The collaboration of the School of Physics and Astronomy, of the University of Minnesota and Cornell University, has revealed some unique properties of a new semiconductor such as a superconducting metal. It has created a breakthrough in quantum computing and can be utilized in the nearby future. The metal is known as Niobium diselenide (NbSe2) that can conduct electricity or transport electrons or photons without any resistance. Quantum computing can reap the benefits of this new superconducting metal effectively and efficiently for new innovations.

Niobium diselenide is in 2D form with two-fold symmetry that makes it a more resilient superconductor. There are two types of superconductivity found in this metal conventional wave-type consisting of bulk NbSe2 and unconventional d- or p- wave type for a few layers of NbSe2. These both have the same kind of energies due to the constant interaction and competition between each other. The research teams from both universities have combined the results of two different experimental techniques to generate this ground-breaking discovery. The scientists wanted to investigate the properties of NbSe2 further to able to use unconventional superconducting states to develop advanced quantum computers.

Superconducting metals, help to explore the boundaries between quantum computing and traditional computing with applications in quantum information. The quantum bits transform the functionalities of quantum computers with much higher speed than the traditional ones. Quantum bits exist in a superposition state along with two values 0 and 1 simultaneously with alpha and beta. Quantum computers require around 10,000 qubits to work smartly and help in the entanglement of natures mysteries. Superconductors can create a solid state of the qubit with quantum dots and single-donor systems. These superconductor metals are known for transforming electrons into a single superfluid that can move through a metal lattice without any resistance.

The discovery of 2D crystalline superconductors has opened a plethora of methods to investigate unconventional quantum mechanics. The top-notch quality of monolayer superconductor, NbSe2, is grown by chemical vapor deposition. The growth of these superconductors depends on the ultrahigh vacuum or dangling bond-free substrates that help to reduce environment and substrate-induced defects.

Hence, the world is waiting for further discoveries of some unique properties of any superconducting metal to help in the advancement of quantum computing that can bring certain breakthroughs in industries.

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Quantum Computing Breakthrough: Unveiling Properties of New Superconductor - Analytics Insight

Polaris Quantum Biotech is reinventing drug discovery, reducing the time it takes to find candidate molecules for drug development from the typical three years to just four months. As with other successful efforts to redesign established processes, Polaris is betting on scalability and automation. The startup, co-founded by Shahar Keinan and Bill Shipman, came out of stealth a year ago, revealing the first-ever drug discovery platform using a quantum computer, cost-efficiently scanning billions of molecules from a large chemical space.

Dr. Shahar Keinan, CEO, Polaris Quantum Biotech

Having worked in the drug development industry for years, Polaris founders decided to try and address the two major challenges they identified: The technology used and the business model. We wanted to solve both of these problems together, says Polaris CEO, Shahar Keinan.

The technology-related part of their solution was to use quantum computing, rather than classical computers, to speed-up the process. In terms of the business model, in contrast to the research labs (or Contract Research Organizations) that provide molecular discovery as a service to large pharmaceutical companies, Polaris is licensing their discoveries. With this business model, says Keinan, you need a diverse portfolio in order to diversify your risk. Diversity here is defined as the target disease, the specific protein targeted, and even the delivery mechanism.

Based on industry benchmarks, out of 100 assets (i.e., drug blueprints, lead compounds), between 1 to 5 will be used in a drug that will be sold commercially. Between 75 to 80 may reach clinical testing but typically this number could be reduced to no more than 25 over subsequent testing phases. Polaris is paid at each stage in the drugs journey to the market, and increasingly more as each hurdle is passed successfully.

The lead compounds Polaris develops target specific biological processes that are known to be the cause of a specific disease and are designed to get involved in the process in a way that arrests its further development or eliminates it altogether. We take this big biological machine and put a wrench into it, says Keinan. The trick is to find a molecule that will do exactly what it is expected to do but will not do other, not useful or potentially harmful, things to other biological processes in the human body.

Polaris is developing an ecosystem around its drug discovery platform, enlisting various hardware and software resources to assist it. Last year, it partnered with Fujitsus quantum-inspired Digital Annealer technology, initially targeting dengue fever, a mosquito-borne condition that is present in over 100 countries worldwide, killing as many as 22,000 people each year. Another quantum computing provider Polaris is working with is D-Wave Systems, accessing its quantum annealing technology through the AWS cloud service.

Yet another Polaris partnership was announced recently, collaborating with Auransa to discover treatments for neglected diseases disproportionately affecting women.An example is endometriosis, an incurable condition affecting millions of women caused when tissue that lines the womb grows elsewhere in the abdomen. Auransa is using AI to develop precision medicine solutions in areas of unmet medical needs, and in this partnership, Auransa finds the biological target and Polaris finds the arrow (the lead compound) that will hit the targets bullseye.

Over the last decade, there has been a growing application of AI (or machine/deep learning) to drug discovery and pharmaceutical company executives expect it to be the emerging technology that will have the greatest impact on their industry in 2021. Last year, a survey of life science organizations found that 31% were set to begin quantum computing evaluation in 2020 and a further 39% were planning to evaluate it in 2021 or have quantum computing on their radar. Polaris Quantum Biotech could well be at the center of a perfect storm that will accelerate the pace of drug discovery.

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This Startup Is Using Quantum Computing And AI To Cut Drug Discovery Time From 3 Years To 4 Months - Forbes

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., June 24, 2021 The IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE21), a multidisciplinary event bridging the gap between the science of quantum computing and the development of an industry surrounding it, reveals its full keynote lineup. Taking place 18-22 October 2021 virtually, QCE21 will deliver a series of world-class keynote presentations, as well as workforce-building tutorials, community-building workshops, technical paper presentations, stimulating panels, and innovative posters. Register here.

Also known as IEEE Quantum Week, QCE21 is unique by integrating dimensions from academic and business conferences and will reveal cutting edge research and developments featuring quantum research, practice, applications, education, and training.

QCE21s Keynote Speakers include the following quantum groundbreakers and leaders:

Alan Baratz D-Wave Systems, President & CEO James S. Clarke Intel Labs, Director of Quantum Hardware David J. Dean Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Director Quantum Science Center Jay Gambetta IBM Quantum, IBM Fellow & VP Quantum Computing Sonika Johri IonQ, Senior Quantum Applications Research Scientist Anthony Megrant Google Quantum AI, Lead Research Scientist Prineha Narang Harvard University & Aliro Quantum, Professor & CTO Brian Neyenhuis Honeywell Quantum Solutions, Commercial Operations Leader Urbasi Sinha Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, Professor Krista Svore Microsoft, General Manager Quantum Systems

Through participation from the international quantum community, QCE21 has developed an extensive conference program with world-class keynote speakers, technical paper presentations, innovative posters, exciting exhibits, technical briefings, workforce-building tutorials, community-building workshops, stimulating panels, and Birds-of-Feather sessions.

