Wednesday, September 18th, 2024

Enjoy a nice cup of freshly brewed quantum news ☕️ 

Today’s issue includes:

• The German Cyber Agency signed contracts with international technology companies to develop mobile quantum computers.

• Quantinuum researchers implemented the first scalable quantum natural language processing model.

• Researchers from Fraunhofer IAIS and PwC GmbH introduce a new approach to solving energy re-dispatch problems using adiabatic quantum computation.

• Plus, alternative superconducting materials to simplify fabrication, a hybrid quantum-classical reservoir computing model, AWS Braket’s integration with Claude-3, and more.

And even more research, news, & events within quantum.

📱 German Cyber Agency Invests $39M to Develop Mobile Quantum Computers for Defense and Civilian Applications in Partnership with Leading Tech Companies

QUICK BYTE: The German Cyber Agency, Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH, signed contracts with international technology companies to develop mobile quantum computers, with over €35 million (approximately $39 million) in funding.

DETAILS: 

• The Cyber Agency signed contracts with neQxt GmbH, Oxford Ionics and Infineon Technologies, and Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC, investing over 35 million euros to develop mobile quantum computers for defense, security, and civilian applications.

• The goal of the project is to miniaturize quantum computers, making them compact, lightweight, energy-efficient, and powerful enough for use in scenarios where data connections to stationary data centers are unavailable, such as in crisis or defense situations.

• The companies involved will focus on optimizing qubit realization and quantum peripherals, advancing technology to make quantum computers functional outside laboratory environments.

• A brief overview of each project and team is as follows:

  • maQue: neQxt GmbH is developing maQue, a mobile and scalable quantum computing system by integrating ion trap quantum computing technology into a compact, modular design.

  • Min-Ion: Oxford Ionics and Infineon are collaborating on Min-Ion, a mobile ion trap quantum computer that combines Infineon’s QPU technology with Oxford Ionics' "Electronic Qubit Control" for qubit performance and to scale quantum processing capabilities for mobile applications.

  • Diamonds-MQC: Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC are developing Diamonds-MQC, a mobile quantum computer that uses nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond to ensure robustness, long coherence times, and low energy consumption, with a ParityQC architecture optimized for solving complex optimization problems in mobile environments.

🤖 Quantinuum Demonstrates First Scalable Quantum Natural Language Processing Model with QDisCoCirc

QUICK BYTE: Quantinuum researchers implemented the first scalable quantum natural language processing (QNLP) model, QDisCoCirc, using compositional generalization on their H1-1 trapped-ion quantum processor.

DETAILS: 

• Quantinuum researchers reported the first implementation of scalable quantum natural language processing (QNLP) with their QDisCoCirc model, integrating quantum computing and AI for tasks like question answering.

• The team used compositional generalization to train small models on classical computers, then evaluated larger tasks on a quantum processor, using their H1-1 trapped-ion quantum processor to overcome scaling challenges and demonstrate successful results.

• The experiment showed how quantum systems could offer more interpretable and scalable solutions for natural language processing (NLP), addressing key challenges in quantum AI such as the "barren plateau" problem, where large-scale models typically struggle.

• The quantum model provided insights into decision-making processes, which are vital in fields requiring accountability and transparency, with further exploration of complex tasks expected as quantum hardware evolves.

⚡️ Fraunhofer IAIS and PwC Researchers Develop Quantum Approach for Grid Stability and Renewable Energy Management

QUICK BYTE: Researchers from Fraunhofer IAIS and PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH introduce a new approach to solving energy re-dispatch problems using adiabatic quantum computation for optimizing grid stability and renewable energy efficiency.

DETAILS: 

• Solutions to energy re-dispatch problems are necessary for optimizing the stability and efficiency of modern energy grids, especially with the increasing reliance on renewable energy sources. Scientists from Fraunhofer IAIS and PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH propose using adiabatic quantum computation and formulate the problem as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem.

• A new method for handling inequality constraints was introduced through a normalized unbalanced penalization technique. This method helps address challenges such as transmission line overloads and power production shortfalls, improving the possibility of a solution in scenarios where resources like wind and solar power fluctuate.

