Riverlane’s Post

The Hard Truth About Quantum Computing The hype surrounding quantum computing has reached fever pitch, with many predicting a revolution in various industries. However, a sobering reality check suggests that the practical applications of this groundbreaking technology are farther off than many anticipate. In an article published in IEEE Spectrum titled "Quantum Computing's Hard, Cold Reality Check," experts shed light on the limitations and challenges that lie ahead. They caution against unrealistic expectations and stress the need for a more balanced perspective on quantum computing's potential. The article highlights the formidable obstacles in developing fault-tolerant quantum computers, overcoming data transfer limitations, and ensuring the applicability of quantum algorithms to real-world problems. These challenges underscore the fact that quantum computing's impact will not be immediate or widespread. While the future of quantum computing holds immense promise, it's important to temper expectations and focus on areas with the highest likelihood of success. By recognizing the technology's limitations and embracing realistic goals, we can navigate the path towards a future where quantum computing truly revolutionizes various industries. To gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and potential of quantum computing, read the IEEE Spectrum article: https://lnkd.in/eaBrZfrG   #quantumcomputing #realitycheck #limitsofquantumcomputing

Quantum Education… How to explain quantum computing.

According to Edd Gent, leading researchers agree that, while quantum computing might be feasible for specific applications in the not-so-distant future, quantum supremacy is still at least a decade away. Today's quantum computers remain prone to errors, and the slow operating speeds of qubits lead to data bandwidth limitations. These technical barriers mean many proposed quantum applications are theoretical at best. In the meantime, the world needs practical computing methods to address global challenges in financial modeling, logistics and traffic optimization, manufacturing, drug and chemical research, and more. Laser-based computing is a new approach that can deliver the speed, scalability, and accuracy that quantum computing and supercomputing can't deliver today. Read more on the quantum computing reality via IEEE Spectrum: https://lnkd.in/exssq8af

Today, we released a three-year roadmap for our Quantum Error Correction Stack, Deltaflow, starting in 2024 and culminating in a system where quantum computers can run one million error-free quantum operations by 2026.     Quantum computing is currently at a crucial inflection point. The industry is experiencing a rapid acceleration of innovation, largely driven by the shift from the first successful generation of noisy intermediate-scale (NISQ) quantum computers to the development of a new generation of error-corrected quantum computers.     As a result, the industry has started to coalesce around the idea that 2035 could be the year we achieve fully fault-tolerant computing and begin unlocking a range of transformative applications that open a new age of human progress.     But we still need to hit some critical milestones along the way. At Riverlane, we believe the next major one is a ‘MegaQuOp’ quantum computer, i.e. a quantum computer that can perform one million error-free quantum operations.     We are building Deltaflow to help quantum computing companies working with every major qubit type reach this goal, and our roadmap reveals how we plan to achieve it.    It won’t be easy and will require some significant technical breakthroughs along the way, but we’re ready to step up to the challenge in commitment to our mission of making quantum computing useful sooner.        For all the details, you can read our blog published by Maria Maragkou and Earl Campbell here: https://lnkd.in/ge7gcrx7   

Skepticism is on the rise in the quantum computing industry, with experts expressing doubts about the practicality and usefulness of quantum computers in the near future. The limitations in the scope of quantum computing's applications are being highlighted, with data bandwidth constraints further limiting their practicality. While quantum computers show potential in specific areas, the advantages over classical computers are not as broad as previously thought. Prominent figures cite challenges like error-prone quantum processors and overhyped expectations. #QuantumComputing #Skepticism #TechnologyIndustry

An interesting blog post (https://lnkd.in/ekC4NUPw) discusses the importance of fault-tolerant quantum computing. It dives into the transition from Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices to Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing (FTQC), emphasizing that FTQC is crucial for unlocking the full potential of quantum computing. The author argues that while NISQ devices have made significant strides, they are limited by noise and can only run a few hundred gates before becoming unreliable. In contrast, FTQC can handle circuits with millions of gates, making it essential for transformative applications like scientific breakthroughs, drug development, and new materials for batteries. Key Points: - NISQ vs. FTQC: NISQ devices are the current state-of-the-art but are limited by noise and can only run a limited number of gates. FTQC, on the other hand, promises to overcome these limitations by using 'logical' qubits and gates built from a large number of 'physical' qubits and gates, making the system more reliable. - Transformative Applications: FTQC is essential for applications that require quantum circuits with millions of gates. These include scientific research, drug discovery, new materials for batteries, fertilizer manufacturing, and carbon capture. - Resource Estimates: The post provides detailed gate and qubit requirements for various transformative applications, highlighting that we are still far from meeting these requirements with current NISQ devices. - Fault-Tolerance: The only way to meet the gate requirements for transformative applications is through fault-tolerance, which involves assembling larger noisy circuits into smaller noiseless circuits. - Ongoing Research: There is active research from both academia and industry to reduce the computational costs and improve algorithms for quantum simulations. This is bringing us closer to the development of fault-tolerant devices capable of running these advanced algorithms. - The 10,000X Gap: The authors believe that we are still a factor of 10,000 away from the number of gates needed for useful quantum computation. However, costs are coming down fast, and many teams are working on building fault-tolerant quantum computers. In summary, the post argues that while NISQ devices have been groundbreaking, the future of quantum computing lies in the development of fault-tolerant systems that can handle the computational requirements of transformative applications.

