The Daily Qubit

💍 Diamonds are a modular quantum hardware's best friend, plus stage 1 of a grand plan for global quantum network complete.

Author

Cierra Choucair
May 30, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 17 minutes

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Enjoy today’s breakdown of news, research, events & jobs within quantum.

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IN TODAY’S ISSUE:

  • Microsoft and Photonic have cleared the first stage of their plan to establish a global quantum network by successfully transferring quantum information between two physically separated qubits using photons

  • MIT and MITRE have developed a scalable quantum-system-on-chip platform using diamond color center qubits integrated into a CMOS chip, allows for precision control and integration of large numbers of qubits

  • Researchers from Lancaster University and Radboud University Nijmegen discovered a method to generate and control spin waves at the nanoscale, potential for energy-efficient, dissipation-free quantum information technologies

  • A study proposes deterministic protocols for generating qudit photonic graph states from quantum emitters, broadens the range of multiphoton entangled states producible

  • A hybrid quantum-classical algorithm has been developed and tested for solving NP-hard combinatorial problems, uses exponentially fewer qubits

  • Plus, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado visits JILA to sign the Quantum Tax Credit Bill, IQM Quantum Computers expands to Poland, Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech and HPCNow! have announced a partnership, Capgemini Government Solutions will collaborate with DARPA on the IMPAQT project, NXP, eleQtron, and ParityQC announce Germany’s first full-stack ion-trap based quantum computer demonstrator, and Singapore $222 million investment into its National Quantum Strategy.

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BRIEF BYTES

NEWS FOR THOSE IN A HURRY

TOP HEADLINES IN NEWS & RESEARCH

NEWS

Tags: COLLABORATION QUANTUM NETWORK 

MICROSOFT & PHOTONIC CLEAR STAGE 1 OF PLAN TO ESTABLISH GLOBAL QUANTUM NETWORK

WHAT HAPPENED: 

  • In 2023, Photonic and Microsoft announced their collaboration, focusing on three specific goals: deliver entanglement between two physically separated quantum devices via photons, deliver unprecedented quantum repeater to hold quantum information reliably, use the quantum repeater in tandem with the Azure cloud to deliver a global quantum internet.

  • Just six months from that initial announcement, they have delivered on the first stage by achieving distributed entanglement between silicon spin qubits housed in separate cryostats and connected by a 40-meter fiber-optic cable.

  • They verified the indistinguishability of photons transmitting the quantum information, successfully entangled the qubits with these photons, and executed a remote quantum logic gate sequence between the separated qubits.

  • Photonic’s success, outside of relentless pursuit, relies heavily on its novel spin-photon interface architecture which leans on the information storage and processing abilities of silicon spin qubits as well as the information transmission abilities of photons.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT:

  • This demonstration is an example of the possibility to perform quantum computations across physically separated systems while utilizing existing telecom infrastructure.

NEWS

Tags: DIAMOND HARDWARE

DIAMOND COLOR CENTER QUBITS USED BY MIT AND MITRE FOR MODULAR QUANTUM-SYSTEM-ON-CHIP

BRIEF BYTE:  

WHAT HAPPENED: 

  • MIT and MITRE’s “quantum-system-on-chip” architecture is a scalable, modular hardware platform that integrates thousands of interconnected qubits onto an customized integrated circuit.

  • During fabrication, two-dimensional arrays of atom-sized diamond microchiplets are transferred onto a CMOS chip. While this single step sounds simple enough, it took years to perfect this part of the process.

  • The diamond color centers act as qubits, which is beneficial due to their scalability and compatibility with modern semiconductor fabrication processes. In addition, they can be individually tuned into resonance with a laser which allows for precise control and communication.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT:

  • The technical challenge with quantum computing is that in order to realize practicality, we will need systems with millions of interconnected qubits. This innovative QSoC architecture addresses this challenge by providing a scalable and precise method for integrating and controlling a large number of qubits.

NEWS

Tags: QUANTUM INSIGHTS

NANOSCALE SPIN WAVES FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT QUANTUM COMPUTING

WHAT HAPPENED: 

  • Researchers achieved the generation of propagating spin waves using nanoscale technology, which involves using the spins of electrons instead of electric currents to store and process information.

  • They used a short pulse of light to excite spins in materials where adjacent spins are canted, creating ultrafast spin waves with terahertz frequencies and sub-micrometer wavelengths.

  • By using two laser pulses with a short time delay, they discovered that they could modulate and amplify these spin waves, controlling their amplitude and phase.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT:

  • This development addresses the need for fast and energy-efficient computing devices in the age of artificial intelligence. Spin waves, which do not involve electric currents, avoid energy losses and overheating problems associated with traditional electronic devices.

