Category Archives: Quantum Computing

Thanh Nguyen is in the habit of breaking down barriers. Take languages, for instance: Nguyen, a third-year doctoral candidate in nuclear science and engineering (NSE), wanted to connect with other people and cultures for his work and social life, he says, so he learned Vietnamese, French, German, and Russian, and is now taking an MIT course in Mandarin. But this drive to push past obstacles really comes to the fore in his research, where Nguyen is trying to crack the secrets of a new and burgeoning branch of physics.

My dissertation focuses on neutron scattering on topological semimetals, which were only experimentally discovered in 2015, he says. They have very special properties, but because they are so novel, theres a lot thats unknown, and neutrons offer a unique perspective to probe their properties at a new level of clarity.

Topological materials dont fit neatly into conventional categories of substances found in everyday life. They were first materialized in the 1980s, but only became practical in the mid-2000s with deepened understanding of topology, which concerns itself with geometric objects whose properties remain the same even when the objects undergo extreme deformation. Researchers experimentally discovered topological materials even more recently, using the tools of quantum physics.

Within this domain, topological semimetals, which share qualities of both metals and semiconductors, are of special interest to Nguyen.They offer high levels of thermal and electric conductivity, and inherent robustness, which makes them very promising for applications in microelectronics, energy conversions, and quantum computing, he says.

Intrigued by the possibilities that might emerge from such unconventional physics, Nguyen is pursuing two related but distinct areas of research: On the one hand, Im trying to identify and then synthesize new, robust topological semimetals, and on the other, I want to detect fundamental new physics with neutrons and further design new devices.

On a fast research track

Reaching these goals over the next few years might seem a tall order. But at MIT, Nguyen has seized every opportunity to master the specialized techniques required for conducting large-scale experiments with topological materials, and getting results. Guided by his advisor,Mingda Li, the Norman C Rasmussen Assistant Professor and director of theQuantum Matter Group within NSE, Nguyen was able to dive into significant research even before he set foot on campus.

The summer, before I joined the group, Mingda sent me on a trip to Argonne National Laboratory for a very fun experiment that used synchrotron X-ray scattering to characterize topological materials, recalls Nguyen. Learning the techniques got me fascinated in the field, and I started to see my future.

During his first two years of graduate school, he participated in four studies, serving as a lead author in three journal papers. In one notable project,described earlier this year in Physical Review Letters, Nguyen and fellow Quantum Matter Group researchers demonstrated, through experiments conducted at three national laboratories, unexpected phenomena involving the way electrons move through a topological semimetal, tantalum phosphide (TaP).

These materials inherently withstand perturbations such as heat and disorders, and can conduct electricity with a level of robustness, says Nguyen. With robust properties like this, certain materials can conductivity electricity better than best metals, and in some circumstances superconductors which is an improvement over current generation materials.

This discovery opens the door to topological quantum computing. Current quantum computing systems, where the elemental units of calculation are qubits that perform superfast calculations, require superconducting materials that only function in extremely cold conditions. Fluctuations in heat can throw one of these systems out of whack.

The properties inherent to materials such as TaP could form the basis of future qubits, says Nguyen. He envisions synthesizing TaP and other topological semimetals a process involving the delicate cultivation of these crystalline structures and then characterizing their structural and excitational properties with the help of neutron and X-ray beam technology, which probe these materials at the atomic level. This would enable him to identify and deploy the right materials for specific applications.

My goal is to create programmable artificial structured topological materials, which can directly be applied as a quantum computer, says Nguyen. With infinitely better heat management, these quantum computing systems and devices could prove to be incredibly energy efficient.

Physics for the environment

Energy efficiency and its benefits have long concerned Nguyen. A native of Montreal, Quebec, with an aptitude for math and physics and a concern for climate change, he devoted his final year of high school to environmental studies. I worked on a Montreal initiative to reduce heat islands in the city by creating more urban parks, he says. Climate change mattered to me, and I wanted to make an impact.

At McGill University, he majored in physics. I became fascinated by problems in the field, but I also felt I could eventually apply what I learned to fulfill my goals of protecting the environment, he says.