Interesting "hype check" article on IEEE Spectrum: Quantum Computing’s Hard, Cold Reality Check... It talks about how QC (Quantum Computing) has been hyped up to unrealistic expectations beyond what the technology was intended to deliver. "The main promise of quantum computing is the ability to solve problems far faster than classical computers, but exactly how much faster varies. There are two applications where quantum algorithms appear to provide an exponential speed up, says Troyer. One is factoring large numbers, which could make it possible to break the public key encryption the internet is built on. The other is simulating quantum systems, which could have applications in chemistry and materials science." Additionally, it wrote that "Another significant barrier is data bandwidth. Qubits’ slow operating speeds fundamentally limit the rate at which you can get classical data in and out of a quantum computer." ... " quantum computers will only really shine on small-data problems with exponential speed ups. All the rest is beautiful theory, but will not be practical"... https://lnkd.in/gmP_mSiS.

A small but vocal set of prominent sceptics in and around the emerging #quantum #computing industry say that the quantum computer revolution is still further off and more limited than many have been led to believe. Quantum computers have been touted as a solution to a wide range of problems and some of the more ambitious timelines have suggested that these machines could be impacting real-world problems in just a handful of years. However, there's growing pushback against these expectations as more is discovered about quantum computing. https://lnkd.in/exssq8af

Something to think about over the weekend, and next week to prepare for the fall... What exactly does the quantum computing community need most over the next year and especially in the near future, the next few months, to make the most progress towards practical quantum computing? What's needed most to start to address what's needed to address production-scale practical real-world quantum applications? My starting point for my thinking is probably just my Christmas and New Year wish list from last December. In short: "All I want for Christmas and the New Year is a small quantum computer with 48 fully-connected near-perfect qubits capable of fully and accurately supporting a 20-bit quantum Fourier transform (QFT) — and enabling quantum phase estimation (QPE), so that a quantum advantage of one million to one can be demonstrated over a comparable classical solution." Or breaking that out a little: 1. Near-perfect qubits. 3.5 nines of qubit fidelity would be a good start. 2. Full any-to-any (all-to-all) qubit connectivity. 3. Longer qubit coherence time and shorter gate execution time to support larger quantum circuits. More ideally to enable 2,500-gate circuits to support a 20-bit quantum Fourier transform and quantum phase estimation. 4. 20 bits of granularity for phase and probability amplitude. A full million gradations (2^20). To support 20-bit quantum Fourier transform and to enable quantum phase estimation. There are plenty of other things I'd like to see, particularly in terms of programming model and algorithmic building blocks, but these hardware capabilities seem more important since they probably help the more elite of algorithm designers get by with the current programming model and raw gate-level coding. I'd like to hear what others feel that they need the most in the coming months. We should be seeing error-suppression support from IBM and Q-CTRL over the next couple of months, as well as the 133-qubit Heron processor from IBM in November which IBM has promised would have three nines of qubit fidelity. Will that be enough to keep up some momentum, or will even that leave people feeling that hardware progress is too slow? Does ANYBODY feel that more qubits is a high priority? #QuantumComputing #QuantumApplications #QuantumAlgorithms #QuantumInformationScience #QIS #Quantum https://lnkd.in/e6p2CThw

A small but vocal set of prominent skeptics in and around the emerging quantum computing industry say that the quantum computer revolution is still further off and more limited than many have been led to believe. Quantum computers have been touted as a solution to a wide range of problems and some of the more ambitious timelines have suggested that these machines could be impacting real-world problems in just a handful of years. However, there's growing pushback against these expectations as more is discovered about quantum computing.