Wednesday, August 21st, 2024

Enjoy a nice cup of freshly brewed quantum news ☕️ 

Today’s issue includes:

• Bluefors has launched the XLDHe High Power System, a cryogen-free, helium-4 powered system designed for high cooling power in the 1 K temperature range, ideal for scaling up quantum computing experiments.

• Researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, BASF and others used quantum hardware to solve an industrially relevant quantum chemistry problem.

• The National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and others propose a roadmap and framework for engineering dependable hybrid systems that integrate quantum computing with high-performance computing.

And even more research, news, & events within quantum.

❄️ Bluefors Unveils XLDHe High Power System for Advanced Quantum Experiments

QUICK BYTE: Bluefors has launched the XLDHe High Power System, a cryogen-free, helium-4 powered system designed for high cooling power in the 1 K temperature range, ideal for scaling up quantum computing experiments.

DETAILS: 

• Bluefors, a leading provider of cryogen-free measurement systems, announced the XLDHe High Power System, a helium-4 powered measurement system delivering high cooling power for experiments in the 1 K temperature range. The XLDHehp system supports demanding quantum computing applications, such as spin qubit measurements and single photon detectors, by providing the necessary cooling power and flexibility to scale up experiments.

• The system achieves extremely high cooling power (200-700 mW) at 1–1.2 K, with options to reduce setup and warm-up times, and features side-loading ports and a large experimental flange for efficient experiment management.

• This system is crucial for advancing quantum computing research by enabling more efficient, scalable, and precise experiments, particularly in spin qubit and photon detection applications.

⚛️ Chemical Accuracy in Industrial Quantum Chemistry Using Quantum Hardware 

QUICK BYTE: Researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, BASF SE, the University of Innsbruck, the Max Planck Institute and other institutions have successfully used quantum hardware to solve an industrially relevant quantum chemistry problem by calculating the lowest energy eigenvalue of active space Hamiltonians for strongly correlated metal chelates.

DETAILS: 

• A team of researchers from multiple institutions, including the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, BASF SE, and the Max Planck Institute announced in a pre-print that they solved, for the first time on quantum hardware, an industrially relevant quantum chemistry problem; they achieved chemical accuracy in the energy calculation, specifically for the Fe(III)-NTA metal chelate complex.

• By combining a variational quantum algorithm with classical post-processing techniques, the team successfully calculated the Gibbs free energy difference between the spin states of a metal chelate, achieving results within chemical accuracy. Traditional classical methods would typically struggle with strong correlations in quantum chemistry.

• While it’s important to note that this is not yet peer-reviewed, this is a promising step toward using quantum computing for practical and complex industrial applications, particularly in fields that require highly accurate simulations.

☯️ Building Dependable Classical-Quantum Systems: The Future of Hybrid Computing

QUICK BYTE: Researchers from the University of Naples Federico, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, George Mason University, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and others propose a roadmap and framework for engineering dependable hybrid systems that integrate quantum computing with high-performance computing.

DETAILS: 

• Researchers from the University of Naples Federico, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, George Mason University, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Trento, and Politecnico di Torino have developed a framework for dependable classical-quantum computer systems that integrate quantum computing into traditional HPC infrastructures. They identify the key challenges in creating reliable hybrid systems, as well as the pillars for reliable hybrid systems: reproducibility, resiliency, and security.

• While classical HPC systems have robust dependability frameworks, applying these to quantum systems demands rethinking and adaptation due to quantum-specific challenges. Quantum systems introduce new complexities, such as noise and decoherence, requiring creative approaches for reproducibility, resiliency, and security.

• A focus on high-level architecture and specific metrics to ensure reliable integration is proposed as part of the framework addressing dependability in hybrid HPC-QC systems

• The proposal also underscores the need for interdisciplinary collaboration in order to develop dependable HPC-QC systems.

🌏️ India’s National Quantum Mission has committed to building a 24-qubit computer in three years and a 100-qubit system in five years, marking India's entry into the global quantum pursuit, alongside initiatives to advance AI and semiconductor technology. This mission is important for India to compete in the global quantum technology field and will establish a quantum computing infrastructure and advanced AI capabilities necessary for India's technological growth.