Papers accepted by QCE21 will be submitted to the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and the best papers will be invited to the journals IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering (TQE) and ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing (TQC).

QCE21 is co-sponsored by IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Communications Society, IEEE Council of Superconductivity, IEEE Future Directions Committee, IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society, IEEE Electronics Packaging Society, IEEE Signal Processing Society (SP), and IEEE Electron Device Society (EDS).

The inaugural 2020 IEEE Quantum Week built a solid foundation and was highly successful over 800 people from 45 countries and 225 companies attended the premier event that delivered 270+ hours of programming on quantum computing and engineering.

The second annual 2021 Quantum Week will virtually connect a wide range of leading quantum professionals, researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, champions, and enthusiasts to exchange and share their experiences, challenges, research results, innovations, applications, and enthusiasm, on all aspects of quantum computing, engineering and technologies. The IEEE Quantum Week schedule will take place during Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).

Visit IEEE QCE21 for all event news including sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities.

QCE21 Registration Package provides Virtual Access to IEEE Quantum Week Oct 18-22, 2021 as well as On-Demand Access to all recorded events until the end of December 2021 featuring over 270 hours of programming in the realm of quantum computing and engineering.

About the IEEE Computer Society

TheIEEE Computer Societyis the worlds 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.

Source: IEEE

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Keynotes Announced for IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering - HPCwire

Imagine a technology that could undo all encryption on the internet. It would be impossible to trust any information communicated, impossible to verify any identity. The security of our society and our economies would crumble.

Thats the potential threat posed by future quantum computers. For all the good that quantum computing promises eradicating disease, helping us understand climate change, identifying new molecules and materials in the wrong hands it could pose an existential risk to classical computers and existing technologies. Fault-tolerant quantum computers with enough processing power would be enough to unravel all the cryptography used in the modern internet.

This threat is especially relevant when it comes to blockchain. More and more companies are adopting blockchain technology given the transparency, security and reduced costs. 84% of companies had some involvement in blockchain in 2018. Quantum threatens the very fabric of the distributed ledger, with the ability to break everything the secure, decentralised, transparent networks stand for.

Quantum computing wont destroy blockchains themselves. It instead threatens to break the security features that underpin them; the features which make it the unique and trusted network it is today.

As public data structures that rely heavily on cryptography, blockchains are natural targets for hackers looking to exploit cryptographic vulnerabilities. Whether its a public chain used to send, verify and receive cryptocurrency, or a private version built for business, each one relies on blocks of data placed one after the other. For data to be included in this chain, it needs to be added and then verified by other members of the group.

Take the example of a private enterprise blockchain. When one company wants to move assets to another company they put the transaction on a block and add this block to the chain. Other members of the community look at the block, confirm that the correct value has gone from company A to company B and they verify the transaction. Once its added, this transaction (or any flow of data) is locked into the chain for life. Its kept not only for posterity, but so that everyone involved knows exactly where that data has come from. The latter is particularly useful for supply chains or tracking the sources of ingredients in food or materials in devices.

On the plus side, this process means the entire history is preserved, locked and protected. On the other hand, it means that the entire history and its security is dependent on the last block placed. If a criminal were to bypass this security and transmit a fraudulent block, every point forward would be based on a modified version of history. Or worse, blockchains could fork, with different parties holding different versions of the past. It would be unclear which parties owned valuable assets, potentially allowing criminals to steal what isnt theirs.

This is bad enough when the data held on blockchain is financial, let alone as the technology is adopted by health providers, governments and even used to underpin the digital data of entire countries all routes that could be, and are being, explored.

In its current form, the security used to protect each of these blocks is robust and resistant to traditional cracking methods. Yet its facing a significant threat; one that has already been proven the threat of quantum-based algorithms. These algorithms can and will break such keys, and they will eventually do so with relative ease. This means its only a matter of time before robust quantum computers currently under development will be able to break larger and larger keys. Some estimates place this moment as little as five to 10 years away.

The only way to keep blockchains safe is to protect them with quantum-proof cryptographic keys in the first place; keys that are impenetrable from even the fastest, most advanced quantum computers we can envision today. To fight quantum with quantum.

The only way to keep blockchains safe is to protect them with quantum-proof cryptographic keys in the first placeTo fight quantum with quantum.

In a paper, published this month with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Tecnolgico de Monterrey, we have developed a proof-of-concept that can be built as a layer on top of existing blockchain technologies. This layer relies upon CQCs IronBridge Platform to generate provably-perfect, quantum-proof keys that address two particular areas of weakness uncovered in blockchain technology. These are the internet communications between blockchain nodes, and blockchain transaction signatures used by businesses to verify their identity when submitting transactions or validating blocks.

By quantum-proof, we refer to keys that are generated using quantum computers, harnessing the innate randomness of quantum mechanics. Not only are these keys completely unpredictable to a quantum attacker, but they are also based on algorithms that are believed to be unbreakable by quantum computers. This technology, available through the IronBridge platform from CQC, works today, even on the limited quantum computers that currently exist, and without ever interfering with a blockchains functionality. It represents the first time ever such a solution has been built and proven in this way.

Yet because securing a blockchain involves applying the same remedies as for other technologies, the work weve done here is not unique to blockchains. It has vast potential.

However, the system is not perfect. Its far more efficient for quantum cryptography to be built into the very bones of blockchain technology, rather than layered on top. It is hoped this research encourages blockchain vendors towards earlier adoption of quantum-proof algorithms and key generation.

Others are approaching the quantum cybersecurity threat in different ways. Companies such as British Telecom and Toshiba are exploring how to share keys using quantum physics; a process known as quantum key distribution (QKD). These QKD systems are still in their infancy, with many technical challenges ahead, but they show promise as another area where quantum will strengthen cybersecurity.

The threat posed to blockchains by quantum computing isnt new, nor is it something thats going to hit in the next few months. But every baby step we take towards faster, cheaper quantum computers today is bringing it more starkly into view. It may be five years from now, it could be 15, but the sooner we protect blockchains and get the basics right today, the more protected it and us will be in the future.

Duncan Jones is Head of Quantum Cybersecurity at Cambridge Quantum.

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The only answer to the quantum cybersecurity threat is quantum - Sifted

The U.S. standards and technology authority is searching for a new encryption method to prevent the Internet of Things succumbing to quantum-enabled hackers

As quantum computing moves from academic circles to practical uses, it is expected to become the conduit for cybersecurity breaches.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology aims to nip these malicious attacks preemptively. Its new cybersecurity protocols would help shield networks from quantum computing hacks.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has consulted with cryptography thought leaders on hardware and software options to migrate existing technologies to post-quantum encryption.

The consultation forms part of a wider national contest, which is due to report back with its preliminary shortlist later this year.

IT pros can download and evaluate the options through the open source repository at NISTs Computer Security Resource Center.

[The message] is to educate the market but also to try to get people to start playing around with [quantum computers] and understanding it because, if you wait until its a Y2K problem, then its too late, said Chris Sciacca, IBMs communications manager for research in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America. So the message here is to start adopting some of these schemes.

Businesses need to know how to contend with quantum decryption, which could potentially jeopardize many Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints.

Quantum threatens society because IoT, in effect, binds our digital and physical worlds together. Worryingly, some experts believe hackers could already be recording scrambled IoT transmissions, to be ready when quantum decryption arrives.

Current protocols such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) will be difficult to upgrade, as they are often baked into the devices circuitry or firmware,

Estimates for when a quantum computer capable of running Shors algorithm vary. An optimist in the field would say it may take 10 to 15 years. But then it could be another Y2K scenario, whose predicted problems never came to pass.

But its still worth getting the enterprises IoT network ready, to be on the safe side.

Broadly speaking, all asymmetric encryption thats in common use today will be susceptible to a future quantum computer with adequate quantum volume, said Christopher Sherman, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, Anything that uses prime factorization or discrete log to create separate encryption and decryption keys, those will all be vulnerable to a quantum computer potentially within the next 15 years.

Why Do We Need Quantum Security?

Quantum computers would answer queries existing technologies cannot resolve, by applying quantum mechanics to compute various combinations of data simultaneously.

As the quantum computing field remains largely in the prototyping phase, current models largely perform only narrow scientific or computational objectives.

All asymmetric cryptography systems, however, could one day be overridden by a quantum mechanical algorithm known as Shors algorithm.

Thats because the decryption ciphers rely on mathematical complexities such as factorization, which Shors could hypothetically unravel in no time.

In quantum physics, what you can do is construct a parameter that cancels some of the probabilities out, explained Luca De Feo, a researcher at IBM who is involved with the NIST quantum-security effort, Shors algorithm is such an apparatus. It makes many quantum particles interact in such a way that the probabilities of the things you are not interested in will cancel out.

Will Quantum Decryption Spell Disaster For IoT?

Businesses must have safeguards against quantum decryption, which threatens IoT endpoints secured by asymmetric encryption.

A symmetric encryption technique, Advanced Encrypton Standard, is believed to be immune to Shors algorithm attacks, but is considered computationally expensive for resource-constrained IoT devices.

For businesses looking to quantum-secure IoT in specific verticals, theres a risk assessment model published by University of Waterloos quantum technology specialist Dr. Michele Mosca. The model is designed to predict the risk and outline times for preparing a response,depending on the kind of organization involved.

As well as integrating a new quantum security standard, theres also a need for mechanisms to make legacy systems quantum-secure. Not only can encryption be broken, but theres also potential for quantum forgeries of digital identities, in sectors such as banking.

I see a lot of banks now asking about quantum security, and definitely governments, Sherman said, They are not just focused on replacing RSA which includes https and TLS but also elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), for example blockchain-based systems. ECC-powered digital signatures will need to be replaced as well.

One option, which NIST is considering, is to blend post-quantum security at network level with standard ciphers on legacy nodes. The latter could then be phased out over time.

A hybrid approach published by NIST guidance around using the old protocols that satisfy regulatory requirements at a security level thats been certified for a given purpose, Sherman said, But then having an encapsulation technique that puts a crypto technique on top of that. It wraps up into that overall encryption scheme, so that in the future you can drop one thats vulnerable and just keep the post-quantum encryption.

Governments Must Defend Against Quantum Hacks

For national governments, its becoming an all-out quantum arms race. And the U.S. may well be losing. Russia and China have both already unveiled initial post-quantum security options, Sherman said.

They finished their competitions over the past couple of years. I wouldnt be surprised if the NIST standard also becomes something that Europe uses, he added.

The threats against IoT devices have only grown more pronounced with current trends.

More virtual health and connected devices deployed in COVID-19, for example, will mean more medical practices are now quantum-vulnerable.

According to analyst firm Omdia, there are three major fault lines in defending the IoT ecosystem: endpoint security, network security and public cloud security. With 46 billion things currently in operation globally, IoT already provides an enlarged attack surface for cybercriminals.

The challenge is protecting any IoT device thats using secure communications or symmetric protocols, said Sherman, Considering that by, 2025 theres over a trillion IoT devices expected to be deployed. Thats obviously quite large in terms of potential exposure. Wherever RSA or TLS is being used with IoT, theres a threat.

Weighing Up Post-Quantum And Quantum Cryptography Methods

Post-quantum cryptography differs from methods such as quantum key distribution (QKD), which use quantum mechanics to secure technology against the coming threat.

QKD is already installed on some government and research communications lines, and hypothetically its impenetrable.

But the average business needs technology that can be implemented quickly and affordably. And, as we dont even know how a quantum decryption device would work in practice, its unrealistic to transfer QKD onto every IoT network.

One of the main post-quantum cryptography standards in the frame is lattice-based cryptography, an approach that is thought to be more resilient against Shors algorithm.

While these are still based on mathematics and could be endangered by future quantum decryption algorithms, they might buy scientists enough time to come up with other economically viable techniques.

Another advantage would be in IoT applications that need the point-to-point security channel, such as connected vehicles, De Feo said.

Probably the lattice-based schemes are the best right now to run on IoT devices. Some efforts will be needed in the chip design process to make these even easier to run, he added, But we should probably start thinking about this right now. Because it will probably take around five-to-seven years after the algorithms have been found for the chips to reach peoples homes or industrial systems.

And then potentially [if the optimistic estimates are right,] quantum computers will have arrived.

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NIST's Quantum Security Protocols Near the Finish Line The U.S. standards and technology authority is searching - IoT World Today

Amira Abbas, research scientist at IBM

Here, Abbas shares more about herself, her achievements, and what made her choose to focus on quantum computing.

Abbas: I feel extremely fortunate because I think I have a super cool role that combines everything I love doing. Im currently a PhD student and my research is directly aligned to the research I do at IBM. In other words, researching for my PhD is my job.

Currently, I spend most of my time trying to figure out how quantum computers can help make artificial intelligence (AI) better. Quantum computers are often viewed as supercomputers that can outperform the computers we use today. But, its actually quite hard to figure out where quantum computers can help us, especially in AI.

I work with the IBM team in Zurich, Switzerland to try and understand this particular problem. I also work with the team in South Africa to teach more people in Africa about quantum computing. I love this balance of research and community work in my role because it requires very different skills and stimulates me in different ways.

Abbas: I grew up in a city called Durban on the east coast of South Africa. I always loved mathematics and used to get really excited as a kid when I saw crazy equations in movies. I would think to myself I wish I could understand those things and do stuff like that. This curiosity and relish to understand mathematics lead me to study actuarial science, which is notoriously heavy on mathematics and statistics.

I then went to work in asset management in Johannesburg for a few years. This was a great learning experience, but I couldnt shake the feeling that something was missing from my life.

Soon after this discovery, I left the financial industry and went back to study a masters in physics specialising in quantum computing. I am now doing my PhD in quantum machine learning and couldnt be happier.

Abbas: I think what excites me most about quantum computing is all the unknowns and things we still have to discover. As a researcher, its a dream to work in a field with so many open questions like how can quantum help AI? How can quantum help Africa and Africa-specific problems? Are quantum techniques even helpful and beneficial to us?

Additionally, there are lots of low-hanging fruit because the field of quantum computing is relatively young and so lots of discoveries are inevitable.

The field itself is also so broad and has attracted a very interesting and diverse community. This makes quantum even more enjoyable - being in a space with cool people and getting to explore fascinating things.

Abbas: I would love to continue to produce high calibre research output in quantum computing.

I want to inspire others to see that it doesnt matter where youre from, what university you are at or what your background is if you believe you can do something meaningful - even in a field as crazy sounding as quantum computing - then you can. It just takes hard work and persistence. So, I just want to keep at it and progress my research career by producing interesting work in the field of quantum computing and AI.

Abbas: In terms of achievements, I think its pretty cool that Im the first African to have received Googles PhD Fellowship award for the category of quantum computing.

I have also placed first at global quantum computing hackathon events, such as the Qiskit Europe Hackathon in 2019 Zurich and the Xanadu Quantum Hackathon in Toronto 2019.

Recently, I was the lead author on a quantum machine learning paper that made the cover of a Nature Research journal.

Otherwise, I have also received multiple scholarship awards and invited speaker requests to numerous quantum and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics events.

Abbas: My life in a nutshell: Coffee, research, reading, eating and somehow managing to sleep.

My family often say that I work a bit more than the average person, but when youre working on something youre passionate about, it never feels like work and it never feels like enough.

But on weekends, I try to get out into nature as much as possible. Living in South Africa, I am privileged to be able to experience such wonderful outdoor activities and I love hiking.

Abbas: I always say that science and technology is a lot more like art than people realise. Its crucial to grasp for critical thinking, but you have to find what works for you, and its important as a young person to keep in mind that science and technology are extremely broad just because you dont understand one thing, doesnt mean you wont understand everything.

Its also important for our youth to think about what the future holds, for any country, industry or profession and just how advancements in science and technology will affect that.

Luckily we live in a time where we can have access to high-quality research and ideas through our phones. This is how I came across quantum computing which, for example, has the potential to speed up computations used across finance, logistics, healthcare, and more.

We need to foster our skills locally so that our research can contribute to cutting-edge work and allow us to be ahead of the curve, instead of mere consumers of advanced tech/science.

Abbas: Its really easy to develop a mental 'block' against science and technology. Sometimes people become afraid of maths for example if they dont understand it in high school. This was similar to my experience with physics, in fact, physics was my lowest mark in school because I never really understood it. Now Im doing a PhD in physics which I would have thought impossible. The key is to view science and technology as art and find your niche in this very broad space.

As for advice, I strongly believe that all it takes to achieve your goals is consistent hard work and a balanced lifestyle. If youre still figuring out what your passion is, or feeling as if something in your life is missing, keep upskilling yourself and try to read more about things you normally wouldnt. Maybe one day you will come across the thing that makes you tick, and then hard work can be pleasurable if youre working on something aligned to your passion.

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#YouthMatters: IBM's Amira Abbas on quantum computing and AI - Bizcommunity.com

Published 10 hours ago

Submitted by Keysight Technologies

Keysight Blog

By Brianne McClure | Brand Storyteller

Two years into the electrical engineering program at Rutgers University, Elizabeth (Liz) Ruetsch called her father in tears. She told him that she wanted to quit the program. The problem was, as her father pointed out pragmatically, she didn't have a plan B.

Liz shared this story with me when I invited her to participate in our Refusing Limits interview series to celebrateInternational Women in Engineering Day. Despite her initial feelings that the electrical engineering program was too challenging and she could not see herself working in research and development, Liz would go on to graduate as one of six women in a class of 160 engineers. She has since become an inspiration to many engineers especially women.

On her way to the finish line, Liz saw many of her female peers come to a similar crossroads and drop out. Thats when she realized how important it is for women in engineeringto have beacons. Liz explained that beacons are people in the industry who inspire you and give you a reason to stick with the engineering journey when things get tough. Once she found her own beacons, Liz wanted to help other women do the same, so they would be inspired to complete the engineering program.

When I spoke with Liz, I was eager to learn how she went from almost dropping out of engineering school to forging a fascinating career in the test and measurement industry - spanning twenty-seven years of sales, marketing, and leadership. She has worked in the US and internationally during her career, including a two-year assignment living and working in China. She was also recognized by the Society of Women Engineers with a Global Leadership Award and the North Bay Business Journal with a Women in Business Award. She now leads the quantum engineering team at Keysight.

Liz, how much of your ability to stick with the engineering program came down to sheer determination? And do you think women with grit are more likely to succeed as engineers?

The women in my engineering program were brilliant and had plenty of grit. So, I think it's more likely that they didn't have good enough reasons to keep going. The program is very demanding, and if you can't picture yourself coming out of it and entering a career that excites you, changing course makes a lot of sense. That's especially true at a university like Rutgers, where you can pursue degrees outside of engineering.

During the program, I found myself looking for inspiration. When I was introduced to a broader range of engineering careers, I became more excited about being an engineer. I wanted to inspire that same kind of excitement in my peers, soI got involved with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). As co-president of our local section, I introduced a weekly speaker series where people from different engineering disciplines and roles (sales, marketing, operations) would talk about their work. Those speakers became beacons who showed the women in our sectionthat even if mechanical or electrical engineering wasn't for them, they might enjoy industrial, packaging, or environmental engineering. I'm proud to say that the program made a difference in retaining women in the overall engineering program.

We also started a program where girls in high school spent a weekend at the university getting a feel for studying engineering by working on some projects and meeting women studying in various engineering fields. When I received my leadership award at the SWE conference, I sought out the current president of the Rutgers SWE section. I was thrilled to hear from her that this weekend program is still going today - almost 30 years later.

In hindsight, do you think working through the most challenging parts of the engineering program helped prepare you for the real world?

I learned a lot about myself between the time I called my father - ready to quit - and graduation. Sticking with the program taught me how to navigate a hard situation, that I knew would last at least another two years until completion. Along the way, I realized that I dont have to have all of the answers on day one to keep moving forward. Once I could break the unknown down into smaller, solvable problems, the challenge suddenly became exciting and ultimately rewarding. And Im glad I learned that lesson early on because the most pivotal points in my career came down to taking on big challenges that I did not have a clear path to solving on day one.

Can you describe some of those pivotal points in your career?

When I started my career as a sales representative for Hewlett Packard (HP), my customer was a big defense contractor. At that time, I was twenty-something years old and trying to sell to a bunch of guys who were radar, missile, and satellite engineers. The first time I walked into a meeting, they said, "you know nothing about radar, right?" They said, "sure; maybe you have an engineering degree. And maybe you understand circuits and electromagnetics or digital signal processing from your textbooks. But what do you really know about radar? How can you possibly help me?" That was an intimidating situation. Luckily, I was learning at that time how to be comfortable with not having all the answers. So, I said, "You know what? I know absolutely nothing about radar, but I'd love to hear about it." And thankfully, people love to talk about what they are working on. And the more they talked, the more I listened to their challenges and learned what solutions we could bring to bear. Many of these customers became close friends, and here it is twenty years later, and I'm still in contact with them even though they are well into retirement.

Another significant challenge in my career was living and working in China. I had traveled to China frequentlyand managed people there and in 14 other countries. But living and working in China is far different than staying at the Marriott there for a few days. During my first three months, I struggled with learning the most effective way to lead the local team. But once I solicited some excellent mentors and did some deep reflecting, it turned into a tremendous experience. I learned more in my two years there than in other roles I had held for over five years.

Twenty-seven years later, I'm still doing work that stretches me as a leader. Because as I like to tell my teams - it's good to feel scared every few years. Thats how you know you are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Before taking on my latest role, I had expressed interest to my management about getting involved with mergers and acquisitions. In late 2019, an opportunity came about where we planned to acquire a company in Boston and set up a research and development team there. My leaders were looking for a general manager to integrate the acquired company with Keysight. It was one of those opportunities that's equal parts thrilling and terrifying. On the one hand, I had an excellent background in many of the areas that touch quantum, including aerospace and defense, markets like China, business models for selling software and services, and providing complete test solutions. On the other hand, I was not a quantum physicist. Since Keysight is a results-oriented company, and I've delivered results consistently in multiple business units, the management team supported me to stretch myself into this new GM role. When they offered me the role, I took on the challenge enthusiastically and started to navigate this new territory.

And youve been in that role for over a year now. Would you make the same decision again?

It was a massive leap for me with a lot of unknowns. But I knew that I would be able to figure things out along the way. Part of the reason I was confident was because of the caliber of the team that I had the opportunity to work with and learn from. And we have since added to that team with some exceptional industry and university talent. Having the opportunity to lead theteam that is enabling our customers to advance quantum computing has been one of the most exhilarating adventures of my career. And were just getting started!

Immediately after we founded our quantum research lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the world went into quarantine due to the pandemic. Like many people, we had to learn how to interview, hire, onboard, and manage a new team remotely. Hiring both quantum physicists and software engineers for research and development was entirely new to me, so we formed a group of managers with experience in this area to assist.

In parallel with this work, we also started the process to acquire another company,Quantum Benchmark. Quantum Benchmark was the first acquisition that I led from beginning to end, which was an even more complex challenge. It takes a lot of preparation to identify and promote an acquisition target to your CEO and board of directors. Once again, I called on a team of people with experience in this area to coach and guide us. And it worked out as Quantum Benchmark became part of Keysight in April.

Youve talked a lot about the importance of taking on challenges that push you out of your comfort zone. How does that belief manifest in your leadership style?

For the first time in my management career, there are more people on my team with Ph.D.'s than not. These individuals are at the leading edge of quantum, and they are very comfortable pushing the boundaries of technology. But I did encourage our team to be intentional about cultivating a diversity of thought across the ecosystem as they hired new team members.

Right now, the physics part of quantum is reasonably known. But the engineering part of actually building a computer is a big challenge. To progress this technology forward, you need very cross-disciplinary teams. You need physicists, software engineers, and FPGA [field programmable gate array] engineers. You also need to balance university experience with start-up experience and corporate experience to ensure that the solutions are innovative, scalable, and supportable.

And it's exciting to see this unique combination of talent working together to challenge what's possible. The most rewarding part about leading this team is seeing them engaging with customers and partners, being excited about their work, and having opportunities to stretch themselves.

And now that youve helped launch the Women in Quantum mentoring program, youre empowering people inside and out of the company to grow. Can you give an update on how thats going?

Sure. We introduced theWomen in Quantum mentoring programearlier this year. The idea behind creating a network of women in quantum goes back to our conversation earlier about setting up beacons to illuminate paths forward when people are feeling stuck or just needing some inspiration. When I learned about theWomen in Quantumorganization led byDenise Ruffner, I saw an opportunity to leverage Keysight's internal mentoring platform to connect mentors and mentees across the industry. I then sought out support from our Director of Diversity and Inclusion,Leslie Camino-Markowitz, and she made it happen. We have had over 400 people sign up for the program to date. It is also exciting that it keeps coming up on my calls with customers who've told me how glad they are that Keysight is sponsoring this effort to help with the talent pipeline in the quantum ecosystem.

