UC Riverside (UCR) is set to lead a project focused on enabling scalable quantum computing after winning a $3.75 million Multicampus-National Lab Collaborative Research and Training Award.

The collaborative effort will see contributions from UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, with UCR acting as project coordinator.

Scalable quantum computing

Quantum computing is currently in its infancy but it is expected to stretch far beyond the capabilities of conventional computing in the coming years. Intensive tasks such as modeling complex processes, finding large prime numbers, and designing new chemical compounds for medical use are what quantum computers are expected to excel at.

Quantum information is stored on quantum computers in the form of quantum bits, or qubits. This means that quantum systems can exist in two different states simultaneously as opposed to conventional computing systems which only exist in one state at a time. Current quantum computers are limited in their qubits, however, so for quantum computing to realize its true potential, new systems are going to have to be scalable and include many more qubits.

The goal of this collaborative project is to establish a novel platform for quantum computing that is truly scalable up to many qubits, said Boerge Hemmerling, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside and the lead principal investigator of the three-year project. Current quantum computing technology is far away from experimentally controlling the large number of qubits required for fault-tolerant computing. This stands in large contrast to what has been achieved in conventional computer chips in classical computing.

3D printed ion trap microstructures

The research team will use advanced 3D printing technology, available at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to fabricate microstructure ion traps for the new quantum computers. Ions are used to store qubits and quantum information is transferred when these ions move in their traps. According to UCR, trapped ions have the best potential for realizing scalable quantum computing.

Alongside UCR, UC Berkeley will enable high-fidelity quantum gates with the ion traps. UCLA will integrate fiber optics with the ion traps, UC Santa Barbara will put the traps through trials in cryogenic environments and demonstrate shuttling of ion strings while the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will be used to characterize and develop new materials. The project coordinator, UCR, will develop simplified cooling schemes and research the possibility of trapping electrons with the traps.

We have a unique opportunity here to join various groups within the UC system and combine their expertise to make something bigger than a single group could achieve, Hemmerling stated. We anticipate that the microstructure 3D printed ion traps will outperform ion traps that have been used to date in terms of the storage time of the ions and ability to maintain and manipulate quantum information.

He adds, Most importantly, our envisioned structures will be scalable in that we plan to build arrays of interconnected traps, similar to the very successful conventional computer chip design. We hope to establish these novel 3D-printed traps as a standard laboratory tool for quantum computing with major improvements over currently used technology.

Hemmerlings concluding remarks explain that many quantum computing approaches, while very promising, have fallen short of providing a scalable platform that is useful for processing complex tasks. If an applicable machine is to be built, new routes must be considered, starting with UCRs scalable computing project.

Early quantum technology work involving 3D printing has paved the way for UCRs future project. When cooled to near 0K, the quantum characteristics of atomic particles start to become apparent. Just last year, additive manufacturing R&D company Added Scientific 3D printed the first vacuum chamber capable of trapping clouds of cold atoms. Elsewhere, two-photon AM system manufacturer Nanoscribe introduced a new machine, the Quantum X, with micro-optic capabilities. The company expects its system to be useful in advancing quantum technology to the industrial level.

The nominations for the 2020 3D Printing Industry Awards are now open. Who do you think should make the shortlists for this years show? Have your say now.

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Featured image showsUniversity of California, Riverside campus. Photo via UCR.

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UC Riverside to lead scalable quantum computing project using 3D printed ion traps - 3D Printing Industry

Qubits are exponentially faster than bits in several computing problems, such as database searches and factoring (which, as we will discuss soon, may break your Internet encryption).

An important thing to realize is that qubits can hold much more information than a bit can. One bit holds the same amount of information as one qubit they can both only hold one value. However, four bits must be used to store the same amount of information as two qubits. A two-qubit system in equal superposition holds values for four states, which on a classical computer, would need at least four bits to hold. Eight bits are needed to store the same amount of information as three qubits, since a three-qubit system can store eight states 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, and 111. This pattern continues.

The below graph provides a visual for the computing power of qubits. The x-axis represents the number of qubits used to hold a certain amount of information. The blue lines y represents the number of bits needed to hold the same amount of information as the number of qubits (x-axis), or 2 to the power of x. The red lines y represents the number of qubits needed to hold the same amount of information as the number of qubits in the x-axis (y=x).

Imagine the exponential speedup quantum computing can provide! A gigabyte (8E+09 bits) worth of information can be represented with log(8E+09)/log(2) = 33 (rounded up from 32.9) qubits.

Quantum computers are also great at factoring numbers which leads us to RSA encryption. The security protocol that secures Medium and probably any other website youve been on is known as RSA encryption. It relies on the fact that with current computing resources, it would take a very, very long time to factor a 30+-digit number m that has only one solution namely, p times q, where both p and q are large prime numbers. However, dividing m by p or q is computationally much easier, and since m divided by q returns p and vice versa, it provides a quick key verification system.

A quantum algorithm called Shors algorithm has shown exponential speedup in factoring numbers, which could one day break RSA encryption. But dont buy into the hype yet as of this writing, the largest number factored by quantum computers is 21 (into 3 and 7). The hardware has not been developed yet for quantum computers to factor 30-digit numbers or even 10-digit numbers. Even if quantum computers one day do break RSA encryption, a new security protocol called BB84 that relies on quantum properties is verified safe from quantum computers.

So will quantum computers ever completely replace the classical PC? Not in the forseeable future.

Quantum computing, while developing very rapidly, is still in an infantile stage, with research only being conducted semi-competitively by large corporations like Google, Microsoft, and IBM. Much of the hardware to accelerate quantum computing is not currently available. There are several obstacles to a quantum future, of which a major one is addressing gate errors and maintaining integrity of a qubits state.

However, given the amount of innovation that has happened in the past few years, it seems inevitable during our lifetimes that quantum computing will make huge strides. In addition, complexity theory has shown that there are several cases where classical computers perform better than quantum computers. IBM quantum computer developers state that quantum computing will probably never completely eliminate classical computers. Instead, in the future we may see a hybrid chip that relies on quantum transistors for certain tasks and classical transistors for others, depending on which one is more appropriate.

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Quantum Computing for Everyone - The Startup - Medium

AI is one of the most happening domains in the world right now. It would take a lifetime to skim through all the machine learning research papers released till date. As the AI keeps itself in the news through new releases of frameworks, regulations and breakthroughs, we can only hope to get the best of the lot.

So, here we have a compiled a list of top exciting AI announcements released over the past one week:

Late last year, Google locked horns with IBM in their race for quantum supremacy. Though the news has been around how good their quantum computers are, not much has been said about the implementation. Today, Google brings two of their most powerful frameworks Tensorflow and CIRQ together and releases TensorFlow Quantum, an open-source library for the rapid prototyping of quantum ML models.

Google AI team has joined hands with the University of Waterloo, X, and Volkswagen, announced the release of TensorFlow Quantum (TFQ).

TFQ is designed to provide the developers with the tools necessary for assisting the quantum computing and machine learning research communities to control and model quantum systems.

The team at Google have also released a TFQ white paper with a review of quantum applications. And, each example can be run in-browser via Colab from this research repository.

