Investigating Quantum Computer Components.

There is no doubt that quantum physics is a very weird science. Often when we watch science fiction movies or read Scify books we see futuristic things and come away saying interesting concept but really not based in reality. When it comes to the workings of the quantum world, you really cannot make up something so fantastic.

Quantum mechanics is the math that works to explain the workings of the universe at the quantum level and provide tools to predict what will happen just as classical science theory works.

Now engineers and scientists ( physicists ) are working to put quantum behavior to work in a very different type of computer architecture.

Quantum computers are thought to be capable of speeds millions of times faster than what is possible today using electron binary based processors. With these speeds solving the really big problems of the world might actually be possible.

 

 

Artificial intelligence programs given a platform of a quantum computer may also experience this same step change in capability.

Here is some of the latest research around quantum computer components and yes I did use the word “teleportation” in the title. Their words not mine. I mentioned when it comes to quantum behavior science fiction writers are boring.

Future quantum computers will be able to solve problems where conventional computers fail today. We are still far away from any large-scale implementation, however, because quantum systems are very sensitive to environmental noise. Although systems can be protected from noise in principle, researchers have been able to build only small prototypes of quantum computers experimentally.

One way to reduce the error rate is by encoding quantum information not in one single quantum particle but in several quantum objects. These logical quantum bits or qubits are more robust against noise.

In the last few years, theoretical physicists have developed a whole range of error correction codes and optimized them for specific tasks. Physicists Hendrik Poulsen Nautrup and Hans Briegel from the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the University of Innsbruck and Nicolai Friis, now at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information in Vienna, have found a technique to transfer quantum information between systems that are encoded differently.

Interface between processor and memory

Similar to classical computers, future quantum computers might be built with different quantum computer components.

Scientists have already built small-scale quantum processors and memories experimentally, and they have used different protocols to encode logical qubits: For example, for quantum processors they use so-called color codes and for quantum memories surface codes.

PhD student Hendrik Poulsen Nautrup commented:

For the two systems to interact with each other quantum mechanically, we have to connect them. We have developed a protocol that allows us to merge quantum systems that are encoded differently.

The scientists suggest to locally modify specific elements of the encoded quantum bits. This process is also called lattice surgery, which is used to couple systems such as quantum processors and memories. Once the systems are temporarily “sewed” together, quantum information can be teleported from the processor to the memory and vice versa.

“Similar to a data bus in a conventional computer, scientists can use this technique to connect the components of a quantum computer,” explains Poulsen Nautrup.

This new scheme is another step towards building a universal quantum computer and research for experimental realization is under way. The research was conducted within the framework of the doctoral program Atoms, Light, and Molecules offered at the University of Innsbruck and was funded by the Austrian Science Fund and the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

Source

Connecting Quantum Computer Components Using Teleportation