Friday, October 18th, 2024

Enjoy a nice cup of freshly brewed quantum news ☕️ 

Today’s issue includes:

• A QUBO formulation optimizes aircraft load distribution using quantum annealing and classical algorithms.

• Long-lived topological time-crystalline order are observed in a quantum processor using superconducting qubits.

• Plus, an open-source library for computational cooling of qubits, quantum computing meets quantum gravity, how aerospace engineering may inform fault tolerant architectures, and more.

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

✈️ Quantum-Enhanced Aircraft Load Optimization: Researchers Use Hybrid Algorithms to Improve Efficiency on Airbus A330 200F

QUICK BYTE: Researchers from Universidad de Montevideo and Quantum-South present a QUBO formulation for optimizing aircraft load distribution using quantum annealing and classical algorithms, tested on an Airbus A330 200F model.

DETAILS

• The authors address a common aircraft load optimization problem by modeling it using QUBO, an approach especially applicable to quantum annealing as it deals with combinatorial complexities. The goal is to optimize the placement of Unit Load Devices (ULDs), maximizing profit while adhering to key constraints including weight, volume, center of gravity, and structural stress.

• The study uses a hybrid method combining quantum and classical subroutines. Quantum algorithms handle the combinatorial aspects of the problem, while classical solvers complete tasks like refining load configurations and checking constraints. The hybrid model reduces the number of binary variables, allowing it to run on available quantum hardware, such as the D-Wave quantum annealer.

• The solution is tested on real-world cargo aircraft configurations, specifically the Airbus A330 200F. Simulated loading scenarios involve constraints such as fuselage geometry and cargo bay capacities, making the problem realistic and highly applicable to the air cargo industry.

• The hybrid quantum-classical method yields competitive results compared to classical solvers like Gurobi, demonstrating quantum computing's potential for logistics optimization. Though classical solvers currently outperform quantum solvers in terms of profit and constraint satisfaction, the study highlights the promise of quantum computing as hardware and algorithms improve.

💎 Long-Lived Topological Time Crystal Observed in Superconducting Qubit System

QUICK BYTE: Researchers from Zhejiang Key Laboratory, Tsinghua University, NIST, QuEra Computing and others have observed long-lived topological time-crystalline order in a quantum processor using superconducting qubits, which breaks time-translation symmetry while maintaining topological order.

DETAILS

• The team successfully demonstrated a topologically ordered time crystal using superconducting qubits, a quantum phase that breaks time-translation symmetry and maintains topological order, which is necessary for long-range quantum entanglement. This phase was achieved on a programmable quantum processor using periodic driving.

• Using an 18-qubit system arranged in a two-dimensional lattice, applying a specially designed quantum circuit to simulate four-body interactions, the system exhibited subharmonic response. This indicate broken time-translation symmetry. It also maintained its topological properties, confirmed by measuring topological entanglement entropy, which signifies resilience to local disturbances.

• The study tested the system’s resilience by applying weak random fields to the qubits. Despite perturbations, the topological order persisted, highlighting its potential for quantum error correction. However, stronger perturbations eventually disrupted the time-crystalline phase, indicating a boundary for its stability.

• This research demonstrates the potential of topologically ordered time crystals for quantum computing applications, particularly in building more resilient quantum memory and improving error correction by maintaining qubit coherence even in noisy environments.

QuL is an open-source programming library designed by scientists from the University of Pisa and Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR in Italy to facilitate computational cooling of qubits, which is essential for initializing qubits in quantum computing. QuL allows users to generate, analyze, and test quantum circuits for dynamic and algorithmic cooling methods, offering flexibility for both novice and advanced users. By automating the creation of cooling circuits and enabling comparisons between cooling protocols, the goal of QuL is to streamline the implementation of computational cooling on contemporary quantum computers and optimize cooling performance across different quantum backends.

During a meeting chaired by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) approved plans for three significant ventures under its commercialization arm, VentureOne. These projects, launching later this year, will focus on quantum-era data security, smart autonomous mobility, and robotics-driven agritech. The board also reviewed ATRC’s five-year strategic vision, emphasizing advancements in AI, quantum technologies, biotechnology, and clean energy, aligning with Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s goals to encourage innovation and strengthen global competitiveness in research and development. The council further highlighted its commitment to nurturing national talent in STEM fields and advancing the UAE's Net Zero by 2050 agenda.

A researcher from Aalto University propose architecture for a reliable quantum operating system (QCOS) that draws on principles from aerospace engineering to prioritize fault tolerance and scalability to manage error-corrected quantum computations. The authors suggest using a microkernel design, message-passing components, and execution on supercomputers to enhance reliability and mitigate system failures. The QCOS components would operate in an aggregated, non-stacked manner, providing real-time error correction and feedback, ensuring the high availability required for large-scale quantum computations.

Bob Coecke, a leading quantum physicist and Chief Scientist at Quantinuum, will present a math-free approach to understanding quantum physics in an upcoming talk, using intuitive diagrams instead of complex equations. In this talk, Bob will showcase his successful educational program that enabled UK schoolchildren to surpass the exam scores of Oxford University postgraduate quantum physics students, emphasizing the accessibility of quantum mechanics for all. The event will be held at the Royal Institution Theatre, Monday, October 21st.

New quantum algorithms for approximate pattern matching address the Hamming and edit distance problems. The algorithms, proposed by scientists from Max Planck Institute for Informatics, ETH Zurich, and the National Institute of Informatics in Japan achieve near-optimal query complexity and running times, improving upon existing solutions for pattern matching with mismatches and edits. The authors present quantum algorithms that compute occurrences of a pattern in a text, using efficient methods to handle mismatches and edits, with query complexities scaling optimally for certain ranges of pattern length and error thresholds. Their approach also introduces a faster algorithm to solve systems of substring equations.

As introduced in a recent video from IBM, IBM's Quantum Serverless introduces tools for managing quantum and classical resources dynamically across development workflows, enabling flexible allocation of CPUs, GPUs, and QPUs based on task demands. This overcomes the limitations of fixed-resource systems, allowing developers to optimize both classical and quantum workloads. Additionally, the system supports persistence of long-running tasks, ensuring progress isn't lost when operations are paused, improving scalability and practicality for quantum computing applications.

LISTEN

—friday ambience—

ENJOY

In the field of quantum technology, the power of quantum memory is revealing new possibilities. Researchers have discovered that with just two copies of a quantum state, we can exponentially reduce the number of measurements needed to understand complex systems—like having a second pair of eyes that captures exponentially more information. Achieved by two independent teams, these insights may mean that (provided quantum tech evolves to more mature states, of course) quantum computers may not only handle tasks that classical computers struggle with by taking fewer steps, but by needing less data.

WATCH

Victoria Porozova discusses the intersection of quantum gravity and quantum computing, exploring how quantum information theory can help explain the geometry of spacetime: