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Microsoft First Step To A Quantum Supercomputer

Microsoft Has Completed The First Step To Building A Quantum Supercomputer

Microsoft is leading the race in artificial intelligence (AI) models and has also set its eye on the future of computing. In an announcement made on Wednesday, the Redmond, Washington-headquartered company unveiled a roadmap where it plans to build a quantum supercomputer in the next 10 years.

Quantum computing has been in the news in recent weeks for beating supercomputers at complex math and being able to compute at speeds much faster than one could imagine. Scientists have acknowledged that they have used noisy physical qubits for these achievements, which are not error-free.

Microsoft refers to today’s quantum computers as those belonging to the foundational level. According to the software giant, these computers need upgrades in the underlying technology, much like early computing machines did as they moved from vacuum tubes to transistors and then to integrated circuits before taking their current form.

Logical qubits

In its roadmap, Microsoft suggests that as an industry, quantum computing needs to move on from noisy physical qubits to reliable logical qubits since the former cannot reliably run scaled applications.

Microsoft suggests bundling hundreds to thousands of physical qubits into one logical qubit to increase redundancy and reduce error rates. Since qubits are prone to interference from their environment, efforts must be made to increase their stability, which will aid in increasing their reliability.

Reliable logical qubits can be scaled to perform complex problems that need solving urgently. However, since we do not have a measure of how reliable calculations in quantum computing are, the company has proposed a new measure called reliable Quantum Operations Per Second (rQOPS) to do so.

Microsoft claims that the Majorana-based qubit announced last year is highly stable but also difficult to create. The company has published its progress in the peer-reviewed publication in the journal Physical Review B.

Platform to accelerate discovery

Microsoft has completed the first step to building a quantum supercomputer — When quantum computing will reach the supercomputer stageMicrosoft

Microsoft estimates that the first quantum supercomputer will need to deliver at least one million rQOPS with an error rate of 10^-12,or one in every trillion operations, to be able to provide valuable inputs in solving scientific problems. However, quantum computers of today deliver an rQOPS value of zero, meaning that the industry as a whole has a long way to go before we see the first quantum supercomputer.

Instead of decades, Microsoft wants to build this supercomputer in a matter of years and has now launched its Azure Quantum Elements platform to accelerate scientific discovery. The platform will enable organizations to leverage the latest breakthroughs in high-performance computing (HPC), AI, and quantum computing to make advances in chemistry and material science to build the next generation of quantum computers.

The company is also extending its Copilot services to Azure Quantum, where researchers will be able to use natural language processing to solve complex problems of chemistry and materials science. Copilot can help researchers query quantum computers and visualize data using an integrated browser.

Microsoft’s competitors in this space are Google and IBM, who have also unveiled their quantum capabilities.

IBM’s Quantum Leap: The Future Holds a 100,000-Qubit Supercomputer

IBM Aims for Unprecedented Quantum Computing Advancement: A 100,000-Qubit Supercomputer Collaboration with Leading Universities and Global Impact.

During the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, IBM unveiled an ambitious $100 million initiative, joining forces with the University of Tokyo and the University of Chicago to construct a massive quantum computer boasting an astounding 100,000 qubits. This groundbreaking endeavor intends to revolutionize the computing field and unlock unparalleled possibilities across various domains.

Despite already holding the record for the largest quantum computing system with a 433-qubit processor, IBM’s forthcoming machine signifies a monumental leap forward in quantum capabilities. Rather than seeking to replace classical supercomputers, the project aims to synergize quantum power with classical computing to achieve groundbreaking advancements in drug discovery, fertilizer production, and battery performance.

IBM’s Vice President of Quantum, Jay Gambetta, envisions this collaborative effort as “quantum-centric supercomputing,” emphasizing the integration of the immense computational potential of quantum machines with the sophistication of classical supercomputers. By leveraging the strengths of both technologies, this fusion endeavors to tackle complex challenges that have long remained unsolvable. The initiative holds the potential to reshape scientific research and make significant contributions to the global scientific community.

Strides made for technological advancement

While significant progress has been made, the technology required for quantum-centric supercomputing is still in its infancy. IBM’s proof-of-principle experiments have shown promising results, demonstrating that integrated circuits based on CMOS technology can control cold qubits with minimal power consumption.

However, further innovations are necessary, and this is where collaboration with academic research institutions becomes crucial.

IBM’s modular chip design serves as the foundation for housing many qubits. With an individual chip unable to accommodate the sheer scale of qubits required, interconnects are being developed to facilitate the transfer of quantum information between modules.

IBM’s “Kookaburra,” a multichip processor with 1,386 qubits and a quantum communication link, is currently under development and anticipated for release in 2025. Additionally, the University of Tokyo and the University of Chicago actively contribute their expertise in components and communication innovations, making their mark on this monumental project.

As IBM embarks on this bold mission, it anticipates forging numerous industry-academic collaborations over the next decade. Recognizing the pivotal role of universities, Gambetta highlights the importance of empowering these institutions to leverage their strengths in research and development.

With the promise of a quantum-powered future on the horizon, the journey toward a 100,000-qubit supercomputer promises to unlock previously unimaginable scientific frontiers, revolutionizing our understanding of computation as we know it.