🧩 In 2018, Dr. James Wooton of IBM Research created a game called Quantum Awesomeness to help people better understand and evaluate the performance of quantum computers through puzzles. Now, in 2024, he revisits the game to compare the progress of quantum computing by running the same puzzles on modern IBM Quantum devices. The results revealed significant improvements: while 2018 devices struggled after just a few rounds due to errors, the 2024 devices, with over 100 qubits, managed to handle up to 100 entangling gates successfully. Though plenty remains to be done, quantum computing has come far in six years.

🛰️ A German cubesat named Qube, launched on August 16, is set to test quantum key generation and distribution via optical link. Designed by the University of Wurzburg's Center for Telematics with contributions from several German institutions, the team is moving quickly through the launch and early operations phase, with plans for further developments, including a more powerful cubesat, QUBE-2, scheduled for launch in 2025 to improve secure communications by successfully demonstrating quantum key distribution from space.

🤖 Researchers from the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology explore the storage capacity of a specific quantum perceptron model using statistical mechanics techniques. The study applies Gardner's program, traditionally used for classical perceptrons, to a quantum perceptron architecture to determine its maximum storage capacity. The authors find that the quantum perceptron can store an exponentially larger number of patterns compared to its classical counterpart, indicating a significant potential for quantum advantage in machine learning tasks. The work bridges the gap between quantum computation and learning theory, providing insights into the storage properties of quantum perceptrons and their applicability in quantum neural networks.

⚡️ Quantum-inspired, but still quantum-interesting: A hybrid deep learning model combining deep reinforcement learning with a quantum-inspired genetic algorithm was used to solve the optimal power flow problem in hybrid renewable energy systems to improve the efficiency and reliability of power systems that integrate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. The DRL component dynamically adjusts control variables to adapt to real-time changes, while the QIGA improves global search efficiency to ensure optimal solutions. Experimental results using a modified IEEE 30-bus system demonstrate the model's superior performance in minimizing fuel costs, reducing power loss, and maintaining voltage stability compared to traditional optimization algorithms

LISTEN

In a recent Post-Quantum World podcast, host Konstantinos Karagiannis interviews NIST mathematician Dustin Moody about the newly released post-quantum cryptography standards. They discuss the significance of these standards for organizations, the selected ciphers, and the timeline for implementing new Key Encapsulation Mechanisms and Digital Signatures.

PONDER

In June 2022, Oak Ridge National Laboratory introduced Frontier, the world's most powerful supercomputer, capable of performing a billion billion calculations per second. However, immense power is no match for certain complex problems, such as prime factorization and molecular modeling for drug discovery. In a recent article Jay Gambetta, Ryan Mandelbaum, and Antonio D. Corcoles reflect on IBM’s vision of a quantum-centric supercomputing model, combining quantum processing units to address these limitations. Though quantum computing has long struggled with scalability and noise issues, recent advancements suggest the new era of computing is nigh.

WATCH

IBM’s Kevin Sung walks you through how to map computational problems to quantum circuits using Qiskit:

• On Thursday, August 22nd, D-Wave is hosting Deeper Dive into the new Fast Anneal Feature, a webinar on how Fast Anneal is assisting in scientific discovery —virtual

• On Saturday, August 24th, Washington DC Quantum Computing Meetup is hosting PiQture - A Quantum Machine Learning Library for Image Processing, a discussion of the open-source Python and Qiskit-based library for QML models —virtual

• On Monday, August 26th, WOMANIUM is hosting Unlocking the Future: Research and Quantum Computing Innovations at Utility—virtual

• On Tuesday, August 27th, qAIntum.ai is hosting another installment in the Quantum Gen AI lecture series, the History of Quantum Computing —in-person (Menlo Park, CA).

Support Science

Waking up before the world to dive into the quantum realm isn't just our job—it's our calling. And we're dreaming big with exclusive content for our community. If our work lights up your day, consider showing some love. Your support unlocks worlds—seen and unseen.

Interested in collaborating or promoting your company, product, job, or event to the quantum computing community? Reach out to us at [email protected]