The program is open to people of all gender identities who want to be a mentee or mentor. And it's not just mentoring on technical topics. A lot of people have called me out of the blue about career navigation. Or they have great ideas but can't get any buy-in, and they want coaching on how to improve their influencing skills. I'm always amazed when I'm speaking with mentees that sharing the simplest things can help somebody get unstuck and make them feel empowered to move forward.

Youve touched a lot of lives over the years. How do you feel when people call you inspirational?

I was surprised by how many people came up to me and said something along those lines after I received the Global Leadership Award during the Society of Women Engineers conference in Austin, TX. I have never intentionally set out to challenge the status quo or to inspire anyone. I like to challenge myself and try new things and somehow that inspires other women in the process. When that happenswhen I hear their success storiesit is special.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) is a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world. Keysight's solutions optimize networks and bring electronic products to market faster and at a lower cost with offerings from design simulation, to prototype validation, to manufacturing test, to optimization in networks and cloud environments.

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CSRWire - Refusing Limits with Liz Ruetsch - CSRwire.com

A recent market research report added to repository of Mart Research is an in-depth analysis of Global Quantum Computing Software Market. On the basis of historic growth analysis and current scenario of Quantum Computing Software market place, the report intends to offer actionable insights on global market growth projections. Authenticated data presented in report is based on findings of extensive primary and secondary research. Insights drawn from data serve as excellent tools that facilitate deeper understanding of multiple aspects of global Quantum Computing Software market. This further helps user with their developmental strategy.

This report examines all the key factors influencing growth of global Quantum Computing Software market, including demand-supply scenario, pricing structure, profit margins, production and value chain analysis. Regional assessment of global Quantum Computing Software market unlocks a plethora of untapped opportunities in regional and domestic market places. Detailed company profiling enables users to evaluate company shares analysis, emerging product lines, scope of NPD in new markets, pricing strategies, innovation possibilities and much more.

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Segmented by Category System Software

Application Software

Segmented by End User-Segment Big Data Analysis

Biochemical Manufacturing

Machine Learning

Segmented by Country North America United States Canada Mexico Europe Germany France UK Italy Russia Spain Asia Pacific China Japan Korea Southeast Asia India Australasia Central & South America Brazil Argentina Colombia Middle East & Africa Iran Israel Turkey South Africa Saudi Arabia

Key manufacturers included in this survey Origin Quantum Computing Technology

Microsoft

Ion Q

Intel

IBM

Google

D Wave

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Table of Contents

1 Product Introduction and Overview 2 Global Quantum Computing Software Supply by Company 3 Global and Regional Quantum Computing Software Market Status by Category 4 Global and Regional Quantum Computing Software Market Status by End User/Segment 5 Global Quantum Computing Software Market Status by Region 6 North America Quantum Computing Software Market Status 7 Europe Quantum Computing Software Market Status 8 Asia Pacific Quantum Computing Software Market Status 9 Central & South America Quantum Computing Software Market Status 10 Middle East & Africa Quantum Computing Software Market Status 11 Supply Chain and Manufacturing Cost Analysis 12 Global Quantum Computing Software Market Forecast by Category and by End User/Segment 13 Global Quantum Computing Software Market Forecast by Region/Country 14 Key Participants Company Information 15 Conclusion 16 Methodology

Points Covered in the Report

The points that are discussed within the report are the major market players that are involved in the market such as market players, raw material suppliers, equipment suppliers, end users, traders, distributors and etc.

The complete profile of the companies is mentioned. And the capacity, production, price, revenue, cost, gross, gross margin, sales volume, sales revenue, consumption, growth rate, import, export, supply, future strategies, and the technological developments that they are making are also included within the report. This report analysed 12 years data history and forecast.

The growth factors of the market are discussed in detail wherein the different end users of the market are explained in detail.

Data and information by market player, by region, by type, by application and etc., and custom research can be added according to specific requirements.

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Quantum Computing Software Market Analytical Overview, Growth Factors, Demand and Trends Forecast to 2027 The Manomet Current - The Manomet Current

Newswise July 1 marks the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. Since its inception, Argonne has dramatically evolved from a nuclear facility devoted to the peaceful use of atomic power to a multipurpose laboratory whose scientific work seeks to solve critical physical, environmental, economic and social problems.

Looking back at some of the key figures in Argonnes history offers a chance to reflect on some accomplishments that have transformed American science through discoveries in energy, climate, health, computing, cosmology and more, and improved our everyday lives.

Key figures in Argonnes history transformed American science through discoveries in energy, climate, health, computing, cosmology and more.

Argonnes story begins with Enrico Fermi, the labs first director before it was chartered and the architect of the nuclear age. Fermi pioneered the advance of nuclear energy and paved the way for accomplishments that would end World War II and enable 75 years of civilian peacetime nuclear energy.

Fermi won the Nobel Prize in 1938, for his work in radioactivity and for the discovery of elements beyond uranium that were later understood to be previously unknown fission products. That same year, he and his Jewish wife fled Italy where he had been a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Rome to escape Nazi persecution. In 1942, Fermi and a team helped build the first self-sustaining, human-created nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. This discovery resulted in the founding of Argonne four years later.

Fermis legacy of work in nuclear physics dramatically revolutionized society. Not only did it pave the way for the atomic bomb, but all nuclear reactors around the world owe their existence to Fermis research.

Work continues to this day in nuclear reactor design and development, but now much of it is done on computers. Scientists from several institutions, including Argonne, are working to build the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), which could allow for a plug-and-play operating model where different parts are tested experimentally. While the VTR will not produce electricity, the experiments conducted through it could help scientists develop ideas for future commercial nuclear reactors that could eventually power homes and businesses with clean, carbon-free energy.

Like Enrico Fermi, Maria Goeppert Mayer was an immigrant, spending her youth in Germany. She worked on the Manhattan Project at Columbia University before coming to Argonne.

Mayer is most widely known for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus, a theory that garnered her the Nobel Prize in physics in 1963. This model holds that the neutrons and protons inside a nucleus are ordered into spaced shells, much like the electrons outside of the nucleus. Mayer was the second woman to win the physics Nobel Prize, 60 years after Marie Curie, and the first Argonne employee to win the Nobel Prize based on work done at the laboratory.

Mayers discovery opened the door for a new kind of nuclear physics and revolutionized scientists understanding of the inner parts of atoms.

