Welcome to the Quantum Realm. 

Enjoy today’s breakdown of news, research, events & jobs within quantum.

I love to hear from you! Send me a message at [email protected] for musings, for fun, or for insight if it so appeals to you.

IN TODAY’S ISSUE:

• Launch of D-Wave Advantage2 prototype available on Leap now

• The synergy of Bayesian optimization and quantum annealing

• Skyrmion-phonon coupling for improved skyrmion universal gates

• Plus, follow along to prepare a two-qubit Bell state on Qiskit

• AND check out the poll in the “Featured Jobs” section so I can continue molding this newsletter to your needs

TOP NEWS & RESEARCH

NEWS

NEW D-WAVE PROTOTYPE AVAILABLE ON THE CLOUD NOW

The Brief Byte: D-Wave announced the availability of its 1,200+ qubit Advantage2 prototype accessible to both current Leap cloud service subscribers and new users.

If you haven’t already, sign-up for free Leap credits from D-Wave, including access to Advantage2. Once you sign up, you have a limited time to use your credits, so take that into consideration before you do so! Mine, sadly, expired.

Highlights:

1. The Advantage2 prototype is built with a lower-noise, multilayer superconducting integrated-circuit fabrication stack. It features 1,200+ qubits and 10,000+ couplers and demonstrates performance gains in hard optimization problems.

2. Performance enhancements include qubit connectivity increase from 15 to 20-way, energy scale increase by over 40%, and qubit coherence time has doubled.

3. Expectations for the prototype include accelerating AI deployment timelines and leveraging for machine learning applications.

RESEARCH

BAYESIAN OPTIMIZATION FOR QUANTUM ANNEALING

The Brief Byte: Researchers developed a method using Bayesian optimization to efficiently design quantum annealing schedules.

Highlights:

1. Quantum annealing is recognized for its potential to solve combinatorial optimization problems, but faces challenges such as exponentially scaling runtime due to vanishing gaps during annealing. This study focuses on using Bayesian optimization (favored for it’s cost effectiveness) to create efficient QA schedules.

2. The choice of schedule parametrization must be tailored to specific problems and available resources. For the p-spin model, BO-designed schedules successfully employ diabatic transitions. For reverse annealing schedules, BO has been shown to overcome challenges posed by noise.

3. BO efficiently designs quantum annealing schedules with fewer evaluations even in noisy environments.

RESEARCH

SKYRMION-PHONON COUPLING FOR IMPROVED LONG-DISTANCE INTERACTIONS

The Brief Byte: Skyrmion qubits are known for their small size and robust topological properties which make them uniquely suited to build universal gates, but their long-range interactions pose challenges. This study introduces a hybrid quantum system that couples skyrmion qubits to nanomechanical cantilevers using phonons as quantum interfaces to improve long-distance interaction capabilities.

Highlights:

1. Phonons are used as as quantum interfaces and manipulated through linear drives to boost the skyrmion-phonon coupling which leads to more effective skyrmion-skyrmion interactions within the hybrid system.

2. The study concludes that this enhanced coupling not only allows for efficient control over the skyrmion states but also allows for practical applications in quantum information processing by suggesting a scalable path forward.

MORE BRIEF BYTES

• Initiatives such as the QTEdu Open Master, a pan-European pilot program, is facilitating transnational education and flexible learning in quantum technology

• Researchers propose double-shunted flux qubit design that enables fast, high-fidelity control and readout while being insensitive to global magnetic field variations

• SemiQon first company to operate within Finnish National Metrology Institute VTT MIKES, now has access to one of the world's leading metrological infrastructures for low-noise, high-precision measurements

• New algorithm efficiently prepares the ground state of the lattice Schwinger model on IBM's quantum computers for scalable quantum state preparation

• Horizon Quantum Computing establishing testbed to integrate its Triple Alpha software stack with quantum computing hardware, featuring components like Rigetti's Novera quantum processor and Quantum Machines' OPX1000 controller

ENTANGLED INSIGHTS

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

NEW CODING WITH QISKIT 1.x SERIES

Qiskit recently released their new Coding with Qiskit 1.x series. In this episode, prepare a two-qubit Bell state.

EVENTS

• Friday April 19 | Scalability of Quantum Error Mitigation Techniques from IBM Qiskit

• Tuesday, April 23 | Introduction to Quantum Application Programming from D-Wave

• Wednesday, May 1 | Results w/ QuEra: New Features on QuEra’s Analog Computer

• Now - May 31 | Register for Google/X-Prize Quantum Challenge

FEATURED JOBS

• Deloitte Quantum Readiness Strategy Senior Consultant | PA, NC, VA, FL, TN, ID, AZ, IA, MI, CA, OH, KY, MD, WY, AL, LA, NJ, CT, MN $84.4K - $148K

• Maybell Quantum Senior Software Engineer | Denver, CO $110K - $155K

• Maybell Quantum Hardware Project Manager | Denver, CO (Hybrid)

• Google Senior Hardware Engineer, Integrated Circuit Design, Quantum AI | Goleta, CA $142K - $211K

• SRI Quantum Benchmarking Intern | Remote $20 - $45/hr

• AWS Applied Scientist, Control Stack, AWS Center for Quantum Computing | Pasadena, CA $136K - $222.2K

• Quantum Computing Inc. Mechanical Hardware Intern | Hoboken, NJ

UNTIL TOMORROW.

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