A key feature of TensorFlow Quantum is the ability to simultaneously train and execute many quantum circuits. This is achieved by TensorFlows ability to parallelise computation across a cluster of computers, and the ability to simulate relatively large quantum circuits on multi-core computers.

As the devastating news of COVID-19 keeps rising at an alarming rate, the AI researchers have given something to smile about. DeepMind, one of the premier AI research labs in the world, announced last week, that they are releasing structure predictions of several proteins that can promote research into the ongoing research around COVID-19. They have used the latest version of AlphaFold system to find these structures. AlphaFold is one of the biggest innovations to have come from the labs of DeepMind, and after a couple of years, it is exhilarating to see its application in something very critical.

As the pursuit to achieve human-level intelligence in machines fortifies, language modeling will keep on surfacing till the very end. One, human language is innately sophisticated, and two, training language models from scratch is exhaustive.

The last couple of years has witnessed a flurry of mega releases from the likes of NVIDIA, Microsoft and especially Google. As BERT topped the charts through many of its variants, Google now announces ELECTRA.

ELECTRA has the benefits of BERT but more efficient learning. They also claim that this novel pre-training method outperforms existing techniques given the same compute budget.

The gains are particularly strong for small models; for example, a model trained on one GPU for four days outperformed GPT (trained using 30x more compute) on the GLUE natural language understanding benchmark.

China has been the worst-hit nation of all the COVID-19 victims. However, two of the biggest AI breakthroughs have come from the Chinese soil. Last month, Baidu announced how its toolkit brings down the prediction time. Last week, another Chinese giant, Alibaba announced that its new AI system has an accuracy of 96% in detecting the coronavirus from the CT scan of the patients. Alibabas founder Jack Ma has fueled the vaccine development efforts of his team with a $2.15 M donation.

Facebook AI has released its in-house feature of converting a two-dimensional photo into a video byte that gives the feel of having a more realistic view of the object in the picture. This system infers the 3D structure of any image, whether it is a new shot just taken on an Android or iOS device with a standard single camera, or a decades-old image recently uploaded to a phone or laptop.

The feature has been only available on high-end phones through the dual-lens portrait mode. But, now it will be available on every mobile device even with a single, rear-facing camera. To bring this new visual format to more people, the researchers at Facebook used state-of-the-art ML techniques to produce 3D photos from virtually any standard 2D picture.

One significant implication of this feature can be an improved understanding of 3D scenes that can help robots navigate and interact with the physical world.

As the whole world focused on the race to quantum supremacy between Google and IBM, Honeywell silently has been building, as it claims, the most powerful quantum computer yet. And, it plans to release this by the middle of 2020.

Thanks to a breakthrough in technology, were on track to release a quantum computer with a quantum volume of at least 64, twice that of the next alternative in the industry. There are a number of industries that will be profoundly impacted by the advancement and ultimate application of at-scale quantum computing, said Tony Uttley, President of Honeywell Quantum Solutions in the official press release.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a panic globally and rightfully so. Many flagship conferences have been either cancelled or have been moved to a virtual environment.

Nvidias flagship GPU Technology Conference (GTC), which was supposed to take place in San Francisco in the last week of March was cancelled due to fears of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Whereas, Google Cloud also has cancelled its upcoming event, Google Cloud Next 20, which was slated to take place on April 6-8 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Due to the growing concern around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in alignment with the best practices laid out by the CDC, WHO and other relevant entities, Google Cloud has decided to reimagine Google Cloud Next 20, the company stated on its website.

One of the popular conferences for ML researchers, ICLR2020 too, has announced that they are cancelling its physical conference this year due to growing concerns about COVID-19. They are shifting this event to a fully virtual conference.

ICLR authorities also issued a statement saying that all accepted papers at the virtual conference will be presented using a pre-recorded video.

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Top AI Announcements Of The Week: TensorFlow Quantum And More - Analytics India Magazine

Quantum computing is expected to be the new technology, fully integrated with the financial sector within five to ten years. This form of computer, also known as supercomputers, are capable of highly advanced processing power that takes in massive amounts of data to solve a problem in a fraction of the time it would for the best traditional computer on the market to resolve.

Traditional Computer vs. Quantum Computing

A typical computer today stores information in the form of bits. These are represented in the binary language (0s and 1s). In quantum computing, the bits are known as Qubits and will take on the processing of similar input but rather than break it down to 0s and 1s will break the data down significantly greater where the possibilities of computational speed can be almost immeasurable.

Quantum Computing in Banking

Let's examine personal encryption in banking for example. Using a security format called RSA-2048, traditional computers would be able to decrypt the security algorithm in about 1,034 steps. With our best computers on the market, even with a processor capable of performing a trillion calculations per second, these steps translate to 317 billion years to break the secure code. While it is possible, it is not practical for a cyber-criminal to make it worthwhile.

A quantum computer, on the other hand, would be able to resolve this problem in about 107 steps. With a basic quantum computer running at one million calculations per second, this translates to ten seconds to resolve the problem.

While this example centered on breaking complex security, many other use cases can emerge from the use of quantum computing.

Trade Transaction Settlements

Barclays bank researchers have been working on a proof of concept regarding the transaction settlement process. As settlements can only be worked on a transaction-by-transaction basis, they can easily queue up only to be released in batches. When a processing window opens, as many trades as possible are settled.

Complex by their very nature, Traders can end up tapping into funds prior to the transaction being cleared. They will only be settled if the funds are available or if a collateral credit facility was arranged.

As you could probably handle a small number of trades in your head, you would need to rely on a computer after about 10-20 transactions. The same can be described for our current computational power in that it is now nearing the point where it will need more and more time to resolve hundreds of trades at a time.

With quantum computing using a seven-qubit system, it would be able to run a greater amount of complex trades in the same time it would for a traditional system to complete the trades. It would take the equivalent of about two hundred traditional computers to match the speed.

Simulating a Future Product Valuation

Researchers at JP Morgan were working on a concept that simulates the future value of a financial product. The team is testing quantum computers to perform complex intensive pricing calculations that normally take traditional computer hours to complete. This is a problem as each year greater complexity is added via newer algorithms, getting to the point where it is nearing an impossibility to calculate in a practical sense.

The research team has discovered that using quantum computing resulted in finding a resolution to the problem in mere seconds.

Final Thoughts

Banks are working on successful tests today with quantum computing to resolve extreme resource-intensive calculations for financial problem scenarios. Everything from trading, fraud, AML, etc. this is a technology not to be overlooked.

According to Deltec Bank, Bahamas - "Quantum Computing will have positive impacts on portfolio optimization, risk analysis, asset pricing, and trading strategies is just the tip of the iceberg of what this technology could provide."

Disclaimer: The author of this text, Robin Trehan, has an Undergraduate degree in economics, Masters in international business and finance and MBA in electronic business. Trehan is Senior VP at Deltec International http://www.deltecbank.com. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this text are solely the views of the author, and not necessarily reflecting the views of Deltec International Group, its subsidiaries and/or employees.

About Deltec Bank

Headquartered in The Bahamas, Deltec is an independent financial services group that delivers bespoke solutions to meet clients' unique needs. The Deltec group of companies includes Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, Deltec Fund Services Limited, and Deltec Investment Advisers Limited, Deltec Securities Ltd. and Long Cay Captive Management.

Media Contact

Company Name: Deltec International Group

Contact Person: Media Manager

Email: rtrehan@deltecial.com

Phone: 242 302 4100

Country: Bahamas

Website: https://www.deltecbank.com/

Source: http://www.abnewswire.com

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Deltec Bank, Bahamas - Quantum Computing Will have Positive Impacts on Portfolio Optimization, Risk Analysis, Asset Pricing, and Trading Strategies -...

The presidents budget request for fiscal 2021 proposed $738 million to fund the National Institutes of Science and Technology, a dramatic reduction from the more than $1 billion in enacted funds allocated for the agency this fiscal year.

The House Science, Space and Technology Committees Research and Technology Subcommittee on Wednesday held a hearing to hone in on NISTs reauthorizationbut instead of focusing on relevant budget considerations, lawmakers had other plans.

We're disappointed by the president's destructive budget request, which proposes over a 30% cut to NIST programs, Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., said at the top of the hearing. But today, I don't want to dwell on a proposal that we know Congress is going to reject ... today I would like this committee to focus on improving NIST and getting the agency the tools it needs to do better, to do its job.

Per Stevens suggestion, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Walter Copan reflected on some of the agencys dire needs and offered updates and his view on a range of its ongoing programs and efforts.

NISTs Facilities Are in Bad Shape

President Trumps budget proposal for fiscal 2021 requests only $60 million in funds for facility construction, which is down from the $118 million enacted for fiscal 2020 and comes at a time when the agencys workspaces need upgrades.

Indeed the condition of NIST facilities are challenging, Copan explained. Over 55% of NIST's facilities are considered in poor to critical condition per [Commerce Department] standards, and so it does provide some significant challenges for us.

Some of the agencys decades-old facilities and infrastructures are deteriorating and Copan added that hed recently heard NISTs deferred maintenance backlog has hit more than $775 million. If the lawmakers or public venture out to visit some of the agencys facilities, you'll see the good, the bad, and the embarrassingly bad, he said. Those conditions are a testament to the resilience and the commitment of NISTs people, that they can work in sometimes challenging, outdated environments, Copan said.

The director noted that there have already been some creative solutions proposed to address the issue, including the development of a federal capital revolving fund. The agency is also looking creatively at the combination of maintenance with lease options for some of its facilities, in hopes that it can then move more rapidly by having its officials cycle out of laboratories to launch rebuilding and renovation processes.

It's one of my top priorities as the NIST director to have our NIST people work in 21st-century facilities that we can be proud of and that enable the important work of NIST for the nation, Copan said.

Advancing Efforts in Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing

The presidents budget request placed a sharp focus on industries of the future, which will be powered by many emerging technologies, and particularly quantum computing and AI.

During the hearing and in his written testimony, Copan highlighted some of NISTs work in both areas. The agency has helped shape an entire generation of quantum science, over the last century, and a significant portion of quantum scientists from around the globe have trained at the agencys facilities. Some of NISTs more recent quantum achievements include supporting the development of a quantum logic clock and helping steer advancements in quantum simulation. Following a recent mandate from the Trump administration, the agency is also in the midst of instituting the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, or QEDC, which aims to advance industry collaboration to expand the nations leadership in quantum research and development.

Looking forward, over the coming years NIST will focus a portion of its quantum research portfolio on the grand challenge of quantum networking, Copans written testimony said. Serving as the basis for secure and highly efficient quantum information transmission that links together multiple quantum devices and sensors, quantum networks will be a key element in the long-term evolution of quantum technologies.

Though there were cuts across many areas, the presidents budget request also proposed a doubling of NISTs funding in artificial intelligence and Copan said the technology is already broadly applied across all of the agencys laboratories to help improve productivity.

Going forward and with increased funding, he laid out some of the agencys top priorities, noting that there's much work to be done in developing tools to provide insights into artificial intelligence programs, and there is also important work to be done in standardization, so that the United States can lead the world in the application of [AI] in a trustworthy and ethical manner.

Standardization to Help the U.S. Lead in 5G

Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., asked Copan to weigh in on the moves China is making across the fifth-generation wireless technology landscape, and the moves the U.S. needs to make to leadnot just competein that specific area.

We have entered in the United States, as we know, a hyper-competitive environment with China as a lead in activities related to standardization, Copan responded.

The director said that officials see, in some ways, that the standardization process has been weaponized, where the free market economy that is represented by the United States, now needs to lead in more effective coordination internally and incentivize industry to participate in the standards process. Though U.S. officials have already seen those rules of fair play bent or indeed broken by other players, NIST and others need to help improve information sharing across American standards-focused stakeholders, which could, in turn, accelerate adoption around the emerging technology.

We want the best technologies in the world to win and we want the United States to continue to be the leader in not only delivering those technologies, but securing the intellectual properties behind them and translating those into market value, he said.

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NIST Works on the Industries of the Future in Buildings from the Past - Nextgov

The company is developing materials in quantum computing, biotechnology, and lithium-ion batteries.

() has confirmed thatthe patent application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) to protect and commercialise its graphene biosensor technology intellectual property has been received by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Acknowledgement of receipt by WIPO concludes the PCT application lodgement process and confirms the International Patent Application is formally compliant with the PCT prosecution procedure and has met the deadline to avoid abandonment of the application.

The company has continued to progressthe development of its 12CQ technology and ison-track performing quantum measurements required to build an operational room-temperature qubit processor (chip) prototype.

As part of this work, the company has joined the Sydney Knowledge Hub,a co-working space for research-based organisations that collaborate with the University of Sydney,to strategically engage with researchers in the Australian quantum computing economy.

A collaboration agreement with the University of NSW Sydney also now includes access to world-class infrastructure for quantum materials characterisation.

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Archer Materials" patent application received by World Intellectual Property Organisation - Proactive Investors Australia

The future is here. Or just about. After a number of discoveries, researchers have proven that quantum computing is possible and on its way. The wider world did not pause long on this discovery: Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Google, and IBM have just announced their own intentions to embark on their own quantum developments.

Now that its within our reach we have to start seriously considering what that means in the real world. Certainly, we all stand to gain from the massive benefits that quantum capabilities can bring, but so do cybercriminals.

Scalable quantum computing will defeat much of modern-day encryption, such as the RSA 2048 bit keys, which secure computer networks everywhere. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology says as much, projecting that quantum in this decade will be able to break the protocols on which the modern internet relies.

The security profession hasnt taken the news lying down either. Preparations have begun in earnest. The DigiCert 2019 Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Survey aimed to examine exactly how companies were doing. Researchers surveyed 400 enterprises, each with 1,000 or more employees, across the US, Germany and Japan to get answers. They also conducted a focus group of nine different IT managers to further reveal those preparations.

SEE ALSO:DevSecOps Panel Best DevOps Security Practices & Best Tools

An encouraging development is that 35 percent of respondents already have a PQC budget, and a further 56 percent are discussing one in their organisations. Yet, many are still very early in the process of PQC planning. An IT manager within a manufacturing company said, We have a budget for security overall. Theres a segment allotted to this, but its not to the level or expense that is appropriate and should be there yet.