Todays researchers, including those using the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System,a DOE Office of Science User Facility, build upon Mayers pivotal discovery, refining their understanding of the structure of the nucleus, especially the quarks and gluons that compose the protons and neutrons. Also following Mayers legacy, Argonne awards the Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellowship internationally to outstanding doctoral scientists and engineers for a three-year program pursuing the fellows research interests.

Alexei Abrikosovs theory for superconductors materials that conduct electricity with no energy loss at extremely low temperatures led to the development of a previously unknown, second type of superconductor.

Until Abrikosovs discovery, scientists only understood one type of superconductor, which broke down when the magnetic field got too strong. Abrikosovs type-II superconductors held higher currents and thus enabled stronger magnetic fields.

Born in Moscow, Abrikosov worked in the field of theoretical physics until 1991, when he joined Argonne as a distinguished scientist in material science until 2014. In 2003, he won the Nobel Prize in physics for his work with superconductors.

Abrikosovs work on superconductivity has had profound implications for particle accelerators, fusion reactors, cell phone towers and wind turbine compact motors. The design of MRI machines is based on type-II superconductors. Today, Abrikosov's work continues to contribute to Argonne research on the properties of metal and superconductors.

Margaret Butler was one of Americas earliest computer scientists. Beginning her career as a government statistician, she quickly joined Argonne as a junior mathematician in 1947. In the early 1950s, Butler worked on the AVIDAC (Argonne Version of the Institute's Digital Automatic Computer), one of the nations first supercomputers. AVIDAC was used to solve mathematical problems for nuclear reactor engineering and theoretical physics research. As time went on and more supercomputers were developed, Butler expanded her portfolio to solve problems in biology, chemistry and physics.

In addition to her work in computer science, Butler was also a key proponent of women in science, becoming the first woman fellow of the American Nuclear Society. She organized the Association for Women in Science in Chicago and worked to hire and promote women during her time at Argonne.

Butlers application of supercomputers to large-scale scientific questions proved that these tools could have a wide variety of uses for solving vital problems of national interest. She was able to show the use of computers across scientific fields, positioning computer science as a real tool for inquiry.

Butlers supercomputing legacy lives on at Argonne today through the Margaret Butler Fellowship in Computational Science, awarded to postdoctoral candidates through the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science User Facility. Her legacy also lives on at Argonne as the laboratory embarks on the exascale era with supercomputers more than a billion times faster than the AVIDAC. Computer science at Argonne touches every scientific discipline, from materials science to metagenomics, and in fields that help develop solutions for fighting climate change and COVID-19.

Leona Woods was the youngest scientist, and the only woman, to work on the Manhattan Project in Chicago. Working alongside Enrico Fermi and 47 other men, Woods created neutron detectors that were critical to confirming the occurrence of the sustained nuclear chain reaction that the team created.

Woods then worked with Fermis team on the Chicago Pile-2 and Chicago Pile-3 reactors at Argonne. In 1944, the Argonne team moved to the Hanford Site in Washington, where a large reactor was producing plutonium for bombs. When the reactor kept shutting down after its initial power-up, Woods helped determine the root of the problem: radioactive poison from the rare isotope xenon-135.

In a time when women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers was rare, Woods stood out as an exemplary scientist, playing a key role in creating the worlds first nuclear reactor. Throughout her lifetime, Woods published more than 200 scientific papers.

Later in her career, Woods worked in ecology and environmental science, devising methods of using isotope ratios for retroactively studying temperature and rainfall patterns from hundreds of years before records existed. Her foundational research opened the door to the study of climate change. Today, Argonne is a leader in research on understanding and mitigating climate change.

Walter Massey was Argonnes sixth director and the first African American to hold the post. Born during the Jim Crow era in Mississippi in 1938, Massey had a determination and intelligence that earned him a scholarship to Morehouse College and later a postdoctoral research position at Argonne, among other faculty positions he held before becoming Argonnes director.

Less than a month after Massey accepted the position as Argonnes director, a nuclear generating station in Pennsylvania, called Three-Mile Island, experienced a partial meltdown. The incident caused a rise in conflicting politics over the importance of nuclear energy research, which was Argonnes historical foundation. To give Argonne a more positive public image, Massey fostered relations with the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., and launched a new campaign for the fast breeder reactor to promote the significance of the work done at Argonne.

As part of the campaign, Massey oversaw the construction of the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (later decommissioned), which brought researchers to Argonne and helped them make many scientific discoveries, such as identifying the structure and formation of Alzheimers plaques. Massey also laid the groundwork for what would become the Advanced Photon Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, now considered one of the worlds most productive X-ray light sources.

As Argonnes director in the early 1980s, Massey pushed for the development of the fast breeder reactor, a pioneering new nuclear technology, and was a staunch advocate of renewable energy.

Today, his legacy lives on at Argonne, especially in the community and educational outreach programs that were initiated during his tenure. This year Argonne introduced the Walter Massey Fellowship for exceptional scientists of color to conduct research at Argonne.

Rudy Bouie began his career at Argonne as a janitor in 1963, rising in the ranks to become director of the Plant Facilities and Services (PFS) Division in 1982. He served as chief operations officer in his last year at Argonne, before his death in 2001.

A native Chicagoan, Bouie promoted the success of others and Argonne. He advocated for opportunities for women in STEM and provided employment opportunities for adults with disabilities. In addition, he helped create a high school education program that mentored students in STEM, leading several graduates to assume positions at Argonne.

When he became director of PFS, Bouie inherited a lab with buildings that were nearly 30 years old and in desperate need of upgrades. During that time, the funds for such projects were shrinking while the need grew for new buildings and renovations.

Bouie secured funds by networking in Washington, D.C., and outlining detailed plans extending years into the future. He raised funds to construct new buildings, renovate old ones and finally replace temporary buildings. Many of those new buildings are still important to Argonne today. In honor of all his contributions to the mission of Argonne, Bouie received the University of Chicago Outstanding Service Award in 1993.

In the mid-1960s, Roland Winston produced an important design for collecting solar radiation: a hollow, cone-like structure with reflective walls that concentrated sunlight. However, Winston, then an associate professor of physics at the University of Chicago, wasnt focused on generating electricity. He wanted to use his funnel for light, as he later called it, to collect Cherenkov radiation, a type of light useful for detecting subatomic particles in nuclear and particle physics experiments.

