So much has been happening on the quantum technology front in recent days that it would be unwise to try to cram it all into one wrap-up story… but we’re going to try anyway:
…It was a big week for the quantum computing efforts of the cloud giants. Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure both have quantum computing platforms in which they are partnering with the makers of quantum computers and quantum processing units (QPUs) to make quantum computing available on their clouds. Both recently announced new partnerships in this vein, with Microsoft Azure announcing it will add Rigetti Computing to its list, and AWS saying that a QPU from U.K.-based Oxford Quantum Circuits will be available via the Amazon Braket program early next year, and that one from QuEra Computing also is on the way. This means more quantum resources available to users of the clouds…
…We have heard a lot about how important error correction will be for allowing quantum computing to realize its full potential, so it’s no surprise we have begun to see more claims of innovations and advancements in this arena. This week, there were at least two new announcements focused on error correction The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Quantum Testbed (AQT) hosted a demonstration of randomized compiling, an experimental method that researchers said can dramatically reduce coherence error rates in quantum algorithms and lead to more accurate and stable quantum computations. Randomized compiling “mitigates the problem by randomizing the direction in which coherent errors impact qubits, such that they behave as if they are a form of stochastic noise,” the lab said in Phys.Org post.
Meanwhile, ETH Zurich researchers said that they were able to demonstrate a method for detecting and correcting errors quickly and simultaneously. “The researchers achieved this important success using a chip, specially produced in ETH Zurich’s own cleanroom laboratory, which features a total of 17 superconducting qubits,” a blog post stated. “The research team performed the error correction with what is known as the surface code – a method in which the quantum information of a qubit is distributed over several physical qubits.”
ETH Zurich’s method set aside eight of the 17 qubits and assigned them with the task of error detection. For now, most error correction advancements remain in a lab phase, and in the next few years the sector is going to face quite a job of sorting out which methods are best…
…It didn’t take Quantinuum too long to make its first announcement. Just days after the new entity, result of the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum, unveiled its name, Quantinuum announced a new cryptographic encryption key generator called Quantum Origin. It claims to be the first generator with keys that are outputs of an actually quantum computer, and comes at a time when many people are concerned about security threats posed by quantum…
…IonQ announced barium qubit technology, which it believes will be key to creating more modular quantum computing architectures and networked quantum computing architectures…
…Quantum computing already is affecting or will soon affect every industry. Ericsson has published a document looking at how it could impact security on mobile networks…
Watch for our weekly quantum update reports on future Friday afternoons...