dougfinke

By Amara Graps The most astonishing feature of the quantum computing field to newcomers is the variety of methods (‘modalities’) to make a qubit. With the state-of-the-art today, what evidence, if any, is there for particular applications that are better suited to particular quantum computing modalities? GQI’s Doug Finke says in a recent Laser Focus article : We aren’t at the point yet where we can definitely say which quantum applications will be able to provide commercially useful results on which machines. But the one thing that makes us optimistic is the diversity of innovative approaches and rapid advances organizations are [...]

By Amara Graps 45+ years ago, the availability of Apple I, II, Commodore, Kim and other personal computers, inspired a generation of hobbyists, who relished accessing the computer’s 6502 chip. I worked in a group at NASA-Ames, where we kept a half-dozen extra Apple IIs for parts to maintain the operations of our ‘portable’ infrared astronomy, data-acquisition system. One (left in this team photo) of the astronomy team members wrote the code closest to the Apple II’s hardware, which was in 6502 assembly-language; code that looked similar to this. 6502-Hobbyists should not throw out their old Apple II 6502 Assembly Language [...]

Although many organizations will be able to implement the new NIST PQC algorithms in software using their existing computers, other applications, particularly small IoT (Internet of Things) devices may need a dedicated chip for this function because their IoT device doesn't have the performance to process the PQC algorithms along with the other things it is doing. And other organizations may want to develop an SoC (System on a Chip) device that integrates the PQC processing functionality along with other functions on a single piece of silicon. For those applications, PQShield has developed an initial test chip that implements the first [...]

by Amara Graps Cancer Use Cases For social impact, there is no greater human health challenge than cancer, for Use Cases of today’s quantum technology. Solving cancer is a multidisciplinary grand challenge for the past several decades, and a natural fit for the HPC community, as seen in this 1992 USA, HPC example. This grand challenge has grown to cross international borders, for example, the Cancer Grand Challenges Org from the Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US. An inherent ‘multidisciplinary’ and ‘HPC’ theme of any human challenge inspires a quantum approach, as seen in last year’s [...]

by Amara Graps Health became a number one global issue during the height of the pandemic, with covid-19 becoming the most studied disease in human history (438,953 publications as of August 28, 2024). Human health was on everyone’s minds in the quantum technology field too, with quantum chemistry providing a valuable application focus for the quantum computing field. For the first-generation, quantum computing annealing architecture: D-Wave, optimization problems (see GQI’s Quantum Solvers Focus Report: Optimization) were, and are, the ‘low-hanging fruit’.  The quantum algorithms company: 1QBit,  after broadening its algorithms to work on gate-based computers, spun out in 2022, the company: [...]

Part 2: Australia’s Quantum Ecosystem by Amara Graps Australia’s Quantum Ecosystem To support the Australian quantum industry communication with the Australian government, let’s see GQI’s  Australian quantum ecosystem strengths via their Heat Map.  In GQI’s Quantum Ecosystem PESTEL Report, Environmental is Australia’s quantum strength compared to its American and UK partners.  Internationally, Australia’s quantum ecosystem is ranked #10, but in its Environmental dimension, it is ranked #1. With respect to Export Controls, those policies are included in the Legal dimension of the PESTEL analysis, where Australia is ranked in the top third of the listed 32 countries, but near the bottom [...]

Part 1: Export Control by Amara Graps It’s a significant milestone, in the development of any nascent technology, to be recognized by policy makers as important for national security. Australia is one of a group of countries across the world which have recently imposed export controls on quantum technology, while some of the field’s leaders, such as Michael Biercuk, founder and CEO of quantum startup: Q-CTRL, questions the need from a technical perspective.    Export Control: Double-Edged Sword Export Control is a double-edged sword, switching between the pros of: 1) national security protection, 2) meeting international obligations, 3) national economic interests, and [...]

Image Credit: The Center for Sales Strategy By Michael Baczyk By weaving together scenarios analysis, technological roadmapping, and quantitative market modeling, GQI empowers decision-makers to navigate the uncertainties inherent to quantum - yes, pun intended.Now, let me walk you through how GQI accomplishes this exactly. Scenarios analysis Figure 1 By developing a range of potential futures (Figure 1) - from optimistic to pessimistic, bull to bear - investors and stakeholders can better prepare for various outcomes and make more informed decisions.  GQI's scenario framework spans across quantum computing, communications, and sensing, recognizing the interconnected nature of these technologies. In quantum computing, [...]

Data Comparing Layout and Error Rate for Distance 3, 5, and 7 Error Correction Codes. Credit: Google The Google Quantum AI team and collaborators has posted a new paper on arXiv showing results of their latest error correction code efforts showing significant results with an improvement in the logical error rate versus the physical error rate by over a factor of two different surface code implementations on their superconducting quantum processors. This shows definite progress and meets the first of the three challenges that GQI has posed for achieving a truly useful fault tolerant computer, what we call a "Sputnik moment". [...]