversides small data center into an advanced cloud hub with robust research computing capabilities that would enable researchers to better compete for grants and funding opportunities.
We identified Google as being well aligned with us strategically, says Gunkel. They have an agile infrastructure. They have the ability to facilitate industry-leading service concepts in additional clouds through a service they run called Anthos.
Googles Anthos is a hybrid cloud container platform for managing Kubernetes workloads across on-prem and public cloud environments. Gunkel also cited Googles Looker and Big Query BI data analysis tools and its Chronicle security operations suite as important for enabling the university to operate a wide variety of applications and research on the cloud.
With roughly 180 staff members, UC Riverside IT is relatively small, with largely traditional on-premises IT skills. As such, migrating to the cloud alone was not part of Gunkels plan.
Googles assistance in developing a more efficient cloud architecture and training UCRs IT staff in cloud technologies has been an immeasurably valuable service, he says, adding that Google is in a support role and is not running the show. UCRs cloud architecture, for example, has been designed to be location-agnostic so the university is not locked into any one vendor and can adopt a multicloud platform over the long term.
The services engagement is consulting and training to assist us in moving initial cloud workloads and to assist in our architecture to align to GCP services, Gunkel says. This is a teach us to fish model. Its all our work.
UC Riverside IT is well on its way to migrating its core data to the cloud, developing its research platform, and shifting a range of applications to support the needs of its user base, which ranges from quantum engineering researchers to administrators, faculty, and students.
To date, UCR has moved the vast majority of our data stores to Google, Gunkel says, noting that his staff is currently refining the architecture and ETL processes for management and organization of the data long term.
In addition, UC Riverside IT is aligning its data to be accessed from Looker, Googles enterprise BI and analytics platform, though which UCR will be deploying its Oracle Finance application for scaled reporting. UC Riverside is also rewriting a number of legacy applications to be cloud-native while revamping others for the cloud there will be no lift and shift of any applications, Gunkel says.
To that end, Google helped UC Riverside re-architect and migrate certain legacy services, including an LDAP configuration on a Solaris Unix server, as part of a process of identifying increased efficiencies for the deployment and operation of those services, which has been an educational experience for a lot of my staff, Gunkel says, noting that the overall transformation has required cultural change management.
But the universitys evolving research hub is the crown jewel of the cloud migration.
We have been working with a number of researchers on a platform that we are calling Ursa Major where we committed to a number of compute instances and storage and RAM and GPUs that would be available to our researchers over a three-year time period, Gunkel says.
Jim Kennedy, CTO of UC Riverside, says Google is helping architect the research hub and is also helping the IT chiefs make connections with researchers beyond UCR to help train UCRs research faculty on Ursa Major, which will expand and grow beyond the three-year agreement with Google.
Google connects us to experts in various research fields, and have conversations with our faculty directly, such as our genomics researcher on campus. There are experts on Googles side, too, Kennedy says.
Google also helped the Gunkel and Kennedy extend the universitys subscription-based compute and storage services to researchers in a multitude of disciplines. In the past, if a materials engineering researcher wanted to run workloads on several thousand processors, they would often have to write proposals to gain access to external supercomputer clusters.
With HPC requiring vast computing power, Gunkel also notes the benefit for efficiency and sustainability of shifting those workloads to the cloud. Were in a fairly constrained region against mountains and our ability to bring power into the university is something were constantly battling, Gunkel says. One of the things our researchers were very concerned about was [building] a sustainable, more eco-friendly solution. Its something UCR values heavily but its also a challenge for us locally.
Still, the migration, still in its early days, is being designed to accommodate a wide range of computing constituencies. For instance, UCR is also using Salesforce and MuleSoft as well as Googles API layer to provide the connective tissue that is required across the universitys many enterprise platforms.
The best way to think of the university is really as a collection or community of small businesses, Gunkel says. A lot of what we try to provide on the service stack side are tools that empower all of them in their different endeavors.
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UC Riverside turns to cloud to supercharge scientific research - CIO
IBM and EY partner on ESG and quantum computing – Consultancy.uk
Business computing giant IBM and Big Four professional services firm EY have entered into a heavyweight alliance, which will see the two companies collaborate to bring quantum computing solutions to their global clients. EY will become part of IBMs quantum network community, using the access this provides to apply quantum solutions to some of the greatest problems businesses and governments face around the world.
Quantum computing is a multidisciplinary field comprising aspects of computer science, physics, and mathematics that utilizes quantum mechanics to solve complex problems faster than on classical computers. Quantum technologies have long been identified as a key priority to promote economic development, with some studies suggesting they will have a global market value of as much as $1 trillion by 2035. As a result, Governments are supplying tax breaks to tech companies investing in R&D to make the innovation a reality.
This has triggered something of a gold-rush in the professional services sector. In 2022,EY became the latest consulting giant to begin exploring the potential of quantum computing, by establishing its own Global Quantum Lab. Its new partnership with IBM, becoming part of the IBM Quantum Network, will further enable EY to explore solutions with quantum technology which could resolve some of todays most complex business and global challenges including the climate crisis.