Nearly a decade later, Winstons work drew interest from Argonne Director Robert Sachs. Spurred by the oil crisis, Sachs and others were looking at ways to make solar energy cheaper and more efficient by avoiding the mechanical design complexities that resulted from the need to track the suns movement across the sky. Winston collaborated with Argonne scientists to apply his design for solar radiation collection to the first prototype of a solar collector, called a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC), which could efficiently focus sunlight throughout the day without moving.

With his CPC, Winston unwittingly helped start the field of nonimaging optics, which is essential not just for solar energy, but also for astronomy and illumination. Since collaborating with Argonne, Winston has gone on to win more than 10 awards for his work with solar energy.

Today, researchers continue to explore ways to make CPCs smaller, more efficient and more affordable. They are commonly used in fiber optics, solar energy collection and biomedical and defense research.

While working as a scientist at Argonne, Paul Benioff made a discovery that opened up an entirely new field of computing. Today, Argonne scientists are working on multiple efforts in quantum computing using dual-state quantum bits, or qubits, to solve problems that current supercomputers cannot. But in the 1970s, quantum computers were still only an idea one that many scientists considered impossible.

Benioff changed that. In a groundbreaking paper published in 1980, he demonstrated for the first time that a quantum computer was indeed theoretically possible. He developed his model further in subsequent papers. By proving that quantum computers were not an impossibility, as many had thought, Benioff catalyzed an entire field that is now focused on building quantum systems to relay information and perform dauntingly complex calculations.

Benioff joined Argonne in 1961, working in chemistry and environmental sciences. His quantum explorations werent part of the job he did the research in his spare time. In 2001, he received the University of Chicago Medal for Distinguished Performance and, in 2016, Argonne held a symposium in honor of his quantum computing work, with Benioff attending as a speaker. He continued to publish research on quantum theory well into the last decade.

Christina Nunez also contributed to this story.

About the Advanced Photon Source

The U. S. Department of Energy Office of Sciences Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory is one of the worlds most productive X-ray light source facilities. The APS provides high-brightness X-ray beams to a diverse community of researchers in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, the life and environmental sciences, and applied research. These X-rays are ideally suited for explorations of materials and biological structures; elemental distribution; chemical, magnetic, electronic states; and a wide range of technologically important engineering systems from batteries to fuel injector sprays, all of which are the foundations of our nations economic, technological, and physical well-being. Each year, more than 5,000 researchers use the APS to produce over 2,000 publications detailing impactful discoveries, and solve more vital biological protein structures than users of any other X-ray light source research facility. APS scientists and engineers innovate technology that is at the heart of advancing accelerator and light-source operations. This includes the insertion devices that produce extreme-brightness X-rays prized by researchers, lenses that focus the X-rays down to a few nanometers, instrumentation that maximizes the way the X-rays interact with samples being studied, and software that gathers and manages the massive quantity of data resulting from discovery research at the APS.

This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nations first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance Americas scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.

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People of Argonnes history: A look at leaders who made Argonne what it is today - Newswise

MIT researchers have made a significant advance on the road toward the full realization of quantum computation, demonstrating a technique that eliminates common errors in the most essential operation of quantum algorithms, the two-qubit operation or gate.

Despite tremendous progress toward being able to perform computations with low error rates with superconducting quantum bits (qubits), errors in two-qubit gates, one of the building blocks of quantum computation, persist, says Youngkyu Sung, an MIT graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science who is the lead author of a paper on this topic published today in Physical Review X. We have demonstrated a way to sharply reduce those errors.

In quantum computers, the processing of information is an extremely delicate process performed by the fragile qubits, which are highly susceptible to decoherence, the loss of their quantum mechanical behavior. In previous research conducted by Sung and the research group he works with, MIT Engineering Quantum Systems, tunable couplers were proposed, allowing researchers to turn two-qubit interactions on and off to control their operations while preserving the fragile qubits. The tunable coupler idea represented a significant advance and was cited, for example, by Google as being key to their recent demonstration of the advantage that quantum computing holds over classical computing.

Still, addressing error mechanisms is like peeling an onion: Peeling one layer reveals the next. In this case, even when using tunable couplers, the two-qubit gates were still prone to errors that resulted from residual unwanted interactions between the two qubits and between the qubits and the coupler. Such unwanted interactions were generally ignored prior to tunable couplers, as they did not stand out but now they do. And, because such residual errors increase with the number of qubits and gates, they stand in the way of building larger-scale quantum processors. The Physical Review X paper provides a new approach to reduce such errors.

We have now taken the tunable coupler concept further and demonstrated near 99.9 percent fidelity for the two major types of two-qubit gates, known as Controlled-Z gates and iSWAP gates, says William D. Oliver, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, MIT Lincoln Laboratory fellow, director of the Center for Quantum Engineering, and associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, home of the Engineering Quantum Systems group. Higher-fidelity gates increase the number of operations one can perform, and more operations translates to implementing more sophisticated algorithms at larger scales.

To eliminate the error-provoking qubit-qubit interactions, the researchers harnessed higher energy levels of the coupler to cancel out the problematic interactions. In previous work, such energy levels of the coupler were ignored, although they induced non-negligible two-qubit interactions.

Better control and design of the coupler is a key to tailoring the qubit-qubit interaction as we desire. This can be realized by engineering the multilevel dynamics that exist, Sung says.

The next generation of quantum computers will be error-corrected, meaning that additional qubits will be added to improve the robustness of quantum computation.

Qubit errors can be actively addressed by adding redundancy, says Oliver, pointing out, however, that such a process only works if the gates are sufficiently good above a certain fidelity threshold that depends on the error correction protocol. The most lenient thresholds today are around 99 percent. However, in practice, one seeks gate fidelities that are much higher than this threshold to live with reasonable levels of hardware redundancy.

The devices used in the research, made at MITs Lincoln Laboratory, were fundamental to achieving the demonstrated gains in fidelity in the two-qubit operations, Oliver says.

Fabricating high-coherence devices is step one to implementing high-fidelity control, he says.

Sung says high rates of error in two-qubit gates significantly limit the capability of quantum hardware to run quantum applications that are typically hard to solve with classical computers, such as quantum chemistry simulation and solving optimization problems.

Up to this point, only small molecules have been simulated on quantum computers, simulations that can easily be performed on classical computers.

In this sense, our new approach to reduce the two-qubit gate errors is timely in the field of quantum computation and helps address one of the most critical quantum hardware issues today, he says.

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Clearing the way toward robust quantum computing - MIT News