In both classes and research, Nguyen immersed himself in different domains of physics. He worked for two years in a high-energy physics lab making detectors for neutrinos, part of a much larger collaboration seeking to verify the Standard Model. In the fall of his senior year at McGill, Nguyens interest gravitated toward condensed matter studies. I really enjoyed the interplay between physics and chemistry in this area, and especially liked exploring questions in superconductivity, which seemed to have many important applications, he says. That spring, seeking to add useful skills to his research repertoire, he worked at Ontarios Chalk River Laboratories, where he learned to characterize materials using neutron spectroscopes and other tools.

These academic and practical experiences served to propel Nguyen toward his current course of graduate study. Mingda Li proposed an interesting research plan, and although I didnt know much about topological materials, I knew they had recently been discovered, and I was excited to enter the field, he says.

Man with a plan

Nguyen has mapped out the remaining years of his doctoral program, and they will prove demanding. Topological semimetals are difficult to work with, he says. We dont yet know the optimal conditions for synthesizing them, and we need to make these crystals, which are micrometers in scale, in quantities large enough to permit testing.

With the right materials in hand, he hopes to develop a qubit structure that isnt so vulnerable to perturbations, quickly advancing the field of quantum computing so that calculations that now take years might require just minutes or seconds, he says. Vastly higher computational speeds could have enormous impacts on problems like climate, or health, or finance that have important ramifications for society. If his research on topological materials benefits the planet or improves how people live, says Nguyen, I would be totally happy.

View original post here:
Cracking the secrets of an emerging branch of physics - MIT News

Some hope that a move to quantum computingqubits instead of bits, analog instead of digitalwill work wonders, including the invention of the true thinking computer. In last weeks podcast, futurist George Gilder and computer engineer Robert J. Marks looked at, among other things, whats really happening with quantum computing:

(The quantum computing discussion begins at 15:04.)

Robert J. Marks: Whats your take on quantum computing? It seems to me that theres been glacial progress in the technology.

George Gilder (pictured): I think quantum computing is rather like AI, in that it moves the actual problem outside the computational process and gives the illusion that it solved the problem, but its really just pushed the problem out. Quantum computing is analog computing, thats what it is. Its changing primitives of the computation to quantum elements, which are presumably the substance of all matter in the universe.

Note: Quantum computing would use actual quantum elements (qubits) to compute instead of digital signals, thus taking advantage of their subatomic speed. But AI theorists have noted, that doesnt get around the halting problem (the computer actually doesnt know what it is doing). That means that a computer still wouldnt replicate human intelligence. That, in turn, is one reason that quantum supremacy can sound a lot like hype.

George Gilder: But still youve got to translate the symbols in the world, which in turn have to be translated from the objects in the world, into these qubits, which are quantum entities. Once youve defined all these connections and structured the data, then the problem is essentially solved by the process of defining it and inputting it into the computer but quantum computing again is a very special purpose machine, extremely special purpose. Because everything has to be exactly structured right for it.

Robert J. Marks: Yeah, thats my point. I think that once we get quantum computing and if it works well, we can also do quantum encryption, which quantum computing cant decode. So thats the next step. So yeah, thats fascinating stuff.

In his new book, Gaming AI (free download here. ), Gilder explains one of the ways quantum computing differs from digital computing:

The qubit is one of the most enigmatic tangles of matter and ghost in the entire armament of physics. Like a binary digit, it can register 0 or 1; what makes it quantum is that it can also register a nonbinary superposition of 0 and 1.

In 1989 I published a book, Microcosm, with the subtitle The Quantum Era in Economics and Technology. Microcosm made the observation that all computers are quantum machines in that they shun the mechanics of relays, cogs, and gears, and manipulate matter from the inside following quantum rules. But they translate all measurements and functions into rigorous binary logicevery bit is 1 or 0. At the time I was writing Microcosm, a few physicists were speculating about a computer that used qubits rather than bits, banishing this translation process and functioning directly in the quantum domain. (P. 39)

The quantum world impinges on computer technology whether we like it or not:

For example, today the key problem in microchips is to avoid spontaneous quantum tunneling, where electrons can find themselves on the other side of a barrier that by the laws of classical physics would have been insurmountable and impenetrable. In digital memory chips or processors, spontaneous tunneling can mean leakage and loss. In a quantum computer, though, such quantum effects may endow a portfolio of features, providing a tool or computational primitive that enables simulation of a world governed by quantum rules. (p. 40)

Quantum rules, while strange, might insure the integrity of a connection because entangled quantum particles respond to each other no matter how far they are separated:

A long-ago thought experiment of Einsteins showed that once any two photonsor other quantum entitiesinteract, they remain in each others influence no matter how far they travel across the universe (as long as they do not interact with something else). Schrdinger christened this entanglement: The spinor other quantum attributeof one behaves as if it reacts to what happens to the other, even when the two are impossibly remote. (p. 40)

So, apart from interaction, no one can change only the data on their side without it being noticed

Underlying all this heady particle physics and quantum computing speculations is actually a philosophical shift. As Gilder puts it in Gaming AI,

John Wheeler provocatively spoke of it from bit and the elementary act of observer-participancy: in short all things physical are information-theoretic in origin and this is a participatory universe.(p. 41)

Which is another way of saying that in reality information, rather than matter and energy, rules our universe.

Also discussed in last weeks podcast (with links to the series and transcripts):

While the West hesitates, China is moving to blockchain. Life After Google by George Gilder, advocating blockchain, became a best seller in China and received a social sciences award. George Gilder, also the author of Gaming AI, explains why Bitcoin might not do as well as blockchain in general, as a future currency source.

You may also enjoy: Will quantum mechanics produce the true thinking computer. Quantum computers come with real world problems of their own.

and

Why AI geniuses havent created true thinking machines. The problems have been hinting at themselves all along.

Next: Whats the future for carbon computing?

See the original post here:
Does Schrdinger's Cat Think Quantum Computing Is a Sure Thing? - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market 2020: Latest Analysis:

The most recent Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market Research study includes some significant activities of the current market size for the worldwide Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense market. It presents a point by point analysis dependent on the exhaustive research of the market elements like market size, development situation, potential opportunities, and operation landscape and trend analysis. This report centers around the Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense-business status, presents volume and worth, key market, product type, consumers, regions, and key players.

Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.quincemarketinsights.com/request-sample-29723?utm_source=Eurowire/komal

The prominent players covered in this report: D-Wave Systems Inc, Qxbranch LLC, IBM Corporation, Cambridge Quantum Computing Ltd, 1qb Information Technologies Inc., QC Ware Corp., Magiq Technologies Inc., Station Q-Microsoft Corporation, and Rigetti Computing

The market is segmented into By Component (Hardware, Software, Services), By Application (QKD, Quantum Cryptanalysis, Quantum Sensing, Naval).

Geographical segments are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America.

It has a wide-ranging analysis of the impact of these advancements on the markets future growth, wide-ranging analysis of these extensions on the markets future growth. The research report studies the market in a detailed manner by explaining the key facets of the market that are foreseeable to have a countable stimulus on its developing extrapolations over the forecast period.

Get ToC for the overview of the premium report @ https://www.quincemarketinsights.com/request-toc-29723?utm_source=Eurowire/komal

This is anticipated to drive the Global Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market over the forecast period. This research report covers the market landscape and its progress prospects in the near future. After studying key companies, the report focuses on the new entrants contributing to the growth of the market. Most companies in the Global Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market are currently adopting new technological trends in the market.

Finally, the researchers throw light on different ways to discover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting the growth of the Global Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market. The feasibility of the new report is also measured in this research report.

Reasons for buying this report:

Make an Enquiry for purchasing this Report @ https://www.quincemarketinsights.com/enquiry-before-buying/enquiry-before-buying-29723?utm_source=Eurowire/komal

About Us:

QMI has the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services available on the web. We deliver reports from virtually all major publications and refresh our list regularly to provide you with immediate online access to the worlds most extensive and up-to-date archive of professional insights into global markets, companies, goods, and patterns.

