Cryogenic Memory Technologies

The surging interest in quantum computing, space electronics, and superconducting circuits has led to new developments in cryogenic data storage technology. Quantum computers promise to far extend our processing capabilities and may allow solving currently intractable computational challenges. Even with the advent of the quantum computing era, ultra-fast and energy-efficient classical computing systems are still in high demand. One of the classical platforms that can achieve this dream combination is superconducting single flux quantum (SFQ) electronics. A major roadblock towards implementing scalable quantum computers and practical SFQ circuits is the lack of suitable and compatible cryogenic memory that can operate at 4 Kelvin (or lower) temperature. Cryogenic memory is also critically important in space-based applications. A multitude of device technologies have already been explored to find suitable candidates for cryogenic data storage. Here, we review the existing and emerging variants of cryogenic memory technologies. To ensure an organized discussion, we categorize the family of cryogenic memory platforms into three types: superconducting, non-superconducting, and hybrid. We scrutinize the challenges associated with these technologies and discuss their future prospects.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

End-to-end complexity for simulating the Schwinger model on quantum computers

The Schwinger model is one of the simplest gauge theories. It is known that a topological term of the model leads to the infamous sign problem in the classical Monte Carlo method. In contrast to this, recently, quantum computing in Hamiltonian formalism has gained attention. In this work, we estimate the resources needed for quantum computers to compute physical quantities that are challenging to compute on classical computers. Specifically, we propose an efficient implementation of block-encoding of the Schwinger model Hamiltonian. Considering the structure of the Hamiltonian, this block-encoding with a normalization factor of $\mathcal{O}(N^3)$ can be implemented using $\mathcal{O}(N+\log^2(N/\varepsilon))$ T gates. As an end-to-end application, we compute the vacuum persistence amplitude. As a result, we found that for a system size $N=100$ and an additive error $\varepsilon=0.01$, with an evolution time $t$ and a lattice spacing a satisfying $t/2a=10$, the vacuum persistence amplitude can be calculated using about $10^{13}$ T gates. Our results provide insights into predictions about the performance of quantum computers in the FTQC and early FTQC era, clarifying the challenges in solving meaningful problems within a realistic timeframe.Comment: 29 pages, 16 figure

Factorization in Cybersecurity: a Dual Role of Defense and Vulnerability in the Age of Quantum Computing

One of the most critical components of modern cryptography and thus cybersecurity is the ability to factor large integers quickly and efficiently. RSA encryption, one of the most used types, is based largely on the assumption that factoring for large numbers is computationally infeasible for humans and computers alike. However, with quantum computers, people can use an algorithm like Shor’s algorithm to perform the same task exponentially faster than any normal device ever could. This investigation will go into the strength and vulnerability of RSA encryption using the power of factorization in an age of quantum computers.We start by looking at the foundations of both classical and quantum factoring with greater detail at number field sieve (NFS) and Shor’s. We examine the mathematical background of each topic and the associated algorithms. We conclude with theoretical analysis and experimental simulations that address the difficulty and implications of the above-mentioned algorithms in cryptography. The final thing that I will be discussing is where quantum computing is at present and how this could pose a threat to the current type of cryptographic systems, we use every day. I will be mentioning how we need post-quantum cryptography and how people are currently creating algorithms that are designed to be attack-resistant even to large-scale quantum computers. This investigation has shown the changing dynamics of cybersecurity in the quantum era and helps us understand the challenges and the need to innovate the current cryptographic systems