Quantum Computer Creates Particle That Can Remember Its Past

In a significant advancement for quantum computing, a recent report by New Scientist reveals that a quantum computer has successfully generated a particle known as an anyon, which possesses the ability to retain its past states. This groundbreaking development carries the potential to enhance the capabilities of quantum computing systems.

Unlike conventional particles, anyons possess a unique characteristic of maintaining a form of memory concerning their previous locations. Initially observed in the 1970s, anyons exist solely in two dimensions and exhibit quasiparticle properties—collective vibrations that exhibit particle-like behavior.

Of particular interest are the so-called swapping anyons, which retain a record of the number of swaps they undergo, influencing their vibrational patterns. This intriguing quality makes them a compelling avenue for quantum computing. However, until now, experimental confirmation of their existence had remained elusive.

Enter Henrik Dryer and his team at the quantum computing company Quantinuum. They have made a remarkable breakthrough with the development of a cutting-edge quantum processor called H2. This quantum processor has the capability to generate qubits, the fundamental units of quantum information, and also introduce surface anyons—a significant achievement in the field.

With this advancement, the potential for leveraging anyons in quantum computing systems takes a significant leap forward. The ability of anyons to retain and manipulate information from previous states holds tremendous promise for enhancing the computational power and efficiency of future quantum computers.

A Kagome Lattice

They did this by entangling these qubits in a formation called a Kagome lattice, a pattern of interlocking stars common in traditional woven Japanese baskets, giving them identical quantum mechanical properties to those predicted for anyons.

“This is the first convincing test that’s been able to do that, so this would be the first case of what you would call non-Abelian topological order,” told New Scientist Steven Simon at the University of Oxford.

Waiting For Quantum Computers To Arrive, Software Engineers Get Creative

Quantum computers promise to be millions of times faster than today’s fastest supercomputers, potentially revolutionizing everything from medical research to the way people solve problems of climate change. The wait for these machines, though, has been long, despite the billions poured into them.

But the uncertainty and the dismal stock performance of publicly-listed quantum computer companies including Rigetti Computing Inc (RGTI.O) have not scared investors away. Some are turning to startups who are pivoting to using powerful chips to run quantum-inspired software on regular computers as they bide their time.

Lacking quantum computers that customers can use today to get an advantage over classical computers, these startups are developing a new breed of software inspired by algorithms used in quantum physics, a branch of science that studies the fundamental building blocks of nature.

Once too big for conventional computers, these algorithms are finally being put to work thanks to today’s powerful artificial intelligence chips, industry executives told Reuters.

QC Ware, a software startup that has raised more than $33 million and initially focused only on software that could run on quantum computers, said it needed to change tack and find a solution for clients today until the future quantum machines arrive.

So QC Ware CEO Matt Johnson said it turned to Nvidia Corp’s graphic processing units (GPU) to “figure out how can we get them something that is a big step change in performance … and build a bridge to quantum processing in the future.”

GPUs are microchips designed for processing video for gaming that have become so powerful that they now handle the bulk of AI computing. They are increasingly being used in quantum development as well.

This week, QC Ware is launching a software platform called Promethium, which is inspired by quantum computing and is designed to simulate chemical molecules on a regular computer using GPUs. The platform aims to investigate how molecules interact with things like proteins.

The software developed by QC Ware, called Promethium, has the potential to significantly reduce simulation time for molecules, according to Robert Parrish, the company’s head of quantum chemistry. The platform can cut simulation time from hours to minutes for molecules consisting of 100 atoms, and from months to hours for molecules with up to 2000 atoms. Prominent investors, including Eric Schmidt (formerly of Alphabet Inc.), T. Rowe Price, Samsung Ventures, and the venture arm of U.S. intelligence agencies In-Q-Tel, are backing quantum software startups, who are able to generate revenue from customers who are preparing for the arrival of quantum computing’s “iPhone” moment. However, these startups still face challenges in convincing some prospective clients, as the technology is still in its early stages of development. According to PitchBook, quantum software startups, such as SandBoxAQ, an Alphabet spinoff, have raised approximately $1 billion in the past 18 months.

SandBoxAQ CEO Jack Hidary said it was only 24 months ago that AI chips became powerful enough to simulate hundreds of thousands of chemical interactions simultaneously. It developed a quantum-inspired algorithm for biopharma simulation on Google’s AI chip called a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) that generates revenue today. SandBoxAQ told Reuters in February it raised $500 million.

Jason Turner, who founded Entanglement Inc in 2017 to be a “quantum only lab,” became impatient with the slow pace of quantum hardware development. “It’s been ten years away for what, 40 years now, right?” he said. He finally relented, turning to Silicon Valley AI chip startup Groq to help him run a cybersecurity quantum-inspired algorithm. Ultimately, the software inspired by quantum physics won’t perform well on quantum computers without some changes, said William Hurley, boss of Austin-based quantum software startup Strangeworks.

Still, he said companies that start using them will have engineers “learning about quantum and the phenomenon and the process, which will better prepare them to use quantum computers at the point that they do so.” That moment could arrive suddenly, he said. Strangeworks, which also operates a cloud with over 60 quantum computers on it, raised $24 million last month from investors including IBM.