dougfinke

Physicist Returns to First Love: Science Writing Overview At university, Kirsty McGhee studied physics but always liked writing a paper a little more than conducting an experiment. She worked at several industry-leading publications before landing at Qruise, a quantum machine learning startup. Now she is learning Python and writing the company’s experiment catalog. She and Veronica Combs, host of The Quantum Spin by HKA, talked about how collaborating with colleagues and using clear language are key to effective communication. 00:00 Introduction to Quantum Spin Season Four 00:29 Interview with Kirsty McGhee: Journey into Quantum Industry 02:15 Explaining Complex Topics to a [...]

As the quantum industry continues to grow and expanding the usage to more practical applications, the demand for a skilled quantum workforce is rapidly outstripping the current supply. The Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), has released a new report, Connecting the Dots: Quantum Learning through Experiential Activities and Practice, outlining key findings and recommendations to address this critical talent pipeline issue. The report, a culmination of insights from a workshop attended by experts from industry, government, and academia, emphasizes that existing educational systems are falling short in providing the hands-on, practical training required [...]

Diagrams Showing Two Different Approaches for Generating High-Fidelity Logical Non-Clifford Gates(Controlled Hadamard on Left, T-Gate using Code Switching on Right) We have reported in the QCR recently on several research projects to create quantum error correction codes (see here, here, here, and here), but one of the most significant challenges for implementing a full fault tolerant quantum computer is being able to robustly support a complete, universal gate set that could conceivably implement any quantum algorithm. It is one thing to create logical qubits using a specific error correction code, but it is another thing to be able to perform gate [...]

In a strategic move aimed at pushing the frontier of mineral exploration, Australian space and exploration tech firm Fleet Space Technologies has announced collaborations with three quantum sensing innovators: mDetect, Nomad Atomics, and DeteQt. These partnerships are designed to accelerate the development and integration of advanced quantum sensors into Fleet’s ExoSphere platform, a vertically integrated system for satellite-connected, AI-driven geophysical exploration. The initiative targets the growing demand for critical minerals essential to the energy transition and high-tech manufacturing. By incorporating muon tomography, quantum gravimetry, and diamond-based quantum magnetometry, Fleet aims to significantly enhance subsurface imaging resolution and reduce the need for [...]

National Labs: Turning Basic Research into Industry Solutions Overview What do you do with 450 scientists in 15 labs across the country? You take on the country’s biggest energy challenges and bolster national security in the process. This leadership role is one of Bert de Jong’s jobs at the Berkeley Lab. He leads the Quantum Systems Accelerator which pairs advanced quantum prototypes with algorithms as part of the National Quantum Initiative. Bert is also the Department Head for Computational Science. He discusses the vital role of America’s national labs in translating basic research into industry solutions on the latest episode of [...]

Conceptual Diagram of the Connectivity Required in Microsoft's QEC Code. Credit: Microsoft There have been a lot of announcements made recently about developments in quantum error code (QEC) research, so it might be worthwhile to review what are the desirable features of a good code: Low ratio of physical qubits to logical qubits for efficiency Significant improvement in error rates and ability to scale the level of improvement as the code size increases Fast logical cycle time including error decoding and correction to maximize processing speed Single shot decoding of the errors to minimize the logical cycle time Straight forward implementation [...]

We had reported in December 2023 that Infleqtion had been chosen by Japan’s Science and Technology Agency for the Quantum Moonshot program as the sole foreign quantum computing partner in the program. Since then they have been hard at work with researchers from Japan's Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) and others to design the system. Infleqtion has just completed constructing the unit at their facility in Boulder, Colorado and has now shipped it to IMS in Okazaki, Japan. The next step will be to complete the integration, assembly, and testing of the system at IMS. When this is complete the system is expected to [...]

Pasqal has unveiled a bold and comprehensive 2025 technology roadmap aimed at consolidating its leadership in neutral-atom quantum computing and bridging today's analog capabilities with the future of digital fault-tolerant systems. The roadmap is anchored on three foundational pillars: scaled deployment of QPUs, targeted demonstration of quantum advantage (QA), and accelerated progress toward logical, fault-tolerant architectures. Neutral-Atom Systems Ready for Hybrid HPC Workflows Pasqal’s roadmap confirms its ambition to tightly integrate its neutral-atom quantum processors into classical high-performance computing (HPC) environments. Key 2024 milestones included successful installations of its Orion Beta platform in France’s GENCI and Germany’s Forschungszentrum Jülich – the [...]

Introduction Quantum optimization on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware offers a practical pathway to explore potential speedups for combinatorial and real-world optimization problems. Unlike fault-tolerant approaches that await future hardware, near-term methods leverage current devices by combining quantum subroutines with classical processing. This article reviews recent experimental and theoretical advances implemented on actual quantum processors, focusing on canonical problems such as spin-glass Ising models, higher-order binary optimization, Max-Cut, and maximum independent set. Many vendors have reported signs of quantum advantage or supremacy in various contexts. Here, we examine six representative works that provide concrete benchmarks on today's hardware (in no particular [...]

On January 17, 2025, President Biden issued Executive Order 14144 which covered among other things requirements for agencies to implement Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms as soon as practicable. On June 6, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order modifying the original one to redirect efforts from proactive development to identifying and managing vulnerabilities, moving away from initiatives perceived as regulatory overreach. Perhaps the best way to show the specific changes is to provide a marked-up version of the relevant subsection 4(f) in this order to show what has been added and deleted. You can view the original Executive Order 14144 [...]