Quantum News Briefs October 18 begins with Classiq’s Erik Garcell’s editorial in Venture Beat in which he urges employees to get prepared for quantum computing careers (many not requiring PhDs) followed by Neural’s Tristan Greene who explains that Europe’s quantum sector is poised for massive growth. Third is the Wall Street Journal’s article by Deloitte that reveal “Companies aware of benefits of quantum computers also see risks” and MORE.
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Today’s employees encouraged to get prepared for quantum computing
Employees should start now to get prepared for quantum computing, wrote Erik Garcell, technical marketing manager at Classiq in an October 14 VentureBeat article summarized here by Quantum News Briefs.
Garcell wrote, “There is going to be a tidal wave of need for both quantum Ph.D.s and for other talent — such as skilled quantum software developers — to contribute to quantum efforts.
Earning a doctorate in a field relevant to quantum computing requires a multi-year commitment. But obtaining valuable quantum computing skills doesn’t require a developer to go back to college, take out a student loan or spend years studying.
With modern tools that abstract the complexity of quantum software and circuit creation, developers no longer require Ph.D.-level knowledge to contribute to the quantum revolution, enabling a more diverse workforce to help businesses achieve quantum advantage.
Leading the software stack, quantum algorithm design platforms allow developers to design sophisticated quantum circuits that could not be created otherwise. Rather than defining tedious low-level gate connections, this approach uses high-level functional models and automatically searches millions of circuit configurations to find an implementation that fits resource considerations, designer-supplied constraints and the target hardware platform. New tools like Nvidia’s QODA also empower developers by making quantum programming similar to how classical programming is done.
Developers will want to familiarize themselves with quantum computing, which will be an integral arrow in their metaphorical quiver of engineering skills. People who add quantum skills to their classical programming and data center skills will position themselves to make more money and be more appealing to employers in the long term.
Garcell concludes, “Whether you are a business leader or a developer, it’s important to understand that quantum computing is moving forward. The train is leaving the station — will you be on board?” Click here for original article.
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Europe’s quantum sector is poised for massive growth
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Companies aware of benefits of quantum computers also see risks
The Wall Street Journal published an article by Deloitte’s Risk & Compliance group on October 17 and Quantum News Briefs summarizes below.
Quantum computing holds significant promise for breakthroughs in secure communications and large-scale modeling and simulation. And while the benefits are expected to be substantial, maturing quantum technologies may also pose threats.
“As quantum awareness grows within boardrooms, C-suites, and security teams, the hope is that organizations’ efforts to prepare for post-quantum cyber risk management will grow as well,” said says Colin Soutar, the U.S. quantum cyber readiness leader and Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory managing director for Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Timing for completing assessments of potential post-quantum encryption vulnerabilities varies among polled professionals. Nearly half of respondents (45%) say their organizations expect to complete that work within the next 12 months, if not sooner. An additional 16.2% expect to conduct such quantum risk assessments within the next two to five years.
Respondents indicate that their organization’s risk management efforts related to quantum computing security will most likely advance following regulatory pressure to adopt legislation or policies (27.7%) or leadership demand (20.7%) to enable the cryptographic agility that can address the algorithms made obsolete by quantum computing.
Other respondents’ organizations seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach. Some say it would take a cyber incident, such as exfiltration of sensitive data involving their organization to drive quantum security risk management efforts (11.7%). Others say client or shareholder demand would drive the same action (6.8%).
Organizations can continue to benefit from fundamental cybersecurity practices when preparing for the quantum transition. “Collaboration between the C-suite, boards, and security leaders is needed to drive quantum cyber preparedness,” notes Soutar. “Good cyber hygiene steps, such as developing a cryptographic inventory, honing data governance, and managing certificates, are all good for today and for when industries are more completely in the quantum era,” he adds. Click here for original article in full.
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Scientists create a device 1/3 as thick as a penny that can yield complex webs of entangled photons
Physicists at Sandia Laboratories’ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies & Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light have created a device roughly one-third as thick as a penny that can yield complex webs of entangled photons—not just in pairs but several pairs all linked together. Quantum Briefs summarizes a recount of their research from IEEE Spectrum.
The invention may not only greatly simplify the setup needed for quantum technology but also help support more complex quantum applications.
The equipment that generates quantum entanglement is often bulky and produces entangled photons only one pair at a time. Now scientists have created a device roughly one-third as thick as a penny that can yield complex webs of entangled photons—not just in pairs but several pairs all linked together. The invention may not only greatly simplify the setup needed for quantum technology but also help support more complex quantum applications.
A common way to generate entangled photons is by shining a beam of light at a special “nonlinear crystal.” These crystals each can split a photon into two lower-energy, longer-wavelength entangled photons.
The conventional techniques for producing entangled photons are not flexible—they generate pairs of photons only within specific ranges of wavelengths that are typically very narrow, says study cosenior author Maria Chekhova, a physicist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Germany. This narrow bandwidth can limit communication rates.
Moreover, nonlinear crystals are often bulky. This can prove cumbersome for applications that require many entangled photons. “A quantum computation source would require tens or hundreds of bulky crystals,” says study cosenior author Igal Brener, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories’ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies in Albuquerque.
Instead of a lab full of crystals, lenses, mirrors, filters, and other equipment to generate entangled photons, scientists now find that devices only roughly a half-millimeter thick may suffice. The devices are metasurfaces, which are surfaces covered with forests of microscopic pillars. Click here to read original article.
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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.