Contact Us:

Quince Market Insights

Ajay D. (Knowledge Partner)

Office No- A109

Pune, Maharashtra 411028

Phone: APAC +91 706 672 4848 / US +1 208 405 2835 / UK +44 1444 39 0986

Email: [emailprotected]

Web: https://www.quincemarketinsights.com

Go here to see the original:
Quantum Computing in Aerospace and Defense Market Forecast to 2028: How it is Going to Impact on Global Industry to Grow in Near Future - Eurowire

Dr Zi Yang MENG from Division of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), is pursuing a new paradigm of quantum material research that combines theory, computation and experiment in a coherent manner. Recently, he teamed up with Dr Wei LI from Beihang University, Professor Yang QI from Fudan University, Professor Weiqiang YU from Renmin University and Professor Jinsheng WEN from Nanjing University to untangle the puzzle of Nobel Prize-winning theory Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase.

Not long ago, Dr Meng, Dr Li and Dr Qi achieved accurate model calculations of a topological KT phase for a rare-earth magnet TmMgGaO4 (TMGO), by performing computation on the Supercomputers Tianhe 1 and Tianhe 2 (see supplementary information); this time, the team overcame several conceptual and experimental difficulties, and succeeded in discovering a topological KT phase and its transitions in the same rare-earth magnet via highly sensitive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic susceptibility measurements, means of detecting magnetic responses of material. The former one is more sensitive in detecting small magnetic moments while the latter one can facilitate easy implementation of the experiment.

These experimental results, further explained the quantum Monte Carlo computations of the team, have completed the half-a-century pursuit of the topological KT phase in quantum magnetic material, which eventually leads to the Nobel Physics Prize of 2016. The research findings are recently published in renowned academic journal Nature Communications.

KT phase of TMGO is detected

Quantum materials are becoming the cornerstone for the continuous prosperity of human society, including the next-generation AI computing chips that go beyond Moore's law, the high-speed Maglev train, and the topological unit for quantum computers, etc. However, these complicated systems require modern computational techniques and advanced analysis to reveal their microscopic mechanism. Thanks to the fast development of the supercomputing platforms all over the world, scientists and engineers are now making great use of these facilities to discover better materials that benefit our society. Nevertheless, computation cannot stand alone.

In the present investigation, experimental techniques for handling extreme conditions such as low temperature, high sensitivity and strong magnetic field, are required to verify the predictions and make discoveries. These equipments and technologies are acquired and organised by the team members coherently.

The research is inspired by the KT phase theory discovered by V Berezinskii, J Michael Kosterlitz and David J Thouless, of which the latter two are laureates of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2016 (together with F Duncan M Haldane) for their theoretical discoveries of topological phase, and phase transitions of matter. Topology is a new way of classifying and predicting the properties of materials, and now becoming the mainstream of quantum material research and industry, with broad potential applications in quantum computer, lossless transmission of signals for information technology, etc. Back to 1970s, Kosterlitz and Thouless had predicted the existence of topological phase, hence named after them as the KT phase in quantum magnetic materials. Although such phenomena have been found in superfluids and superconductors, KT phase has yet been realised in bulk magnetic material, and is eventually discovered in the present work.

To detect such interesting KT phase in a magnetic material is not easy, as usually the 3-dimensional coupling would render magnetic material to develop ordered phase but not topological phase at low temperature, and even if there exists a temperature window for the KT phase, highly sensitive measurement technique is required to be able to pick up the unique fluctuation pattern of the topological phase, and that is the reason why such phase has been enthusiastically perused, but its experimental discovery has defied many previous attempts. After some initial failures, the team member discovered that the NMR method under in-plane magnetic fields, do not disturb the low-energy electronic states as the in-plane moment in TMGO is mostly multipolar with little interference on magnetic field and intrinsic magnetic moments of the material, which consequently allows the intricated topological KT fluctuations in the phase to be detected sensitively.

As shown in Fig.1, NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate measurements indeed revealed a KT phase sandwiched between a paramagnetic phase at temperature T > T_u and an antiferromagnetic phase at temperature T

This finding indicates a stable phase (KT phase) of TMGO, which serves as a concrete example of topological state of matter in crystalline material, might have potential applications in future information technologies. With its unique properties of topological excitations and strong magnetic fluctuations, many interesting research and potential applications with topological quantum materials can be pursued from here.

Dr Meng said: "It will eventually bring benefits to the society, such that quantum computers, lossless transmission of signals for information technology, faster and more energy-saving high-speed trains, all these dreams could gradually come true from quantum material research."

"Our approach, combining the state-of-art experimental techniques with unbiased quantum many-body computation schemes, enables us to directly compare experimental data to accurate numerical results with key theoretical predictions quantitatively, providing a bridge way to connect theoretical, numerical and experimental studies, the new paradigm set up by the joint team will certainly lead to more profound and impactful discoveries in quantum materials." He added.

The supercomputers used in computations and simulations

The powerful supercomputers Tianhe-1 and Tianhe-2 in China used in the computations are among the world's fastest supercomputers and ranked No.1 in 2010 and 2014 respectively in the TOP500 list (https://www.top500.org/). Their next-generation Tianhe-3 is expected to be in usage in 2021 and will be world first exaFLOPS scale supercomputer. The quantum Monte Carlo and tensor network simulations performed by the joint team make use of the Tianhe supercomputers and requires the parallel simulations for thousands of hours on thousands of CPUs, it will take more than 20 years to finish if performed in common PC.

Read the rest here:
Confirming simulated calculations with experiment results - Science Codex

Efforts to break encryption in new crypto wars are ongoing, but there are many successes to recount in the past year.

Speaking in the closing session thevirtual ISSE ConferenceProfessor Bart Preneel from the KU Leuven, where he heads the COSIC research group, said more and more research crypto hasbeen published this year and he praised the work to enable contact tracing, but was critical of government and law enforcements efforts around end-to-end (E2E) encryption.

Saying the crypto wars have come back again, something Im doomed to live with for the rest of my life, Preneel referred to the case in 1993 when AT&T introduced a secure phone with E2E-based on Triple DES, which the US government was not happy with as it stopped them intercepting phone calls, especially outside US. The clipper chip with key escrow project failed, and now the crypto wars have come back as cryptography has shifted from hardware to software.

He said there is a case for interception of those people communicating child abuse images, terrorist acts and kidnapping cases, and governments are unable to access encrypted communications, so the government has no access. Preneel also said some people use Facebook Messenger for those purposes, and it is possible at the moment as it is not E2E encrypted, but Facebook announced E2E for Messenger to stop that channel of access, and the stupid people will not be able to escape.

He said this proposal was met with criticism as most people are not happy with backdoors, and as a society, we can agree to filter for abuse messages and images, but it could also be used against the freedom of speech of people you dont like, and for political purposes.

It keeps coming in different forms and shapes, but the debate is essentially the same and the main complaint is police and intelligence services have lots of metadata, once they find one person they can use that infrastructure to find other people, once you have metadata you have access, he said. It is a one-sided debate as law enforcement does not show what they acquired in the last 20 years, so that is actually a debate that is happening, and it is difficult to debate with one side who doesnt disclose.

Among other cryptography highlights from 2020, Preneel cited the breaking of RSA 250, where the researchers found two prime factors. It is important as a large part of digital infrastructure relies on RSA, he said. It was amazing as they used so little power, and more effort and money was put in.

Speaking on quantum computing, he said despite Google, Intel and Microsoft building and spending in quantum computing research, there were no big examples of successes this year, even by companies spending small fortunes. He said in order to break RSA 2048 you will need something like 20 million qbits, and most companies were very far from that, so he predicted that we will be safe until 2035.

With regards to contact tracing, Preneel welcomed the work done to create apps that anonymized user details, and using decentralized proximity tracing (DP3T), he said there had been 57 million downloads of DP3T-based apps across 18 EU countries and Switzerland. He said: There arestill problems in integration in some national health systems, but it is a solution that seems to work. There are clear indications it works and people are being warned and it is cost effective. The solution was security and privacy friendly.

Link:
#ISSE2020: Focus on 2020's Crypto Successes Rather than Efforts to Break it - Infosecurity Magazine

At the recently concluded Philippine Digital Convention (PH Digicon 2020) by PLDT Enterprise, Kazuhiro Gomi, president and CEO, NTT Research, shared the fundamental research milestones coming out of its three labs: the Physics and Informatics (PHI) Lab, the Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Lab, and the Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab, that are hoped to lead to monumental tech innovations.

The three-day virtual convention drew in more than 3,000 views during the live stream broadcast of the plenary sessions and breakout sessions covering various topics.

Gomi headlined the second day with his topic Upgrading Reality, a glimpse into breakthrough research that NTT Research is currently working on that could hasten digital transformations.

PLDT sets up Data Privacy and Information Security Committee

PLDT Home broadband service expands 46% nationwide

In a discussion with Cathy Yap-Yang, FVP and head Corporate Communications, PLDT, Gomi elaborated on next-generation technologies, particularly the Bio Digital Twin project, that could potentially be game-changing in the medical field, quantum computing, and advanced cryptography.

Bido Digital Twin

The Bio Digital Twin is an initiative where a digital replica of a patients internal system functions first as a model for possible testing of procedures and chemical reactions and seeing possible results before actual application to the person.

We are trying to create an electronic replica of the human body. If we are able to create something like that, the future of clinical and medical activities will be very different, Gomi said. If we have a precise replica of your human body, you can predict what type of disease or what type of problem you might have maybe three years down the road. Or, if your doctor needs to test a new drug for you, he can do so onto the digital twin.

NTT Research is a fundamental research organization in Silicon Valley that carries out advanced research for some of the worlds most important and impactful technologies, including quantum computing, cryptography, information security, and medical and health informatics.

Computing power

However, to get there and make the Bio Digital Twin possible, there are hurdles from various disciplines, including the component of computing power.

Gomi explained that people believed that todays computers can do everything, but in reality, it might actually take years to solve complex problems, whereas a quantum computer could solve these problems in seconds.

There are different kinds of quantum computers, but all are based upon quantum physics. At NTT Research, Gomi revealed that their group is working on a quantum computer called a coherent Ising machine which could solve combinatorial optimization problems.

We may be able to bring those superfast machines to market, to reality, much quicker. That is what we are aiming for, he said.

Basically, the machine, using many parameters and complex optimization, finds the best solution in a matter of seconds which may take months or years using conventional computers.

Some examples where quantum computing may be applied include lead optimization problems such as effects on small molecule drugs, peptide drugs, and Biocatalyst, or resource optimization challenges such as logistics, traffic control, or using wireless networks. Gomi also expounded on compressed sensing cases, including use in astronomical telescopes, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography.

Quantum computing

Apart from quantum computing, Gomi reiterated the issues of cybersecurity and privacy. Today, encryption is able to address those challenges but it would soon require a more advanced and sophisticated type of technology if we are to upgrade reality.

From the connected world, obviously we want to exchange more data among each other, but we have to make sure that security and privacy are maintained. We have to have those things together to get the best out of a connected world, he said.

Among next-generation advanced encryptions, Gomi highlighted Attribute-Based Encryption where various decryption keys define access control of the encrypted data. For example, depending on the user (or the type of key he/she has) what they are allowed to view is different or controlled by the key issuers.

He noted that in the next couple of years, we should be able to commercialize this type of technology. We can maintain privacy while encouraging the sharing of data with this mechanism.

Gomi reiterated that we are at the stage of all kinds of digital transformations.

Digital transformation

Those digital transformations are making our lives so much richer and business so much more interesting and efficient. I would imagine those digital transformations will continue to advance even more, he said.

However, there are limiting factors that could impede or slow down those digital transformations such as energy consumption, Moores law of limitation as we cannot expect too much of the capacities of the electronic chips from current computers, and the issues on privacy and security. Hence, we need to address those factors.

PH Digicon 2020 is the annual convention organized by PLDT Enterprise which gathered global industry leaders to speak on the latest advancements in the digital landscape. This years roster of speakers included tech experts and heads from Cisco, Nokia, Salesforce, NTT Research, and goop CEO and multi-awarded Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow who headlined the first virtual run.

Related

More here:
NTTs Kazuhiro Gomi says Bio Digital Twin, quantum computing the next-gen tech - Backend News