Commentary and a selection of the most important recent news, articles, and papers about Quantum.
Today’s Brief Commentary
Someone once said to me, and I paraphrase, “Beware of giving analogies when speaking about quantum computing. They will eventually go wrong, especially when comparing concepts to classical phenomena.”
Many of us who write and speak about quantum computing, networking, and sensing have been considering these topics for many years. I know researchers who have several decades of experience and obviously know far more than I do. Every day, some new concept comes up that I need to think about more deeply than I ever have before. I research it, try to understand it, and either put it in my bin of things I know something about or assign it to the “beyond here be dragons” boundary area of my knowledge. I seek out people who know more than I do and ask them questions.
With quantum computing, oversimplifying can lead to conceptual errors and misunderstandings. This doesn’t mean you can’t try to explain the topics well to non-technical audiences, but you should understand the ideas deeply enough to know what you are simplifying and state the disclaimers for your explanation. Thousands of people understand quantum computing well enough to do this. You may be one of them; if not, you can become one with some work.
When you get there, you will better pinpoint where significant innovation is happening and where there is hype. You will understand what quantum clickbait is and what merits your valuable time and attention. You will know when social media posts are there for clicks or there to educate, inform, or make you smile. You will know when a vendor is trying to draw your attention to one place, strongly hoping you don’t look elsewhere.
After mathematics itself, quantum is the most fascinating thing I have learned and been involved with in the more than six decades of my life. When I started learning about the subject in 2016, I sometimes went to bed feeling I understood something, only to wake the next morning realizing I was wrong. So, I would read more and talk to experts. In the beginning, it was one step forward, two steps back. Don’t be discouraged; learn the details well enough to satisfy your intellectual curiosity.
This area is worth the work. Do your homework and help push it forward, enlightening others along the way.
Coding and Software Engineering
QuTiP | Quantum Toolbox in Python
Authors: P.D. Nation and J.R. Johansson
“QuTiP is open-source software for simulating the dynamics of open quantum systems. The QuTiP library depends on the excellent Numpy, Scipy, and Cython numerical packages. In addition, graphical output is provided by Matplotlib. QuTiP aims to provide user-friendly and efficient numerical simulations of a wide variety of Hamiltonians, including those with arbitrary time-dependence, commonly found in a wide range of physics applications such as quantum optics, trapped ions, superconducting circuits, and quantum nanomechanical resonators. QuTiP is freely available for use and/or modification on all major platforms such as Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows*. Being free of any licensing fees, QuTiP is ideal for exploring quantum mechanics and dynamics in the classroom.”
Financial and Earnings Announcements
BlueQubit Raises $10 Million to Bridge the Gap Between Quantum and Enterprise Computing | Quantum Insider
Author: Matt Swayne
(Thursday, December 19, 2024) “BlueQubit’s immediate focus is on expanding its software stack and strengthening its partnerships with businesses eager to explore quantum solutions. By combining classical and quantum resources, the company aims to make quantum computing accessible to industries facing the limits of traditional systems.”
Quantum Computing
2024 Quantum Open Source Software Survey Results | Unitary Fund
https://unitary.fund/posts/2024_surveyresults/
Author: Ben Castanon
(Monday, December 9, 2024) “Unitary Fund is thrilled to be publishing the results of this year’s Quantum Open Source Survey! Now in its third iteration, we hope this screenshot of our community, who we are, what tools we use, where our strengths lie, and how the field is changing, will provide illuminating and actionable insights as we look to develop a quantum ecosystem that is the most useful to the most people.”
Beyond NISQ: The Megaquop Machine
https://quantumfrontiers.com/2024/12/14/beyond-nisq-the-megaquop-machine/
Author: John Preskill
Commentary:
This is a transcript of Professor Preskill’s talk at the Q2B Silicon Valley conference in December, 2024. ‘Megaquop’ refers to the error rate per logical gate.(Saturday, December 14, 2024) “To summarize, advances in hardware, control, algorithms, error correction, error mitigation, etc. are bringing us closer to megaquop machines, raising a compelling question for our community: What are the potential uses for these machines? Progress will require innovation at all levels of the stack. The capabilities of early fault-tolerant quantum processors will guide application development, and our vision of potential applications will guide technological progress. Advances in both basic science and systems engineering are needed. These are still the early days of quantum computing technology, but our experience with megaquop machines will guide the way to gigaquops, teraquops, and beyond and hence to widely impactful quantum value that benefits the world.”
Quantum Computing | Technical
What is charge-parity switching, and why is it a problem for quantum gates | IQM
Author: Amin Hosseinkhani
(Tuesday, November 26, 2024) “As quantum computing advances toward real-world applications, one of the greatest challenges is mitigating environmental noise. While significant progress has been made in developing superconducting quantum processors, the delicate nature of qubits makes them vulnerable to various error mechanisms. Our recent study on transmon qubits identifies a critical yet often overlooked source of error in two-qubit CZ gates—charge-parity switching caused by quasiparticles.”
Sovereign Initiatives
Final 6 pilot projects selected for NSF National Quantum Virtual Laboratory | National Science Foundation
https://new.nsf.gov/news/final-6-pilot-projects-selected-nsf-national-quantum-virtual
Commentary:
Wouldn’t it be great to have a single quantum effort coordinated from the top with clear goals of fully functional systems instead of multiple fragmented projects?(Monday, December 16, 2024) “The U.S. National Science Foundation has launched six pilot projects to bridge scientific gaps between current quantum technological capabilities and those needed to fully harness quantum properties of energy and matter for practical uses. The six projects join five others that the agency announced in August. Collectively, they are supported by the NSF National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NSF NQVL) initiative, an ambitious effort to accelerate the development of quantum technologies by providing researchers anywhere in the U.S. with access to specialized resources.”
First Israeli-built quantum computer now in operation | The Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-833939
(Wednesday, December 18, 2024) “Israel’s first domestically built quantum computer, using advanced superconducting technology, is now operational. The 20-qubit quantum computer was developed under the leadership of the Israel Innovation Authority, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Hebrew University, and Yissum, the university’s technology transfer company.”