Steve Varley, EY Global Vice Chair for Sustainability, said, In order for organisations to address an ever-evolving set of ESG challenges, solutions must be delivered and deployable at a faster pace than ever before. The value of this deepened and longstanding alliance is in how it leverages the consulting and technology capabilities of both EY and IBM teams, to be at the forefront of how clients plan and accelerate their ESG journey and build trust with their most critical stakeholders.
Using IBM quantum technology, EY teams now plan to conduct leading-class research to uncover transformative use cases, including: the reduction of CO2 emissions from classical computing, the improvement of safety and accuracy of self-driving cars, and most critically, integrate quantum benefits into organizations mainstream systems for data processing and enterprise decision making. EY teams will also leverage their access to IBMs fleet of quantum computers, which is the largest in the world, to explore solutions to enterprise challenges across finance, oil and gas, healthcare, and government.
Jay Gambetta, Vice President, IBM Quantum, added, IBMs vision is to deliver useful quantum computing to the world. We value partners like the EY organization that can introduce the emerging technology to a wide ecosystem of public and private industry. This will help EY facilitate the exploration of quantum computings potential for use cases that matter in their industry.
Membership in the IBM Quantum Network is part of a broader effort by EY organisation to invest and develop robust capabilities in emerging technologies, which already include artificial intelligence, blockchain, and metaverse development. Beyond the increased investment of the EY-IBM Alliance, the EY organization is investing $10 billion in technology initiatives over three years, including investment in the organizations own quantum function.
Andy Baldwin, EY Global Managing Partner for Client Service, concluded, Quantum, in terms of importance to business, society and the EY organization, is akin to what AI represented years ago. This alliance puts the EY organisation at the forefront of technology. As we invest in this level of quantum computing access, we accelerate our own position and depth of knowledge and capabilities in this space and deepen our rich relationship with our IBM alliance teams.
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IBM and EY partner on ESG and quantum computing - Consultancy.uk
Material Design and Quantum Computing Applications w/ Grad … – The Daily Princetonian
In this episode of Brains, Black Holes, and Beyond, Senna Aldoubosh and Noelle Kim sit down with Josh Leeman, a graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. Leeman discusses his interest in applying technologies from condensed matter theory to quantum computing applications, how doing research remotely during the pandemic gave him insight on his research interests, and valuable advice for students when making their future plans.
This episode of Brains, Black Holes, and Beyond (B Cubed) was produced under the 147th board of the Prince in partnership with the Insights newsletter.
For more information about the Schoop Lab and Joshs research, feel free to visit the pages linked below.
RESOURCES
https://schoop.princeton.edu/https://jleeman.com/
CREDITS
Written and Hosted by Senna Aldoubosh and Noelle Kim
Edited and Sound Engineered by Noelle Kim
Transcript by Noelle Kim
Produced by Senna Aldoubosh
For more from The Daily Princetonian, visit dailyprincetonian.com. For more from Princeton Insights, visit insights.princeton.edu. Please direct all corrections to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.
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Material Design and Quantum Computing Applications w/ Grad ... - The Daily Princetonian
Quantum computing qubits and why they matter – TechHQ
Quantum computing is a coming technology thats likely to revolutionize what we can do, and even what we can imagine doing with computers. And the keys to the power of quantum computing are qubits.
But what exactly are qubits, and how do they power the quantum computing revolution?
In classical computers, the units of encoding are bits the binary 0s and 1s with which were familiar. A collection of 8 bits can render you any single number between 0-255.
That in itself is pretty impressive, and its always been the way we measure computer encoding in the modern era, so weve grown up, generation after generation, understanding that it was the way things were done, even as speeds increased and processing power doubled and redoubled, as chips grew faster and more effective.
The cloud changed the way we thought about computing, particularly in storage space and speed, but even there, there has been no fundamental change in the way that data is encoded.
Strap in the next bit is necessarily complicated, because it brings quantum physics to the party of data encoding.
Quantum scientists study the world of the infinitesimally small particles of matter, and the forces that operate on them. The thing to understand about that is that in the world of very small objects, forces often work in very different ways than they do in the macro-universe of comparatively large objects the things we can see, feel, and touch in what we (bless our naivety) think of as the real world.
In the world of quantum physics, things get unexpectedly freaky. Objects at that scale behave in strange ways, and two of those ways are key to understanding qubits in quantum computing.
Quantum superposition is the kind of thing that makes no sense in the macro-universe. It occurs where a quantum element, whether its the spin of an electron or the orientation of a proton, can be in two quantum states simultaneously.
