90 research outputs found
The Road to Quantum Computational Supremacy
We present an idiosyncratic view of the race for quantum computational
supremacy. Google's approach and IBM challenge are examined. An unexpected
side-effect of the race is the significant progress in designing fast classical
algorithms. Quantum supremacy, if achieved, won't make classical computing
obsolete.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur
The Born supremacy: quantum advantage and training of an Ising Born machine
The search for an application of near-term quantum devices is widespread.
Quantum Machine Learning is touted as a potential utilisation of such devices,
particularly those which are out of the reach of the simulation capabilities of
classical computers. In this work, we propose a generative Quantum Machine
Learning Model, called the Ising Born Machine (IBM), which we show cannot, in
the worst case, and up to suitable notions of error, be simulated efficiently
by a classical device. We also show this holds for all the circuit families
encountered during training. In particular, we explore quantum circuit learning
using non-universal circuits derived from Ising Model Hamiltonians, which are
implementable on near term quantum devices.
We propose two novel training methods for the IBM by utilising the Stein
Discrepancy and the Sinkhorn Divergence cost functions. We show numerically,
both using a simulator within Rigetti's Forest platform and on the Aspen-1 16Q
chip, that the cost functions we suggest outperform the more commonly used
Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) for differentiable training. We also propose an
improvement to the MMD by proposing a novel utilisation of quantum kernels
which we demonstrate provides improvements over its classical counterpart. We
discuss the potential of these methods to learn `hard' quantum distributions, a
feat which would demonstrate the advantage of quantum over classical computers,
and provide the first formal definitions for what we call `Quantum Learning
Supremacy'. Finally, we propose a novel view on the area of quantum circuit
compilation by using the IBM to `mimic' target quantum circuits using classical
output data only.Comment: v3 : Close to journal published version - significant text structure
change, split into main text & appendices. See v2 for unsplit version; v2 :
Typos corrected, figures altered slightly; v1 : 68 pages, 39 Figures.
Comments welcome. Implementation at
https://github.com/BrianCoyle/IsingBornMachin
Repeated Quantum Error Detection in a Surface Code
The realization of quantum error correction is an essential ingredient for
reaching the full potential of fault-tolerant universal quantum computation.
Using a range of different schemes, logical qubits can be redundantly encoded
in a set of physical qubits. One such scalable approach is based on the surface
code. Here we experimentally implement its smallest viable instance, capable of
repeatedly detecting any single error using seven superconducting qubits, four
data qubits and three ancilla qubits. Using high-fidelity ancilla-based
stabilizer measurements we initialize the cardinal states of the encoded
logical qubit with an average logical fidelity of 96.1%. We then repeatedly
check for errors using the stabilizer readout and observe that the logical
quantum state is preserved with a lifetime and coherence time longer than those
of any of the constituent qubits when no errors are detected. Our demonstration
of error detection with its resulting enhancement of the conditioned logical
qubit coherence times in a 7-qubit surface code is an important step indicating
a promising route towards the realization of quantum error correction in the
surface code.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure
Hash-based Signatures Revisited: A Dynamic FORS with Adaptive Chosen Message Security
FORS is the underlying hash-based few-time signing scheme in SPHINCS+, one of the nine signature schemes which advanced to round 2 of the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography standardization competition. In this paper, we analyze the security of FORS with respect to adaptive chosen message attacks. We show that in such a setting, the security of FORS decreases significantly with each signed message when compared to its security against non-adaptive chosen message attacks. We propose a chaining mechanism that with slightly more computation, dynamically binds the Obtain Random Subset (ORS) generation with signing, hence, eliminating the offline advantage of adaptive chosen message adversaries. We apply our chaining mechanism to FORS
and present DFORS whose security against adaptive chosen message attacks is equal to the non-adaptive security of FORS. In a nutshell, using SPHINCS+-128s parameters, FORS provides 75-bit security and DFORS achieves 150-bit security with respect to adaptive chosen message attacks after signing one message. We note that our analysis does not affect the claimed security of SPHINCS+. Nevertheless, this work provides a better understanding of FORS and other HORS variants and furnishes a solution if new adaptive cryptanalytic techniques on SPHINCS+ emerge
Removing leakage-induced correlated errors in superconducting quantum error correction
Quantum computing can become scalable through error correction, but logical
error rates only decrease with system size when physical errors are
sufficiently uncorrelated. During computation, unused high energy levels of the
qubits can become excited, creating leakage states that are long-lived and
mobile. Particularly for superconducting transmon qubits, this leakage opens a
path to errors that are correlated in space and time. Here, we report a reset
protocol that returns a qubit to the ground state from all relevant higher
level states. We test its performance with the bit-flip stabilizer code, a
simplified version of the surface code for quantum error correction. We
investigate the accumulation and dynamics of leakage during error correction.
Using this protocol, we find lower rates of logical errors and an improved
scaling and stability of error suppression with increasing qubit number. This
demonstration provides a key step on the path towards scalable quantum
computing
Post-Quantum Verification of Fujisaki-Okamoto
We present a computer-verified formalization of the post-quantum
security proof of the Fujisaki-Okamoto transform (as analyzed by
Hövelmanns, Kiltz, Schäge, and Unruh, PKC 2020). The formalization is
done in quantum relational Hoare logic and checked in the qrhl-tool
(Unruh, POPL 2019)
Resolving catastrophic error bursts from cosmic rays in large arrays of superconducting qubits
Scalable quantum computing can become a reality with error correction,
provided coherent qubits can be constructed in large arrays. The key premise is
that physical errors can remain both small and sufficiently uncorrelated as
devices scale, so that logical error rates can be exponentially suppressed.
However, energetic impacts from cosmic rays and latent radioactivity violate
both of these assumptions. An impinging particle ionizes the substrate,
radiating high energy phonons that induce a burst of quasiparticles, destroying
qubit coherence throughout the device. High-energy radiation has been
identified as a source of error in pilot superconducting quantum devices, but
lacking a measurement technique able to resolve a single event in detail, the
effect on large scale algorithms and error correction in particular remains an
open question. Elucidating the physics involved requires operating large
numbers of qubits at the same rapid timescales as in error correction, exposing
the event's evolution in time and spread in space. Here, we directly observe
high-energy rays impacting a large-scale quantum processor. We introduce a
rapid space and time-multiplexed measurement method and identify large bursts
of quasiparticles that simultaneously and severely limit the energy coherence
of all qubits, causing chip-wide failure. We track the events from their
initial localised impact to high error rates across the chip. Our results
provide direct insights into the scale and dynamics of these damaging error
bursts in large-scale devices, and highlight the necessity of mitigation to
enable quantum computing to scale
Recurrent urinary tract infection and estrogen shape the taxonomic ecology and function of the postmenopausal urogenital microbiome
Article describes how postmenopausal women are severely affected by recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI). The authors perform shotgun metagenomics and advanced culture on urine from a controlled cohort of postmenopausal women to identify urogenital microbiome compositional and function changes linked to rUTI susceptibility
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