Quantum computers can only realise their full potential by defeating the noise that plagues their delicate qubits. The field of quantum error correction offers some increasingly mature solutions. But it is also still a rapidly evolving discipline, and innovation here, as much as in hardware, will shape the future quantum computing roadmap. If 50-70 qubits are…
Right from the conception of quantum computers it was realised that controlling the build-up of errors in quantum computations is a key problem. Theoretical progress over the last 25 years has led to the development of techniques ready to meet this challenge. This introduction is for readers interested in the terminology of quantum error correcting…
The advantages a quantum computer can offer depend on the quantum algorithms it can run and also how easily we can get data in and out of the system. Today’s hardware is still well short of the universal quantum dream and, in truth, the most often discussed benefits are still many years away. However the…
2018 has seen rising awareness of the future potential of quantum technology. 2019 is set to see quantum computing in particular at the peak of its hype cycle. Fact Based Insight believes that investors should take a wide view of the sector to find value in the short, medium and long term. The road to…
Quantum thought leader Scott Aaronson reminds us that the challenge of achieving quantum advantage depends not just on breakthrough quantum hardware but also on mastering revolutionary new quantum software. Scott Aaronson is a professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin, and the founding director of its Quantum Information Center. An expert…
Striking progress modelling molecular vibrations with a quantum simulator brings the abstract quest for quantum supremacy into context. Is this a pointer to medium term commercial applications? The world is waiting for a first demonstration of quantum supremacy, a computation not practical on any conventional computer. However behind that headline will lie a number of…
A battle is starting for influence over future quantum software platforms. This will have long term implications. Break through announcements in quantum hardware continue to gather apace. While we are still a long way from a universal fault tolerant quantum computer, we are about to enter a period where noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) technology is a reality. A…
Quantum is not a digital technology. By taking us beyond the power of binary 1 and 0, it will have a dramatic effect on business value chains and the structure of economic activity Over the last year, exciting practical progress has shown that achieving the benefits of quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum sensing is now…
D-Wave Systems hosted a seminar at SC17, the leading high performance computing mega conference. This featured something still rare in the world of quantum computing – insight from genuine end users. Bo Ewald, President of D-Wave International, introduced the seminar with an accessible survey of the alternative approaches to creating quantum devices. This is a…
Quantum computers offer no advantage in and of themselves. Their true potential is only realised when they run new quantum algorithms. Conventional computers have benefited from 50 years of continuous development. The speed of their underlying logic gate operations will be significantly faster than the speed of quantum gate operations for the foreseeable future. Take…