In quantum physics, for instance, an electron can be both a particle and a wave at the same time. In the macro-universe of course, that would normally be absurd a fact pointed out by quantum physicist Erwin Schrdinger when he invented the thought experiment known as Schrdingers Cat. Schrdingers Cat puts forward the idea that you put a cat in a sealed box with a flask of poison, a source of radioactivity and a Geiger counter. If a single atom in the radioactive source decays, the flask of poison shatters, and the cat dies. If theres no decay, no flask shatters, and the cat lives to claw your face off when you finally release it.
Until you open the box, the cat is theoretically both alive and dead simultaneously.
So far, so fun, so reportable to the ASPCA. But what does any of that have to do with qubits in quantum computing right?
Qubits are what are also known as quantum bits. Unless you want to learn about orthogonal x and y-basis states, lets say that qubits in quantum computing act like electrons in quantum physics, and can have multiple values at the same time.
Take a moment with that, were about to hit you with the second way in which qubits harness the principles of quantum physics.
Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum physics, where groups of particles are generated and interact in such a way that they can only be described with reference to one another.
Add the two phenomena together in a qubit (which is ultimately a storage medium that represents a two-basis quantum state seriously, dont get us started on x and y-basis orthogonals, youll never sleep again), and what you have is a unit of storage that is faster than a quantum bullet.
For instance, remember that with the 0s and 1s of traditional binary-based computers, 8 bits could get you any number between 0-255?
With a qubit, you can get every number between 0-255 at the same time.
That means, for instance, that if were looking at bits and qubits as equals, single units of storage on different systems, that a qubit gets you 255 times as much data per second as a bit can deliver.
Multiply that effect by the kind of numbers of bits in a modern computer, and what you have is an insanely fast, insanely powerful machine, the like of which weve never seen before.
Thats going to be important, because just as were about to enter the age of quantum computing, powered by qubits, we have other transformational technologies coming to fruition that happen to need insanely fast, insanely powerful machines to make the most of them.
Everybodys heard of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning is an integral technology that powers the algorithms on which it depends. Those technologies are already making staggering differences to the world medical breakthroughs, the digital transformation of the business world, enhanced imaging for everything from self-driving cars to long-range telescopes, and much, much more.
Theyre managing that with standard, bit-based computing technology. Imagine those technologies on a never-ending shot of ultra-espresso, and youre not even halfway to understanding how transformational the power of quantum computing will be to AI and machine learning capabilities.
Theres a potential dark side to the power of quantum computing it will be able to crack most of the cryptography on which our cybersecurity is built in the blink of an electronic eye. But there are already efforts in play to establish standards of post-quantum cryptography, that will render it safe to use and free its users to maximize the potential of the qubits that will drive quantum computing forever forward until the next quantum leap dares to overtake it.
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Quantum computing qubits and why they matter - TechHQ
The 2023 VLSI TSA symposium explores trends in AI, energy saving … – DIGITIMES
The 40th edition of the International VLSI Symposium on Technology, Systems and Applications (VLSI TSA) kicked off on April 17 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The symposium focuses on the convergence of semiconductors and cutting-edge tech trends such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and energy-saving solutions. Esteemed experts from Intel, NVIDIA, Cadence, CEA-Leti, Eindhoven University of Technology, the University of Tokyo, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and many more have congregated to explore the possibilities and challenges of this intersection.
This year's event has provided a platform for experts to share their insights and research findings on the development of semiconductors. Intel Principal Engineer Robert Munoz shed light on the immense potential of chiplets and emphasized the importance of industry-scale reuse, which could revolutionize the way industries collaborate to build future systems. Olivier Faynot, Head of Silicon Component Division at CEA-Leti, delved into the latest developments in power consumption and energy-saving elements for data generation, transmission, calculation, and storage. Frank Wang, Research Director of Deep Learning and Computer Vision at NVIDIA, discussed the impact of AI on human life. John Martinis, Professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, who was instrumental in building a quantum computer at the Google AI Lab, elucidated the fundamental concepts of quantum computing, its optimal utilization, and potential developmental trends in the coming decade.
During the symposium, Dr. Shih-Chieh Chang, General Chair of VLSI and General Director of the Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories at ITRI, discussed how the rapid growth of AI is impacting Taiwan's semiconductor industry. "To achieve rapid AI training and inference, hardware has always been critical. ChatGPT, for instance, relies on thousands of GPUs for model parameter training and high-performance computing to generate reasonable, well-structured responses to given prompts," he noted. "Taiwan will be highly relevant in this, as it has consistently been a leader in semiconductor manufacturing," he said.
Since 2007, the Pan Wen Yuan Foundation has presented the ERSO Award at the symposium to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to Taiwan's IC, semiconductor, electronics, optoelectronics, and display industries. This year the ERSO Award honored three winners, including Chris Lin, Chairman and President of ASPEED Technology; Johnson Lee, CEO of E Ink Holdings Inc., and Alice Chang, Founder and CEO of Perfect Corp. These business leaders were recognized for their remarkable achievements in fabless IC design, electronic paper display, and beauty and fashion tech solutions, respectively.
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The 2023 VLSI TSA symposium explores trends in AI, energy saving ... - DIGITIMES