8,041 research outputs found
What is a quantum computer, and how do we build one?
The DiVincenzo criteria for implementing a quantum computer have been seminal
in focussing both experimental and theoretical research in quantum information
processing. These criteria were formulated specifically for the circuit model
of quantum computing. However, several new models for quantum computing
(paradigms) have been proposed that do not seem to fit the criteria well. The
question is therefore what are the general criteria for implementing quantum
computers. To this end, a formal operational definition of a quantum computer
is introduced. It is then shown that according to this definition a device is a
quantum computer if it obeys the following four criteria: Any quantum computer
must (1) have a quantum memory; (2) facilitate a controlled quantum evolution
of the quantum memory; (3) include a method for cooling the quantum memory; and
(4) provide a readout mechanism for subsets of the quantum memory. The criteria
are met when the device is scalable and operates fault-tolerantly. We discuss
various existing quantum computing paradigms, and how they fit within this
framework. Finally, we lay out a roadmap for selecting an avenue towards
building a quantum computer. This is summarized in a decision tree intended to
help experimentalists determine the most natural paradigm given a particular
physical implementation
The Quantum Frontier
The success of the abstract model of computation, in terms of bits, logical
operations, programming language constructs, and the like, makes it easy to
forget that computation is a physical process. Our cherished notions of
computation and information are grounded in classical mechanics, but the
physics underlying our world is quantum. In the early 80s researchers began to
ask how computation would change if we adopted a quantum mechanical, instead of
a classical mechanical, view of computation. Slowly, a new picture of
computation arose, one that gave rise to a variety of faster algorithms, novel
cryptographic mechanisms, and alternative methods of communication. Small
quantum information processing devices have been built, and efforts are
underway to build larger ones. Even apart from the existence of these devices,
the quantum view on information processing has provided significant insight
into the nature of computation and information, and a deeper understanding of
the physics of our universe and its connections with computation.
We start by describing aspects of quantum mechanics that are at the heart of
a quantum view of information processing. We give our own idiosyncratic view of
a number of these topics in the hopes of correcting common misconceptions and
highlighting aspects that are often overlooked. A number of the phenomena
described were initially viewed as oddities of quantum mechanics. It was
quantum information processing, first quantum cryptography and then, more
dramatically, quantum computing, that turned the tables and showed that these
oddities could be put to practical effect. It is these application we describe
next. We conclude with a section describing some of the many questions left for
future work, especially the mysteries surrounding where the power of quantum
information ultimately comes from.Comment: Invited book chapter for Computation for Humanity - Information
Technology to Advance Society to be published by CRC Press. Concepts
clarified and style made more uniform in version 2. Many thanks to the
referees for their suggestions for improvement
Quantum Mechanical Search and Harmonic Perturbation
Perturbation theory in quantum mechanics studies how quantum systems interact
with their environmental perturbations. Harmonic perturbation is a rare special
case of time-dependent perturbations in which exact analysis exists. Some
important technology advances, such as masers, lasers, nuclear magnetic
resonance, etc., originated from it. Here we add quantum computation to this
list with a theoretical demonstration. Based on harmonic perturbation, a
quantum mechanical algorithm is devised to search the ground state of a given
Hamiltonian. The intrinsic complexity of the algorithm is continuous and
parametric in both time T and energy E. More precisely, the probability of
locating a search target of a Hamiltonian in N-dimensional vector space is
shown to be 1/(1+ c N E^{-2} T^{-2}) for some constant c. This result is
optimal. As harmonic perturbation provides a different computation mechanism,
the algorithm may suggest new directions in realizing quantum computers.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, revtex
Optimized Surface Code Communication in Superconducting Quantum Computers
Quantum computing (QC) is at the cusp of a revolution. Machines with 100
quantum bits (qubits) are anticipated to be operational by 2020
[googlemachine,gambetta2015building], and several-hundred-qubit machines are
around the corner. Machines of this scale have the capacity to demonstrate
quantum supremacy, the tipping point where QC is faster than the fastest
classical alternative for a particular problem. Because error correction
techniques will be central to QC and will be the most expensive component of
quantum computation, choosing the lowest-overhead error correction scheme is
critical to overall QC success. This paper evaluates two established quantum
error correction codes---planar and double-defect surface codes---using a set
of compilation, scheduling and network simulation tools. In considering
scalable methods for optimizing both codes, we do so in the context of a full
microarchitectural and compiler analysis. Contrary to previous predictions, we
find that the simpler planar codes are sometimes more favorable for
implementation on superconducting quantum computers, especially under
conditions of high communication congestion.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, The 50th Annual IEEE/ACM International Symposium
on Microarchitectur
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