  • This breakthrough also opens up new research directions in ultrafast coherent magnonics and has the potential to lead to the development of dissipation-free quantum information technologies.

RESEARCH

Tags: PHOTONIC

OVERVIEW OF DETERMINISTIC GENERATION OF QUDIT PHOTONIC GRAPH STATES FROM QUANTUM EMITTERS

BRIEF BYTE: This study proposes and analyzes deterministic protocols for generating qudit photonic graph states from quantum emitters.

DALL-E

WHY: 

  • Entangled states are foundational to many quantum technologies, including quantum computing, error correction, sensing, and communication. Traditional methods for creating these states often face significant challenges, such as low coupling efficiencies and probabilistic outcomes that limit scalability. By contrast, the proposed methods can reliably produce large, multiphoton entangled states.

  • By using coupled controllable quantum emitters to deterministically generate multiphoton entanglement, this method increases the reliability of creating entangled states and also broadens the range of possible states.

HOW: 

  • Key techniques included the use of time-delayed feedback and precise control over multilevel emitters to achieve deterministic generation of entangled states.

  • The new methodology relied on controlling multilevel emitters and required minimal additional resources compared to qubit-based methods which expanded the range of multiphoton entangled states that can be produced.

RESULTS: 

  • The study presents explicit protocols for generating multiphoton entangled states of time-bin qudits using coupled controllable quantum emitters. These protocols can generate any qudit graph state and include methods for creating one and two-dimensional qudit cluster states, absolutely maximally entangled states, and logical states for quantum error correction.

  • The protocols require a small set of single and two-qubit gates on the emitters, and the only additional resource compared to qubit systems is the ability to control multilevel emitters.

  • The research finds that fewer emitters may be needed if photon-emitter interactions are available which suggests potential resource trade-offs in the generation of complex states.

Source: Raissi, Zahra and Barnes, Edwin and Economou, Sophia E. Deterministic Generation of Qudit Photonic Graph States from Quantum Emitters. PRX Quantum. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.5.020346

RESEARCH

Tags: ALGORITHMS HYBRID

OVERVIEW OF SOLVING VARIOUS NP-HARD PROBLEMS USING EXPONENTIALLY FEWER QUBITS ON A QUANTUM COMPUTER

BRIEF BYTE: This study develops and tests a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm that is a more efficient solution for NP-hard combinatorial problems like Maximum Cut and Maximum Clique.

WHY: 

  • NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems, while applicable to many fields, are notoriously difficult to solve using classical algorithms alone. This study develops and tests a new hybrid quantum-classical algorithm that can address NP-hard problems more efficiently by using the principles of quantum computing.

  • The study builds on a methodology that allows encoding combinatorial optimization problems using exponentially fewer qubits, specifically for the Maximum Cut problem. This approach is extended to other NP-hard problems such as Minimum Partition, Maximum Clique, and Maximum Weighted Independent Set.

  • The proposed algorithm involves creating a quantum circuit that evaluates an objective function and running a classical optimization loop to minimize it. The encoding method allows representing large graphs with a minimal number of qubits, significantly enhancing computational efficiency.

HOW: 

  • The research involved developing a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm to tackle NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems.

  • By reformulating these problems into the Maximum Cut framework and using a QUBO matrix approach, the study enabled efficient processing on quantum hardware. The methodology was validated through extensive testing on both simulators and real quantum computers.

RESULTS: 

  • On the Maximum Cut problem, the proposed algorithm achieved approximately 90% of the optimal solution on quantum simulators for various graph sizes, including those with over 100 nodes. On real quantum hardware, it managed to achieve around 84% of the optimal solution for graphs up to 256 nodes. Most important to note is that the algorithm's performance remained stable even as the graph density increased.

  • The algorithm was benchmarked against classical optimization methods. While classical methods were used to obtain optimal solutions, the quantum algorithm provided near-optimal results in significantly less time.

  • The algorithm demonstrated improved scalability by handling larger instances of the Maximum Cut problem with fewer qubits due to its logarithmic scaling approach. For example, a 128-node problem was solved using only 7 qubits, and a 256-node problem was handled with 8 qubits. This allows the algorithm to be applied to larger problem sizes than previously possible on NISQ devices.

  • The study successfully extended the algorithm to other NP-hard problems, including Minimum Partition, Maximum Clique, and Maximum Weighted Independent Set, by converting them into the Maximum Cut problem.

Source: Chatterjee, Yagnik and Bourreau, Eric et al. Solving various NP-hard problems using exponentially fewer qubits on a quantum computer. Phys. Rev. A. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.052441

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