Finally? D-Wave’s 2048-qubit quantum annealer (quantum computer) has successfully simulated a topological phase transition. Successfully producing their results “is a major step toward reducing the need for time-consuming and expensive physical” R&D. The results of the study validate the D-Wave quantum computer; a fully-programmable, accurate simulator, using quantum bits (qubits) to compute results to complex problems.
Quantum is coming. When is up for debate. If tomorrow a nation-state announced it had a quantum computer breaking encryption in mere minutes or seconds, would your data be secure? There are ways to mitigate the threat now, before it actually arrives. Crypto-agility is a relatively new term which implies the ability to rapidly change the encryption algorithm being used to encrypt data, be it the data is in motion or at rest. Double-encryption is another method. Employing post-quantum cryptographic algorithms is still, another.
Difficulty in maintaining the quantum state of subatomic particles is a major challenge in developing quantum computers. Princeton researchers have managed to maintain quantum data through use of diamonds infused with two carbon atoms per every silicon atom. These ‘flawed’ diamonds ‘could serve as quantum repeaters for networks based on qubits’ just as current networking systems have repeaters to keep signals strong between sender and receiver.
University of Queensland researchers concluded an experiment bringing the path to quantum supremacy that much closer. And “The real message of this experiment is to not fear…researchers will have a more complete picture of boson sampling with loss, allowing them to forge new paths to a demonstration of quantum supremacy.”
The Australian research team at the U. of Melbourne has simulated a 60-qubit quantum computer. Estimations for the algorithm given it to process would require
U.S. Army Research Office grants $16M to Yale University over 4 years; funds the Yale Quantum Institute. The goal is to build a “perfect quantum computer out of imperfect parts.”
Volkswagen has reported the use of quantum computing in auto-battery development. In conjunction with Google and D-Wave, VW simulated molecular interactions in batteries.
Intel has produced its 49 qubit system, Tangle Lake, publicly revealing it this past January. Now, there is their silicon wafer. Each with 26 qubits, they do their work with quantum spin of electrons.
Rigetti, D-Wave, IBM, Intel, and Google, have achieved milestones toward a quantum computer which performs computations incapable of being performed by classical systems.
Changing the way we think about computing is necessary to reap the benefits of the quantum computer. The author of the original article suggests changing our perspective from linear to analog and from vertical to horizontal. Doing so will enable us to draw better conclusions vice a firm, descript, answer as we do in conventional computing.