• This technique incorporates constraints such as adjacent state switching directly into the problem’s structure, improving the accuracy and efficiency of quantum solvers beyond conventional splitting techniques.

• Results from numerical experiments, using real-world data from the German energy grid (Simbench dataset), demonstrated that the proposed method reduces the number of overloaded transmission lines and increases power production fulfillment, showing potential for real-world applications in managing sustainable energy grids.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, conducted through the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA), have demonstrated that a qubit architecture more suited for mass production can perform comparably to traditional qubits by using constriction junctions instead of more traditional SIS junctions. Using alternative superconducting materials can mitigate the challenges of increased current flow and linearity in constriction junctions, optimizing for both qubit performance and simplified fabrication processes.

QMill has raised $4.5 million in seed funding to develop quantum algorithms that target real-world optimization problems in industries such as finance, telecommunications, and AI. Co-founded by former Nokia CTO Hannu Kauppinen and quantum computing professor Mikko Möttönen, the company intends to use near-term quantum hardware to bring practical quantum applications to businesses, with a focus on efficiency and scalability. The funding will support algorithm development, service expansion, and talent acquisition.

Qruise and Quantum Machines have announced a partnership to integrate Qruise's advanced machine learning software with Quantum Machines' OPX quantum controllers to improve the control, calibration, and characterization of quantum devices. This collaboration will allow researchers to achieve higher fidelities in superconducting quantum gates and gain deeper insights into quantum system performance by using Qruise's Digital Twin technology to address noise and distortion.

Scientists from Universit`a della Calabria, NTT Data, and others introduce a hybrid quantum-classical reservoir computing model that improves memory capacity by incorporating classical post-processing techniques, allowing the system to retain and utilize past input data. The model is tested on benchmark tasks such as the chaotic Mackey-Glass time series prediction and the Nonlinear Auto-Regressive Moving Average (NARMA) task using two physical platforms: a fully connected Ising model and a Rydberg atom array. Results show that the hybrid approach achieves higher predictive accuracy and memory performance compared to previous quantum reservoir computing models.

AWS has introduced a new feature that integrates the Claude-3 large language model into Amazon Braket's JupyterLab environment so developers may use a customized AI-powered code assistant to accelerate quantum software development. By using retrieval augmented generation, the assistant can access the Amazon Braket SDK and relevant documentation, allowing users to generate, debug, and optimize quantum programming code quickly and accurately.

Concerns have arisen around the Biden administration’s proposal to invoke the Bayh-Dole Act’s march-in rights, which would allow the government to seize patents from federally funded research, threatening the private-public partnerships essential for quantum innovation. Experts from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recommend that in order to fully realize quantum computing's potential, a stable collaborative environment between the public and private sectors is integral, and the administration's march-in proposal may undermine this progress.

BTQ Technologies Corp. has expanded its leadership team by appointing experts in quantum computing, cryptography, and cybersecurity to address security challenges posed by large-scale quantum computers. Key additions include Jeffrey Morais as Head of Quantum Software, Kohei Suenaga as Zero-Knowledge Cryptography Advisor, Eylon Yogev as Post-Quantum Cryptography Advisor, and Deepesh Singh as Quantum Photonics Advisor, each bringing extensive expertise in their respective fields.

LISTEN

In the most recent episode of the Quantum Tech Pod, host Jake Duhaime is joined by Lawrence Gasman, President of IQT Research. They discuss the evolving landscape of Quantum and AI and explore how these technologies might become inseparable in the future. The episode also offers insights into the upcoming QUANTUM + AI conference in New York City, happening on October 29-30, 2024.

ENJOY

Highly relevant to quantum technology, quantum entanglement has long captivated (and frustrated) scientists. While it has been observed in various systems, its appearance at the immense energies of particle colliders has remained elusive—until now. For the first time, the ATLAS collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider has observed quantum entanglement between top quarks, the heaviest known fundamental particles, in a study published in Nature. This not only confirms quantum theory but also opens new doors for exploring the Standard Model and potentially discovering new physics beyond it. Quantum never fails to amaze — an unbiased opinion to be sure.

WATCH

A tutorial on solving the Maxcut problem with the QAOA algorithm using IBM Quantum processors for 100+ qubits: