Lifeboat Foundation

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The unification of general relativity and quantum theory is one of the fascinating problems of modern physics. One leading solution is Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). Simulating LQG may be important for providing predictions which can then be tested experimentally. However, such complex quantum simulations cannot run efficiently on classical computers, and quantum computers or simulators are needed. Here, we experimentally demonstrate quantum simulations of spinfoam amplitudes of LQG on an integrated photonics quantum processor. We simulate a basic transition of LQG and show that the derived spinfoam vertex amplitude falls within 4% error with respect to the theoretical prediction, despite experimental imperfections.

During its ongoing Think 2023 conference, IBM today announced an end-to-end solution to prepare organisations to adopt quantum-safe cryptography. Called Quantum Safe technology, it is a set of tools and capabilities that integrates IBM’s deep security expertise. Quantum-safe cryptography is a technique to identify algorithms that are resistant to attacks by both classical and quantum computers.

Under Quantum Safe technology, IBM is offering three capabilities. First is the Quantum Safe Explorer to locate cryptographic assets, dependencies, and vulnerabilities and aggregate all potential risks in one central location. Next is the Quantum Safe Advisor which allows the creation of a cryptographic inventory to prioritise risks. Lastly, the Quantum Safe Remidiator lets organisations test quantum-safe remediation patterns and deploy quantum-safe solutions.

In addition, the company has also announced IBM Safe Roadmap, which will serve as the guide for industries to adopt quantum technology. IBM Quantum Safe Roadmap is the company’s first blueprint to help companies in dealing with anticipated cryptographic standards and requirements and protect systems from vulnerabilities.

For two decades, physicists have tried to directly manipulate the spin of electrons in 2D materials like graphene. Doing so could spark key advances in the burgeoning world of 2D electronics, a field where super-fast, small and flexible electronic devices carry out computations based on quantum mechanics.

Standing in the way is that the typical way in which scientists measure the spin of electrons—an essential behavior that gives everything in the physical universe its structure—usually doesn’t work in 2D materials. This makes it incredibly difficult to fully understand the materials and propel forward technological advances based on them. But a team of scientists led by Brown University researchers believe they now have a way around this longstanding challenge. They describe their solution in a new study published in Nature Physics.

In the study, the team—which also include scientists from the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Sandia National Laboratories, and the University of Innsbruck—describe what they believe to be the first measurement showing direct interaction between electrons spinning in a 2D material and photons coming from microwave radiation.

A new experiment uses superconducting qubits to demonstrate that quantum mechanics violates what’s called local realism by allowing two objects to behave as a single quantum system no matter how large the separation between them. The experiment wasn’t the first to show that local realism isn’t how the Universe works—it’s not even the first to do so with qubits.

But it’s the first to separate the qubits by enough distance to ensure that light isn’t fast enough to travel between them while measurements are made. And it did so by cooling a 30-meter-long aluminum wire to just a few milliKelvin. Because the qubits are so easy to control, the experiment provides a new precision to these sorts of measurements. And the hardware setup may be essential for future quantum computing efforts.

The silicon microchips of future quantum computers will be packed with millions, if not billions of qubits—the basic units of quantum information—to solve the greatest problems facing humanity. And with millions of qubits needing millions of wires in the microchip circuitry, it was always going to get cramped in there.

But now engineers at UNSW Sydney have made an important step toward solving a long-standing problem about giving their qubits more breathing space—and it all revolves around jellybeans.

Continue reading “Jellybeans: A sweet solution for overcrowded circuitry in quantum computer chips” »

In the United States, the first step on the road to exascale HPC systems began with a series of workshops in 2007. It wasn’t until a decade and a half later that the 1,686 petaflops “Frontier” system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory went online. This year, Argonne National Laboratory is preparing for the switch to be turned on for “Aurora,” which will be either the second or the third such exascale machine in the United States, depending on the timing of the “El Capitan” system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

There were delays and setbacks on the road to exascale for all of these machines, as well as technology changes, ongoing competition with China, and other challenges. But don’t expect the next leap to zettascale – or even quantum computing – to be any quicker, according to Rick Stevens, associate laboratory director of computing for environment and life sciences at Argonne. Both could take another 15 to 20 years or more.

Such is the nature of HPC.

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A trio of theoretical physicists at the Pennsylvania State University has calculated the upper limit for the possible quantization of time—they suggest 10⁻³³ seconds as the upper limit for the period of a universal oscillator. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, Garrett Wendel, Luis Martínez and Martin Bojowald outline their theory and suggest a possible way to prove it.

For many years, theoretical physicists have been trying to explain a major problem—the general theory of relativity suggests that time is a continuous quantity, one that can move slower or faster depending on acceleration and gravity conditions. But quantum mechanics theories suggest that time ticks away at a steady pace, like the frames of a movie being played out. In this scenario, time must be universal. For both theories to be right, this contradiction must be explained in a rational way.

Continue reading “Theorists calculate upper limit for possible quantization of time” »

Excerpts from the Red Folder.