Dec 4, 2018

What a Quantum Computer Programmer Looks Like | Quantum Computing Weekly #6

By Jesper Thomschutz • Issue #6 • View online

👋 Hello and thanks for checking out this latest issue!

This week we’re introducing a new section where we highlight an expert in the field, and our first profile is on Anastasia Marchenkova who is a quantum computing researcher at Bleximo.

News this week is largely focused on security related topics, but there’s also a rather fun article included as well on using games to test quantum computing capabilities.

Looking for a particular area of quantum computing you’d like to see covered in the next issue? Ping me and let me know!

Quantum Computing Expert of the Week

I’m excited to introduce you to Anastasia Marchenkova, a quantum researcher at Bleximo.

Anastasia showing off a cool QISKIT t-shirt

What is it you do with quantum computing?

Check out what we’re doing at Bleximo - http://www.bleximo.com . We are building special-purpose quantum computation systems that we call quantum accelerators. These accelerators work together with classical computers to solve problems that classical computers aren’t able to solve on their own.

Why did you become interested in quantum computing?

I started research at Georgia Tech my freshman year of undergrad, working on neutral atom quantum memories. All I knew how to do was solder electronics (thanks, high school robotics!). I spent the first semester building laser locking boxes for the experimental setup and then built a new Rydberg atom quantum memory experiment from the ground up. As time went on, I moved into superconducting qubits, algorithms, and the implications of large scale quantum computers to the security landscape.

What do you think will be the biggest benefit/improvement to the world as a result of quantum computing?

While breaking encryption is one of the biggest scare tactics of quantum computing and it gets a lot of press, for me, a natural (and more near term and consequential) benefit will be simulating quantum systems.

It’s hard to simulate quantum systems on a classical computer, but it’s much easier on a quantum computer. Quantum systems are everywhere - if we’re able to do this in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era, it can accelerate fundamental physics, which in turn will lead to advances in classical and quantum technology, and even medicine and materials (molecular simulations).

I don’t think we’ve yet seen the extent of the impact quantum computing could bring. With IBM and D-Wave releasing their quantum computers to the cloud, people in different industries will be exploring new applications and contributing to the field in novel ways.

What is the best way for people to follow your work?

http://www.amarchenkova.com

@amarchenkova on twitter

And Bleximo’s website - http://www.bleximo.com (we’re hiring!)

Thanks Anastasia for taking the time to answer these questions and sharing your insights!

Tiny Fact of the week

Up above we saw Anastasia mention quantum systems, but what are those exactly? To quote Wikipedia:

“A quantum system is a portion of the whole Universe (environment or physical world) which is taken under consideration to make analysis or to study for quantum mechanics pertaining to the wave-particle duality in that system. Everything outside this system (i.e. environment) is studied only to observe its effects on the system. A quantum system involves the wave function and its constituents, such as the momentum and wavelength of the wave for which wave function is being defined.”

In the 1980’s great minds like Yuri Manin and Richard Feynman showed that a classical computer would experience exponential difficulty in attempting to simulate a quantum system, and the idea for a universal quantum simulator was born - and that’s one of the many things we hope to be able to achieve with a quantum computer.

Learn

Last week I pawned you off on a rather long wiki page, and this time it’ll be a youtube video! This is an excellent summary on quantum computing and relevant math by Kelsey Houston-Edwards from the PBS show Infinite Series. As someone who doesn’t come from much of a math background, I found this to be a great overview of the basics and foundations of what it’s all about.

The Mathematics of Quantum Computers | Infinite Series

News

The Race Is On to Protect Data From the Next Leap in Computers. And China Has the Lead.

China is investing in quantum encryption that could be far tougher to crack than today’s security methods. Now the United States is trying to catch up.

www.nytimes.com • Share

Will light be the basis for quantum computing?

Using a compact optical platform that exploits the quantum characteristics of light, scientists are one step closer to realizing the first powerful photonic quantum computer. The researchers revealed to have generated a particular class of quantum states - d-level cluster states, robust and powerful than any other such states demonstrated thus far -, as well as to have used them to implement novel quantum operations.

www.sciencedaily.com • Share

Playing games with quantum computers

Creating games for quantum computers offers an engaging way of exploring and testing their capabilities.

physicsworld.com • Share

An important step towards completely secure quantum communication networks

The quest for a secure information network is on. Researchers have recently succeeded in boosting the storage time of quantum information, using a small glass container filled with room temperature atoms, taking an important step towards a secure quantum encoded distribution network.

www.sciencedaily.com • Share

Scientists find a way to enhance the performance of quantum computers

USC scientists have demonstrated a theoretical method to enhance the performance of quantum computers, an important step to scale a technology with potential to solve some of society’s biggest challenges.

phys.org • Share

The First Quantum Computing Control

With the aim of empowering the quantum research community, Zurich Instruments has come up with two new products: the UHFQA Quantum Analyzer and the PQSC Programmable Quantum System Controller.

www.azom.com • Share

Thanks for reading! Contribute?

Written an interesting blog post or found some interesting things to share about quantum computing? Spotted a mistake? Get in touch by email (hit reply) or ping me on twitter (@jesperht).

Did you enjoy this issue?

By Jesper Thomschutz

👋 Hi folks and welcome to Quantum Computing Weekly!

This is a newsletter about Qubits, Quantum Logic Gates, occasional mandatory cat jokes, and more.

First off, let me get this out of the way: I'm not a quantum computing expert - not a Ph.D. in anything - just a humble legacy-computer programmer with a passion to learn more about the world of quantum computing.

Join me on my journey with this newsletter as I share news, articles, videos, and anything else I come across that I think is interesting while learning about quantum computers.

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