The NISQ Complexity of Collision Finding

Collision-resistant hashing, a fundamental primitive in modern cryptography, ensures that there is no efficient way to find distinct inputs that produce the same hash value. This property underpins the security of various cryptographic applications, making it crucial to understand its complexity. The complexity of this problem is well-understood in the classical setting and $\Theta(N^{1/2})$ queries are needed to find a collision. However, the advent of quantum computing has introduced new challenges since quantum adversaries \unicode{x2013} equipped with the power of quantum queries \unicode{x2013} can find collisions much more efficiently. Brassard, H\"oyer and Tapp and Aaronson and Shi established that full-scale quantum adversaries require $\Theta(N^{1/3})$ queries to find a collision, prompting a need for longer hash outputs, which impacts efficiency in terms of the key lengths needed for security. This paper explores the implications of quantum attacks in the Noisy-Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) era. In this work, we investigate three different models for NISQ algorithms and achieve tight bounds for all of them: (1) A hybrid algorithm making adaptive quantum or classical queries but with a limited quantum query budget, or (2) A quantum algorithm with access to a noisy oracle, subject to a dephasing or depolarizing channel, or (3) A hybrid algorithm with an upper bound on its maximum quantum depth; i.e., a classical algorithm aided by low-depth quantum circuits. In fact, our results handle all regimes between NISQ and full-scale quantum computers. Previously, only results for the pre-image search problem were known for these models by Sun and Zheng, Rosmanis, Chen, Cotler, Huang and Li while nothing was known about the collision finding problem.Comment: 40 pages; v2: title changed, major extension to other complexity model

Realizing Stabilized Landing for Computation-Limited Reusable Rockets: A Quantum Reinforcement Learning Approach

The advent of reusable rockets has heralded a new era in space exploration, reducing the costs of launching satellites by a significant factor. Traditional rockets were disposable, but the design of reusable rockets for repeated use has revolutionized the financial dynamics of space missions. The most critical phase of reusable rockets is the landing stage, which involves managing the tremendous speed and attitude for safe recovery. The complexity of this task presents new challenges for control systems, specifically in terms of precision and adaptability. Classical control systems like the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller lack the flexibility to adapt to dynamic system changes, making them costly and time-consuming to redesign of controller. This paper explores the integration of quantum reinforcement learning into the control systems of reusable rockets as a promising alternative. Unlike classical reinforcement learning, quantum reinforcement learning uses quantum bits that can exist in superposition, allowing for more efficient information encoding and reducing the number of parameters required. This leads to increased computational efficiency, reduced memory requirements, and more stable and predictable performance. Due to the nature of reusable rockets, which must be light, heavy computers cannot fit into them. In the reusable rocket scenario, quantum reinforcement learning, which has reduced memory requirements due to fewer parameters, is a good solution.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Network Community Detection On Small Quantum Computers

In recent years a number of quantum computing devices with small numbers of qubits became available. We present a hybrid quantum local search (QLS) approach that combines a classical machine and a small quantum device to solve problems of practical size. The proposed approach is applied to the network community detection problem. QLS is hardware-agnostic and easily extendable to new quantum computing devices as they become available. We demonstrate it to solve the 2-community detection problem on graphs of size up to 410 vertices using the 16-qubit IBM quantum computer and D-Wave 2000Q, and compare their performance with the optimal solutions. Our results demonstrate that QLS perform similarly in terms of quality of the solution and the number of iterations to convergence on both types of quantum computers and it is capable of achieving results comparable to state-of-the-art solvers in terms of quality of the solution including reaching the optimal solutions

Quantum Computing in the NISQ era and beyond

Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) technology will be available in the near future. Quantum computers with 50-100 qubits may be able to perform tasks which surpass the capabilities of today's classical digital computers, but noise in quantum gates will limit the size of quantum circuits that can be executed reliably. NISQ devices will be useful tools for exploring many-body quantum physics, and may have other useful applications, but the 100-qubit quantum computer will not change the world right away --- we should regard it as a significant step toward the more powerful quantum technologies of the future. Quantum technologists should continue to strive for more accurate quantum gates and, eventually, fully fault-tolerant quantum computing.Comment: 20 pages. Based on a Keynote Address at Quantum Computing for Business, 5 December 2017. (v3) Formatted for publication in Quantum, minor revision

Practical cryptographic strategies in the post-quantum era

We review new frontiers in information security technologies in communications and distributed storage technologies with the use of classical, quantum, hybrid classical-quantum, and post-quantum cryptography. We analyze the current state-of-the-art, critical characteristics, development trends, and limitations of these techniques for application in enterprise information protection systems. An approach concerning the selection of practical encryption technologies for enterprises with branched communication networks is introduced.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; review pape