Quantum News Briefs March 16: More efficient carbon capture: Cleaning the atmosphere with quantum computing; C2QA Continues to build the quantum workforce with popular summer program; SEEQC unveils first fully digital chips for full-stack quantum computers, taking major leap towards scaling commercial quantum systems + MORE.
More efficient carbon capture: Cleaning the atmosphere with quantum computing
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases daily. Without removal, the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere will continue to wreak havoc for centuries. Atmospheric carbon capture is a potential remedy to this problem. It would pull carbon dioxide out of the air and store it permanently to reverse the effects of climate change. Practical carbon capture technologies are still in the early stages of development, with the most promising involving a class of compounds called amines that can chemically bind with carbon dioxide. Efficiency is paramount in these designs, and identifying even slightly better compounds could lead to the capture of billions of tons of additional carbon dioxide.
In AVS Quantum Science, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the National Energy Technology Laboratory and the University of Kentucky deployed an algorithm to study amine reactions through quantum computing. The algorithm can be run on an existing quantum computer to find useful amine compounds for carbon capture more quickly.
Any computer algorithm that simulates a chemical reaction needs to account for the interactions between every pair of atoms involved. Even a simple three-atom molecule like carbon dioxide bonding with the simplest amine, ammonia, which has four atoms, results in hundreds of atomic interactions. This problem vexes traditional computers but is exactly the sort of question at which quantum computers excel.
This is where the group’s algorithm comes in: It allows existing quantum computers to analyze larger molecules and more complex reactions, which is vital for practical applications in fields like carbon capture. “We are trying to use the current quantum computing technology to solve a practical environmental problem,” said author Yuhua Duan. Click here to read SciTech article in-entirety.
C2QA Continues to build the quantum workforce with popular summer program
The program was able to provide students with a better path towards the quantum workforce. The program, QIS 101, is a six-week-long quantum computing summer school for undergraduate students that focuses on building fundamental and practical skills.
In its third year now, QIS 101 has built off its successes and learned from its challenges to optimize the course even more. The dense coursework, including 50 hands on projects, is spread out over a six-week period this year.
Applications are being accepted now until the March 24, 2023. To apply, students must be at least 18 years of age by the start date of the program, a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident (green card holder) of the U.S., enrolled in an accredited institution of higher learning, or recently graduated (within one year of this application), and able to attend the full duration of the program.
The program builds a strong foundation in QIS basics before branching out into more complex topics, like quantum machine learning. This foundation is also built with the fundamentals of classic scientific computing and essential coding.
The program takes a blended approach, alternating between short lecture sessions and hands-on programming labs. About half of the initial cohort of students had no programming experience. They also all pursued different degrees, ranging from environmental science to engineering.
This summer school’s mission sticks true to C2QA’s mission, and it’s right in the center’s name—co-design. At C2QA, researchers are simultaneously designing hardware and software to achieve “quantum advantage,” which is the point when a quantum computer outperforms a classical one on a useful task. This multidisciplinary approach is integral to the QIS field as a whole, so Biersach and colleagues have replicated a multidisciplinary approach for students.
The program divides students into small teams to study quantum computing applications for various physical systems. The students also worked with Qiskit software, an open-source framework for writing quantum programs that was developed by IBM, one of C2QA’s primary partners. Click here to read the complete article from Brookhaven National Laboratory.
SEEQC unveils first fully digital chips for full-stack quantum computers, taking major leap towards scaling commercial quantum systems
The chips are also fully integrated with qubits — a critical milestone in building scalable error-corrected quantum computers and data centers.
SEEQC’s digital chip technology utilizes energy-efficient superconducting SFQ logic, operating at speeds up to 40 GHz, to implement classical qubit control, measurement, multiplexing and data processing. Because of their low energy requirements and reduced heat dissipation, especially compared to conventional CMOS or CryoCMOS chips, SEEQC’s superconducting SFQ circuits can be proximally located to the qubit chips at 20 milliKelvin in the form of integrated multi-chip modules with active SFQ circuits communicating wirelessly and compatible with all superconducting qubit types, including fluxonium qubits, as well as other qubit modalities like spin qubits. Multi-chip module architecture, low power and ability to operate at very high speed enables the implementation of hardware-efficient digital control, readout, and fast-processing qubit data necessary for fast, low latency, scalable quantum error-corrected quantum systems.
Additionally, the use of SEEQC’s chips will significantly reduce quantum computer cost and complexity by orders of magnitude by eliminating the need for nearly all racks of expensive room-temperature electronics interconnected to the qubit chips. Typically, a complex tangle of analog wiring is needed to transmit delicate qubit signals between qubits and room temperature, and the signals are highly susceptible to distortion by imperfections in the wiring. The result is a prohibitivelycomplex and hardly scalable system. SEEQC’s active multi-chip module architecture addresses this problem, reducing system latency by obviating the need to send data from milliKelvin temperature to room temperature and back again for basic functions such as readout and control. Click here to read announcement in-entirety.
QuantWare closes €6 million Seed Round led by Forward.One, with QDNL Participations and Graduate Entrepreneur
QuantWare will use the funding to scale its team to support the production and development of its new 64 qubit processor ‘Tenor’. The device provides more than twice the number of qubits compared to its previous largest QPU at a 10x lower price point than competing solutions and opens the door to quantum processors with thousands of qubits.
QuantWare’s aim is to become the ‘Intel of quantum computing’ by providing easy-to-use, increasingly powerful and affordable quantum processors to organisations across the world. Last year, QuantWare was selected to deliver quantum processing units for Israel’s first fully functional quantum computer.
QuantWare has developed a patented 3D technology that routes the connections vertically, making it possible to scale superconducting quantum processors to thousands of qubits – opening the door to ‘quantum advantage’ where quantum computers will overtake the most powerful classical computer. Tenor marks a significant advance in commercial quantum computing because it is the first device commercially available that features this technology.
Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, CEO of QuantWare, said: “We believe that one of the key ways to supercharge development of the quantum computing sector is to provide the technology to enable companies to significantly scale their solutions at much lower costs. This is what Tenor enables, and with this funding we will be able to ramp up production and continue development of even more powerful processors.”
Paul Pruijmboom, Partner at FORWARD.one Venture Capital for Hardware, said: “We are proud to have been one of the first investors to see QuantWare’s potential in 2021. . . “. ” Click here to read announcement in-entirety on the Quantware site.
Sandra K. Helsel, Ph.D. has been researching and reporting on frontier technologies since 1990. She has her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.