The time to start preparing, including inquiring of your vendors readiness for quantum computing threats, is now. One of the respondents, an IT Security manager at a financial services company, told surveyors, Were still in the early discussion phases because were not the only ones who are affected. There are third party partners and vendors that were in early discussions with on how we can be proactive and beef up our security. And quantum cryptology is one of the topics that we are looking at.

Others expanded upon that, noting that their early preparations heavily involve discussing the matter with third parties and vendors. Another focus group member, an IT manager at an industrial construction company, told the group, We have third party security companies that are working with us to come up with solutions to be proactive. So obviously, knock on wood, nothing has happened yet. But we are definitely always proactive from a security standpoint and were definitely trying to make sure that were ready once a solution is available.

Talking to your vendors and third parties should be a key part of any organisations planning process. To that end, organisations should be checking whether their partners will keep supporting and securing customers operations into the age of quantum.

The data itself was still at the centre of respondents minds when it came to protection from quantum threats, and when asked what they were focusing on in their preparations, respondents said that above all they were monitoring their own data. One respondent told us, The data is everything for anybody thats involved in protecting it. And so you just have to stay on top of it along with your vendors and continue to communicate.

One of the prime preparatory best practices that respondents called upon was monitoring. Knowing what kind of data flows within your environment, how its used and how its currently protected are all things that an enterprise has to find out as they prepare.

SEE ALSO:As quantum computing draws near, cryptography security concerns grow

To be sure, overhauling an enterprises cryptographic infrastructure is no small feat, but respondents listed understanding their organisations level of crypto agility as a priority. Quantum might be a few years off, but becoming crypto agile may take just as long.

Organisations will have to plan for a system which can easily swap out, integrate and change cryptographic algorithms within an organisation. Moreover, it must be able to do so quickly, cheaply and without any significant changes to the broader system. Practically, this means installing automated platforms which follow your cryptographic deployments so that you can remediate, revoke, renew, reissue or otherwise control any and all of your certificates at scale.

Many organisations are still taking their first tentative steps, and others have yet to take any. Now is the time for organisations to be assessing their deployments of crypto and digital certificates so they have proper crypto-agility and are ready to deploy quantum-resistant algorithms soon rather than being caught lacking when it finally arrives.

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The view of quantum threats from the front lines - JAXenter

Google reported a remarkable breakthrough towards the end of 2019. The company claimed to have achieved something called quantum supremacy, using a new type of quantum computer to perform a benchmark test in 200 seconds. This was in stark contrast to the 10,000 years that would supposedly have been needed by a state-of-the-art conventional supercomputer to complete the same test.

Despite IBMs claim that its supercomputer, with a little optimisation, could solve the task in a matter of days, Googles announcement made it clear that we are entering a new era of incredible computational power.

Yet with much less fanfare, there has also been rapid progress in the development of quantum communication networks, and a master network to unite them all called the quantum internet. Just as the internet as we know it followed the development of computers, we can expect the quantum computer to be accompanied by the safer, better synchronised quantum internet.

Like quantum computing, quantum communication records information in what are known as qubits, similar to the way digital systems use bits and bytes. Whereas a bit can only take the value of zero or one, a qubit can also use the principles of quantum physics to take the value of zero and one at the same time. This is what allows quantum computers to perform certain computations very quickly. Instead of solving several variants of a problem one by one, the quantum computer can handle them all at the same time.

These qubits are central to the quantum internet because of a property called entanglement. If two entangled qubits are geographically separated (for instance, one qubit in Dublin and the other in New York), measurements of both would yield the same result. This would enable the ultimate in secret communications, a shared knowledge between two parties that cannot be discovered by a third. The resulting ability to code and decode messages would be one of the most powerful features of the quantum internet.

There will be no shortage of commercial applications for these advanced cryptographic mechanisms. The world of finance, in particular, looks set to benefit as the quantum internet will lead to enhanced privacy for online transactions and stronger proof of the funds used in the transaction.

Recently, at the CONNECT Centre in Trinity College Dublin, we successfully implemented an algorithm that could achieve this level of security. That this took place during a hackathon a sort of competition for computer programmers shows that even enthusiasts without detailed knowledge of quantum physics can create some of the building blocks that will be needed for the quantum internet. This technology wont be confined to specialist university departments, just as the original internet soon outgrew its origins as a way to connect academics around the world.

But how could this quantum internet be built anytime soon when we currently can only build very limited quantum computers? Well, the devices in the quantum internet dont have to be completely quantum in nature, and the network wont require massive quantum machines to handle the communication protocols.

One qubit here and there is all a quantum communication network needs to function. Instead of replacing the current infrastructure of optical fibres, data centres and base stations, the quantum internet will build on top of and make maximum use of the existing, classical internet.

With such rapid progress being made, quantum internet technology is set to shape the business plans of telecom companies in the near future. Financial institutions are already using quantum communication networks to make inter-bank transactions safer. And quantum communication satellites are up and running as the first step to extending these networks to a global scale.

The pipes of the quantum internet are effectively being laid as you read this. When a big quantum computer is finally built, it can be plugged into this network and accessed on the cloud, with all the privacy guarantees of quantum cryptography.

What will the ordinary user notice when the enhanced cryptography of the quantum internet becomes available? Very little, in all likelihood. Cryptography is like waste management: if everything works well, the customer doesnt even notice.

In the constant race of the codemakers and codebreakers, the quantum internet wont just prevent the codebreakers taking the lead. It will move the race track into another world altogether, with a significant head start for the codemakers. With data becoming the currency of our times, the quantum internet will provide stronger security for a new valuable commodity.

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Quantum internet: the next global network is already being laid - The Conversation UK

The Trump administrations fiscal year 2021 budget proposal includes significant increases in funding for artificial intelligence and quantum computing, while cutting overall research and development spending. If Congress agrees to it, artificial intelligence, or AI, funding would nearly double, and quantum computing would receive a 50% boost over last years budget, doubling in 2022, to $860 million. The administration says these two fields of research are important to U.S. national security, in part because China also invests heavily in these fields.

Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics to solve highly complex problems more quickly than they can be solved by standard or classical computers. Though fully functional quantum computers dont yet exist, scientists at academic institutions, as well as at IBM, Google and other companies, are working to build such systems.

Scott Aaronson is a professor of computer science and the founding director of the Quantum Information Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He says applications for quantum computing include simulation of chemistry and physics problems. These simulations enable scientists to design new materials, drugs, superconductors and solar cells, among other applications.

Aaronson says the governments role is to support basic scientific research the kind needed to build and perfect quantum computers.

We do not yet know how to build a fully scalable quantum computer. The quantum version of the transistor, if you like, has not been invented yet, Aaronson says.

On the software front, researchers have not yet developed applications that take full advantage of quantum computings capabilities.

Thats often misrepresented in the popular press, where its claimed that a quantum computer is just a black box that does everything, Aaronson says.

Competition between the U.S. and China in quantum computing revolves, in part, around the role such a system could play in breaking the encryption that makes things secure on the internet.

Truly useful quantum computing applications could be as much as a decade away, Aaronson says. Initially, these tools would be highly specialized.

The way I put it is that were now entering the very, very early, vacuum-tube era of quantum computers, he says.

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Why Quantum Computing Gets Special Attention In The Trump Administration's Budget Proposal - Texas Standard

WASHINGTON, February 21, 2020 - U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios expressed confidence in the supremacy of the U.S.s artificial intelligence and quantum computing programs over Chinas, in a talk at the Hudson Institute on Thursday.

United States research on AI and quantum computing features the most highly cited papers, most investment by the private sector, and greatest government funding, he said.

This assertion challenges the Made in China 2025 Initiative, a 10-year plan that China issued in 2015, and which outlined 10 key tech industries in which China hopes to become a world leader.

Recent progress by the Chinese government in the field of high-speed fiber-optic broadband, AI and surveillance have fueled some analysts fears that the Chinese will hit their targets.

Kratsios laid out four key components of a winning tech strategy in which the U.S. excels: Leadership development, a low-regulatory environment, a belief in the power of the citizen workforce, and international engagement with allies.

Kratsios referenced two specific examples to bolster his argument. He mentioned how Trump committed to at least $200 million for STEM education last year, and how American corporations came more than matched that figure by donating $300 million.He also recounted the story that he said put America at the head of the pack in the quantum supremacy race. The story bears upon the uniting of resources invested by the U.S. government in the Quantum Lab at UC Santa Barbara with Googles subsequent acquisition of the lab and connection of that research team to its treasure trove of resources.

Its not a James Bond/Jason Borne crossover, but the concept of quantum supremacy is vital for national security, Kratsios said. America has only achieved it through a free market of ideas involving prudent government investing and private sector intervention.

Governmental funding and R&D are unique in that they fill the gaps that the private sector doesnt focus on.

Kratsios elaborated that the government tends to invest in early-stage, pre-competitive R&D which it expects the private sector to nurture and raise into a mature industry, such as in the case of the UCSB Quantum Lab.

Kratsios also gave made some comments on the proposals that the EU released Wednesday regarding AI and data. He characterized their approach to AI as values-based, and worried that they do not prioritize implementation.

Kratsios also found fault with the documents binary approach to classifying AI as high risk or not high risk, saying the report clumsily attempts to bucket AI-powered technology into two camps when there should be more spectrum and flexibility in the model.

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U.S. Progress on AI and Quantum Computing Will Best China, Says CTO Michael Kratsios - BroadbandBreakfast.com

Scientists have observed a new state of electronic matter on the quantum scale, one that forms when electrons clump together in transit, and it could advance our understanding and application of quantum physics.

Movement is key to this new quantum state. When electric current is applied to semiconductors or metals, the electrons inside usually travel slowly and somewhat haphazardly in one direction.

Not so in a special type of medium known as aballistic conductor, where the movement is faster and more uniform.

The new study shows how in very thin ballistic conducting wires, electrons can gang up creating a whole new quantum state of matter made solely from speeding electrons.

"Normally, electrons in semiconductors or metals move and scatter, and eventually drift in one direction if you apply a voltage," says physicist Jeremy Levy, from the University of Pittsburgh. "But in ballistic conductors the electrons move more like cars on a highway."

"The discovery we made shows that when electrons can be made to attract one another, they can form bunches of two, three, four and five electrons that literally behave like new types of particles, new forms of electronic matter."

Ballistic conductors can be used for stretching the boundaries of what's possible in electronics and classical physics, and the one used in this particular experiment was made from lanthanum aluminate and strontium titanate.

Interestingly, when the researchers measured the levels of conductance they found they followed one of the most well-known patterns in mathematics Pascal's triangle. Asconductanceincreased, it stepped up in a pattern that matches one of the rows of Pascal's triangle, following the order 1, 3, 6, 10 and so on.

"The discovery took us some time to understand but it was because we initially did not realise we were looking at particles made up of one electron, two electrons, three electrons and so forth," says Levy.

This clumping of electrons is similar to the way that quarks bind together to form neutrons and protons, according to the researchers. Electrons in superconductors can team up like this too, joining together in pairs to coordinate movement.

The findings may have something to teach us about quantum entanglement, which in turn is key to making progress with quantum computing and a super-secure, super-fast quantum internet.

According to Levy, it's another example of how we're reverse engineering the world based on what we've found from the discovery of the fundamentals of quantum physics building on important work done in the last few decades.

"Now in the 21st century, we're looking at all the strange predictions of quantum physics and turning them around and using them," says Levy.

"When you talk about applications, we're thinking about quantum computing, quantum teleportation, quantum communications, quantum sensing ideas that use the properties of the quantum nature of matter that were ignored before."

The research has been published in Science.

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Scientists Have Discovered a Brand New Electronic State of Matter - ScienceAlert

Concerns that quantum computing could place current encryption techniques at risk have been around for some time.

But now cybersecurity startup Active Cypher has built a password-hacking quantum computer to demonstrate that the dangers are very real.

Using easily available parts costing just $600, Active Cyphers founder and CTO, Dan Gleason, created a portable quantum computer dubbed QUBY (named after qubits, the basic unit of quantum information). QUBY runs recently open-sourced quantum algorithms capable of executing within a quantum emulator that can perform cryptographic cracking algorithms. Calculations that would have otherwise taken years on conventional computers are now performed in seconds on QUBY.

Gleason explains, "After years of foreseeing this danger and trying to warn the cybersecurity community that current cybersecurity protocols were not up to par, I decided to take a week and move my theory to prototype. I hope that QUBY can increase awareness of how the cyberthreats of quantum computing are not reserved to billion-dollar state-sponsored projects, but can be seen on much a smaller, localized scale."

The concern is that quantum computing will lead to the sunset of AES-256 (the current encryption standard), meaning all encrypted files could one day be decrypted. "The disruption that will come about from that will be on an unprecedented, global scale. It's going to be massive," says Gleason. Modelled after the SADM, a man-portable nuclear weapon deployed in the 1960s, QUBY was downsized so that it fits in a backpack and is therefore untraceable. Low-level 'neighborhood hackers' have already been using portable devices that can surreptitiously swipe credit card information from an unsuspecting passerby. Quantum compute emulating devices will open the door for significantly more cyberthreats.

In response to the threat, Active Cypher has developed advanced dynamic cyphering encryption that is built to be quantum resilient. Gleason explains that, "Our encryption is not based on solving a mathematical problem. It's based on a very large, random key which is used in creating the obfuscated cyphertext, without any key information within the cyphertext, and is thus impossible to be derived through prime factorization -- traditional brute force attempts which use the cyphertext to extract key information from patterns derived from the key material."

Active Cypher's completely random cyphertext cannot be deciphered using even large quantum computers since the only solution to cracking the key is to try every possible combination of the key, which will produce every known possible output of the text, without knowledge of which version might be the correct one. "In other words, you'll find a greater chance of finding a specific grain of sand in a desert than cracking this open," says Gleason.

Active Cypher showcased QUBY in early February at Ready -- an internal Microsoft conference held in Seattle. The prototype will also be presented at RSA in San Francisco later this month.

Originally posted here:

The $600 quantum computer that could spell the end for conventional encryption - BetaNews

While quantum computing tends to garner all the headlines, quantum technology also has huge promise for the communication networks of the future. Thats why on top of the roughly $450 million the Trump administration just earmarked for quantum research in their proposed budget, theres $25 million dedicated to building a nationwide quantum internet.

At what point a quantum network becomes the quantum internet is up for debate, but its likely to develop in phases of increasing sophistication, with the ultimate goal being a global network of quantum-connected quantum computers.

The US is well behind China on this front, though. A team led by quantum supremo Jian-Wei Pan have already demonstrated a host of breakthroughs in transmitting quantum signals to satellites, most recently developing a mobile quantum satellite station.

The reason both countries are rushing to develop the technology is that it could provide an ultra-secure communication channel in an era where cyberwarfare is becoming increasingly common.

Its essentially impossible to eavesdrop on a quantum conversation. The strange rules of quantum mechanics mean that measuring a quantum state immediately changes it, so any message encoded in quantum states will be corrupted if someone tries to intercept it.

But quantum states are also intrinsically fragile, which has made it difficult to establish quantum connections over large distances. But a team led by Pan has reported smashing the record for connecting two quantum memories in a paper in Nature.

Making a quantum connection relies on a phenomenon known as entanglement. If the states of two quantum objects are entangled, manipulating or measuring the state of one will be mirrored in the other. In theory this allows you to transmit quantum information instantaneously over very large distances.

So far most research has been done on entangled photonsincluding Pans work on quantum satellitesbut single particles can only carry limited information. Quantum memories, which are made up of clouds of millions of rubidium atoms, can store more, but the biggest distance theyd previously been entangled over was 1.3 kilometers.

Pans team came up with a clever workaround, as John Timmer explains in Ars Technica. Each quantum memory is set by shooting a photon at it, which causes the memory to emit another photon that is entangled with the state of the memory. This photon is then converted to an infrared wavelength so it can be transmitted over fiber optic cable.

The photons from each memory meet at a halfway point where they are measured in such a way that they become entangled. Because each was already entangled with their respective memories, these both become entangled as well, setting up the quantum connection.

The researchers carried out two experiments, one where they transmitted photons over 22 kilometers of cable buried underground between two separate facilities and one where they sent the particles around a 50-kilometer spool of optical cable in their lab.

The authors say those kinds of distances make it feasible to connect cities on a quantum internet and could be used to create quantum repeaters, a series of nodes that help boost the signal over longer distances.

But theres still some way to go. The process of converting the photons into a form that can travel along the fiber optic loses about 30 percent of the photons. The complex process involved in entangling the two photons also leads to further inefficiencies, which means theyre only able to successfully entangle photons roughly twice a second.

Thats a problem, because the memories only hold their state for 70 microseconds. The researchers admit they likely need to both boost the lifetime of the memories and the rate of entanglement for this approach to work in practice.

Its early, but the research is a significant step towards a quantum internet. If the US wants to play any part in its development, its going to have to play catch-up.

Image Credit: Garik Barseghyan from Pixabay

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This Breakthrough Just Got Us One Step Closer to a Quantum Internet - Singularity Hub

Google reported a remarkable breakthrough towards the end of 2019. The company claimed to have achieved something called quantum supremacy, using a new type of quantum computer to perform a benchmark test in 200 seconds. This was in stark contrast to the 10,000 years that would supposedly have been needed by a state-of-the-art conventional supercomputer to complete the same test.

Despite IBMs claim that its supercomputer, with a little optimisation, could solve the task in a matter of days, Googles announcement made it clear that we are entering a new era of incredible computational power.

Yet with much less fanfare, there has also been rapid progress in the development of quantum communication networks, and a master network to unite them all called the quantum internet. Just as the internet as we know it followed the development of computers, we can expect the quantum computer to be accompanied by the safer, better synchronised quantum internet.

Like quantum computing, quantum communication records information in what are known as qubits, similar to the way digital systems use bits and bytes. Whereas a bit can only take the value of zero or one, a qubit can also use the principles of quantum physics to take the value of zero and one at the same time. This is what allows quantum computers to perform certain computations very quickly. Instead of solving several variants of a problem one by one, the quantum computer can handle them all at the same time.

These qubits are central to the quantum internet because of a property called entanglement. If two entangled qubits are geographically separated (for instance, one qubit in Dublin and the other in New York), measurements of both would yield the same result. This would enable the ultimate in secret communications, a shared knowledge between two parties that cannot be discovered by a third. The resulting ability to code and decode messages would be one of the most powerful features of the quantum internet.

Commercial applications

There will be no shortage of commercial applications for these advanced cryptographic mechanisms. The world of finance, in particular, looks set to benefit as the quantum internet will lead to enhanced privacy for online transactions and stronger proof of the funds used in the transaction.

Recently, at the CONNECT Centre in Trinity College Dublin, we successfully implemented an algorithm that could achieve this level of security. That this took place during a hackathon a sort of competition for computer programmers shows that even enthusiasts without detailed knowledge of quantum physics can create some of the building blocks that will be needed for the quantum internet. This technology wont be confined to specialist university departments, just as the original internet soon outgrew its origins as a way to connect academics around the world.

But how could this quantum internet be built anytime soon when we currently can only build very limited quantum computers? Well, the devices in the quantum internet dont have to be completely quantum in nature, and the network wont require massive quantum machines to handle the communication protocols.

One qubit here and there is all a quantum communication network needs to function. Instead of replacing the current infrastructure of optical fibres, data centres and base stations, the quantum internet will build on top of and make maximum use of the existing, classical internet.

With such rapid progress being made, quantum internet technology is set to shape the business plans of telecom companies in the near future. Financial institutions are already using quantum communication networks to make inter-bank transactions safer. And quantum communication satellites are up and running as the first step to extending these networks to a global scale.

The pipes of the quantum internet are effectively being laid as you read this. When a big quantum computer is finally built, it can be plugged into this network and accessed on the cloud, with all the privacy guarantees of quantum cryptography.

What will the ordinary user notice when the enhanced cryptography of the quantum internet becomes available? Very little, in all likelihood. Cryptography is like waste management: if everything works well, the customer doesnt even notice.

In the constant race of the codemakers and codebreakers, the quantum internet wont just prevent the codebreakers taking the lead. It will move the race track into another world altogether, with a significant head start for the codemakers. With data becoming the currency of our times, the quantum internet will provide stronger security for a new valuable commodity.

Harun iljak, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Complex Systems Science for Telecommunications, Trinity College Dublin

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

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Quantum Internet: The Technology That Could Change Everything? - The National Interest Online

Labs around the world are racing to develop new computing and sensing devices that operate on the principles of quantum mechanics and could offer dramatic advantages over their classical counterparts. But these technologies still face several challenges, and one of the most significant is how to deal with noise random fluctuations that can eradicate the data stored in such devices.

A new approach developed by researchers at MIT could provide a significant step forward in quantum error correction. The method involves fine-tuning the system to address the kinds of noise that are the most likely, rather than casting a broad net to try to catch all possible sources of disturbance.

The analysis is described in the journal Physical Review Letters, in a paper by MIT graduate student David Layden, postdoc Mo Chen, and professor of nuclear science and engineering Paola Cappellaro.

The main issues we now face in developing quantum technologies are that current systems are small and noisy, says Layden. Noise, meaning unwanted disturbance of any kind, is especially vexing because many quantum systems are inherently highly sensitive, a feature underlying some of their potential applications.

And theres another issue, Layden says, which is that quantum systems are affected by any observation. So, while one can detect that a classical system is drifting and apply a correction to nudge it back, things are more complicated in the quantum world. What's really tricky about quantum systems is that when you look at them, you tend to collapse them, he says.

Classical error correction schemes are based on redundancy. For example, in a communication system subject to noise, instead of sending a single bit (1 or 0), one might send three copies of each (111 or 000). Then, if the three bits dont match, that shows there was an error. The more copies of each bit get sent, the more effective the error correction can be.

The same essential principle could be applied to adding redundancy in quantum bits, or qubits. But, Layden says, If I want to have a high degree of protection, I need to devote a large part of my system to doing these sorts of checks. And this is a nonstarter right now because we have fairly small systems; we just dont have the resources to do particularly useful quantum error correction in the usual way. So instead, the researchers found a way to target the error correction very narrowly at the specific kinds of noise that were most prevalent.

The quantum system theyre working with consists of carbon nuclei near a particular kind of defect in a diamond crystal called a nitrogen vacancy center. These defects behave like single, isolated electrons, and their presence enables the control of the nearby carbon nuclei.

But the team found that the overwhelming majority of the noise affecting these nuclei came from one single source: random fluctuations in the nearby defects themselves. This noise source can be accurately modeled, and suppressing its effects could have a major impact, as other sources of noise are relatively insignificant.

We actually understand quite well the main source of noise in these systems, Layden says. So we don't have to cast a wide net to catch every hypothetical type of noise.

The team came up with a different error correction strategy, tailored to counter this particular, dominant source of noise. As Layden describes it, the noise comes from this one central defect, or this one central electron, which has a tendency to hop around at random. It jitters.

That jitter, in turn, is felt by all those nearby nuclei, in a predictable way that can be corrected.

The upshot of our approach is that were able to get a fixed level of protection using far fewer resources than would otherwise be needed, he says. We can use a much smaller system with this targeted approach.

The work so far is theoretical, and the team is actively working on a lab demonstration of this principle in action. If it works as expected, this could make up an important component of future quantum-based technologies of various kinds, the researchers say, including quantum computers that could potentially solve previously unsolvable problems, or quantum communications systems that could be immune to snooping, or highly sensitive sensor systems.

This is a component that could be used in a number of ways, Layden says. Its as though were developing a key part of an engine. Were still a ways from building a full car, but weve made progress on a critical part.

"Quantum error correction is the next challenge for the field," says Alexandre Blais, a professor of physics at the University of Sherbrooke, in Canada, who was not associated with this work. "The complexity of current quantum error correcting codes is, however, daunting as they require a very large number of qubits to robustly encode quantum information."

Blais adds, "We have now come to realize that exploiting our understanding of the devices in which quantum error correction is to be implemented can be very advantageous.This work makes an important contribution in this direction by showing that a common type of error can be corrected for in a much more efficient manner than expected. For quantum computers to become practical we need more ideas like this."

The research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation.

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Correcting the jitters in quantum devices - MIT News

Just five years ago, the Public Key Infrastructure, or PKI, was seriously fraying at the edges and appeared to be tilting toward obsolescence. Things have since taken a turn for the better.

Related: Why PKI is well-suited to secure the Internet of Things

PKI is the authentication and encryption framework on which the Internet is built. The buckling of PKI a few years back was a very serious matter, especially since there was nothing waiting in the wings to replace PKI. Lacking a reliable way to authenticate identities during the data transfer process, and also keep data encrypted as it moves between endpoints, the Internet would surely atrophy and digital transformation would grind to a halt.

The retooling of PKI may not be sexy to anyone, outside of tech geeks. Nonetheless, it is a pivotal chapter in the evolution of digital commerce. One of several notable contributors was DigiCert, the worlds leading provider of digital certificates and certificate management solutions.

I had a chance to interview Brian Trzupek, DigiCerts senior vice president of emerging markets products, at the companys Security Summit 2020 in San Diego recently. For a full drill down on our discussion, please give the accompanying podcast a listen. Here are a few key takeaways:

PKIs expanding role

PKI revolves around the creation, distribution and management of digital certificates issued by companies known as certificate authorities, or CAs. In the classic case of a human user clicking to a website, CAs, like DigiCert, verify the authenticity of the website and encrypt the data at both ends.

Today, a much larger and rapidly expanding role for PKI and digital certificates is to authenticate devices and encrypt all sensitive data transfers inside highly dynamic company networks. Were not just talking about website clicks; PKI comes into play with respect to each of the millions of computing instances and devices continually connecting to each other the stuff of DevOps and IoT. It can be as granular as a microservice in a software container connecting to a mobile app, for instance. Each one of these digital hookups requires PKI and a digital certificate to ensure authentication.

Much like the Internet, PKI evolved somewhat haphazardly in the first two decades of this century to enable website activity and it has come a long, long way since. PKIs core components derive from open source, corporate and entrepreneurial beginnings. By 2015 or so, the early pioneer PKI services companies had made their profits and had gotten themselves swallowed up by tech conglomerates in a wave of consolidation.

In late 2017, DigiCert announced it would acquire Symantecs PKI division for $1 billion. At the time, Symantec very much wanted out of having anything to do with PKI; Google had just announced plans to distrust all Symantec-issued certificates, after a long tussle with the security vendor for failing to meet industry standards. DigiCert took the best of what Symantec had and combined it with tech that DigiCert did well, and worked feverishly to modernize PKI.

Trzupek

Symantec just didnt spend a whole lot of time actually integrating those businesses, Trzupek told me. They had acquired all of these PKI systems, order-entry systems, e-commerce systems, validation systems. . . it was like a million tiny freestanding companies and we had to try to figure out how to consolidate all of that.

Platform challenges

A lot has transpired over the past two years. The CA/Browser Forum, an industry standards body founded in 2005, accelerated initiatives to drive better practices and guidelines. Outside of the CAB Forum, many industries, from healthcare to automotive to manufacturing, have created standards and implemented digital certificate protections through global PKI practices that strengthen device security

Taken together these efforts have brought a semblance of order to the topsy-turvy world of enterprise PKIs. Companies had come to rely on a hodge podge of systems to authenticate remote workers and contractors, while at the same time delving deeper into DevOps, and also pressing forward with wider use of IoT systems.

What we saw across all of that was a platform problem, Trzupek says. People were trying to use PKI and certificates in many different kinds of ways and all of this was being jammed through very old legacy tools.

For its part, DigiCert responded by sending Trzupek on the road to visit 70 PKI customers in 12 nations and listen closely to what was on their minds. DigiCert used that feedback as the basis to design leading-edge PKI deployment and management tools and services, built on a flexible, scalable platform for speed and efficiency.

The first step is to take a very manual inventory of what the parent company is doing with PKI, and what all of the sub-entities and subdivisions are doing with PKI, just figuring out who manages those projects and what PKI is being used for, Trzupek says. Then theres an organizational component where you can consolidate management of PKIs and do things like standardizing tools.

Future use cases

Innovations to help companies more efficiently manage sprawling PKI deployments continue to advance, and none too soon. Large and mid-sized enterprises are stepping up their use of DevOps and embracing philosophies like fail fast, the notion of quickly deploying minimumally viable software to learn where it works or fails, and then iterating and remediating the shortcomings.

This is how dynamic services are getting spun up; such services are capable of scaling up to serve high volume demand, cheaply and very quickly, and then wind down just as quickly. DigiCert is focusing on putting PKI at the nerve center of these types of scenarios, where short-lived certificates, with low latency and high availability, come into play.

A lot of places need dynamic scale related to consumption, and they need that environment to be trusted, and thats where PKI comes in, Trzupek says. As we look to the future, its all about getting more dynamic so we can interoperate with that world and produce certificates as they need them.

Its encouraging that PKI is once again on solid footing, were certainly going to need it, going forward. Data is the new oil, futurist and theoretical physicist, Dr. Michio Kaku, told attendees of DigiCert Security Summit 2020. Following the mainstreaming of steam power, then electricity and then the Internet, were today on the brink of the fourth wave giant technical leaps forward, observes Kaku, author of The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind.

Kaku argues that silicon chip-based computing has maxed out and will very soon be replaced by quantum computers which manipulate atoms to make massive calculations. Quantum computers can rather easily break the strongest encryption we have today. The good news is that the tech community has factored this into long term planning for the care and feeding and future viabilityof PKI.

A major public-private effort is underway to revamp classical cryptography, and ultimately replace it with something called post-quantum-cryptography, or PQC. DigiCert happens to be in the thick of this effort and has already begun offering strategies for companies to future proof sensitive systems for the coming of quantum computing.

Devices being put into service today, like cars and airplanes and IoT systems that have embedded sensors have long term life cycles, says Avesta Hojjati, DigiCerts head of research and development. Were striving to protect those devices, right now, against threats that are coming in the next five to 10 years.

In an environment where fail fast is the philosophy ushering us into the quantum computing era, there is a huge role for robust, reliable and continually improving PKI. We appear to be on that path. Ill keep watch.

Acohido

Pulitzer Prize-winning business journalist Byron V. Acohido is dedicated to fostering public awareness about how to make the Internet as private and secure as it ought to be.

(LW provides consulting services to the vendors we cover.)

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from The Last Watchdog authored by bacohido. Read the original post at: https://www.lastwatchdog.com/my-take-pki-digital-certificates-now-ready-to-take-on-the-task-of-securing-digital-transformation/

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MY TAKE: PKI, digital certificates now ready to take on the task of securing digital transformation - Security Boulevard

In his 2013 book, Schrdingers Killer App, Louisiana State University theoretical physicist Jonathan Dowling predicted what he called super exponential growth. He was right. Back in May, during Googles Quantum Spring Symposium, computer engineer Hartmut Neven reported the companys quantum computing chip had been gaining power at breakneck speed.

The subtext: We are venturing into an age of quantum supremacy the point at which quantum computers outperform the best classical supercomputers in solving a well-defined problem.

Engineers test the accuracy of quantum computing chips by using them to solve a problem, and then verifying the work with a classical machine. But in early 2019, that process became problematic, reported Neven, who runs Googles Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab. Googles quantum chip was improving so quickly that his group had to commandeer increasingly large computers and then clusters of computers to check its work. Its become clear that eventually, theyll run out of machines.

Case in point: Google announced in October that its 53-qubit quantum processor had needed only 200 seconds to complete a problem that would have required 10,000 years on a supercomputer.

Nevens group observed a double exponential growth rate in the chips computing power over a few months. Plain old exponential growth is already really fast: It means that from one step to the next, the value of something multiplies. Bacterial growth can be exponential if the number of organisms doubles during an observed time interval. So can computing power of classical computers under Moores Law, the idea that it doubles roughly every year or two. But under double exponential growth, the exponents have exponents. That makes a world of difference: Instead of a progression from 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 to 32 bacteria, for example, a double-exponentially growing colony in the same time would grow from 2 to 4 to 16 to 256 to 65,536.

Neven credits the growth rate to two factors: the predicted way that quantum computers improve on the computational power of classical ones, and quick improvement of quantum chips themselves. Some began referring to this growth rate as Nevens Law. Some theorists say such growth was unavoidable.

We talked to Dowling (who suggests a more fitting moniker: the Dowling-Neven Law) about double exponential growth, his prediction and his underappreciated Beer Theory of Quantum Mechanics.

Q: You saw double exponential growth on the horizon long before it showed up in a lab. How?

A: Anytime theres a new technology, if it is worthwhile, eventually it kicks into exponential growth in something. We see this with the internet, we saw this with classical computers. You eventually hit a point where all of the engineers figure out how to make this work, miniaturize it and then you suddenly run into exponential growth in terms of the hardware. If it doesnt happen, that hardware falls off the face of the Earth as a nonviable technology.

Q: So you werent surprised to see Googles chip improving so quickly?

A: Im only surprised that it happened earlier than I expected. In my book, I said within the next 50 to 80 years. I guessed a little too conservatively.

Q: Youre a theoretical physicist. Are you typically conservative in your predictions?

People say Im fracking nuts when I publish this stuff. I like to think that Im the crazy guy that always makes the least conservative prediction. I thought this was far-out wacky stuff, and I was making the most outrageous prediction. Thats why its taking everybody by surprise. Nobody expected double exponential growth in processing power to happen this soon.

Q: Given that quantum chips are getting so fast, can I buy my own quantum computer now?

A: Most of the people think the quantum computer is a solved problem. That we can just wait, and Google will sell you one that can do whatever you want. But no. Were in the [prototype] era. The number of qubits is doubling every six months, but the qubits are not perfect. They fail a lot and have imperfections and so forth. But Intel and Google and IBM arent going to wait for perfect qubits. The people who made the [first computers] didnt say, Were going to stop making bigger computers until we figure out how to make perfect vacuum tubes.

Q: Whats the big deal about doing problems with quantum mechanics instead of classical physics?

A: If you have 32 qubits, its like you have 232 parallel universes that are working on parts of your computation. Or like you have a parallel processor with 232 processors. But you only pay the electric bill in our universe.

Q: Quantum mechanics gets really difficult, really fast. How do you deal with that?

A: Everybody has their own interpretation of quantum mechanics. Mine is the Many Beers Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. With no beer, quantum mechanics doesnt make any sense. After one, two or three beers, it makes perfect sense. But once you get to six or 10, it doesnt make any sense again. Im on my first bottle, so Im in the zone.

[This story originally appeared in print as "The Rules of the Road to Quantum Supremacy."]

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Quantum Computers Finally Beat Supercomputers in 2019 - Discover Magazine

However, even with that progression, there are still jobs that classical computers are not powerful enough to do. The answer looks set to come from quantum computing. In this post, we will look at what quantum computing is and how it could revolutionize a long-standing industry such as banking.

What is Quantum Computing?

Quantum computers are expected to be a new kind of technology that can solve complex problems well beyond the capabilities of traditional systems. If you take an everyday problem like climate change, the intricacies of solving it are incredibly complex. A standard computer does not have the power or ability to even get close to genuinely understanding everything that is going on. The main reason is the endless amounts of data that computers need to process to generate an accurate decision.

A quantum computer is often referred to as a supercomputer. It has highly advanced processing power that can take masses of variables into account, helping predict weather patterns and natural disasters in the case of climate change.

Brief Technical Summary

A typical computer stores information in what is known as bits. In quantum computing, these are known as qubits. Qubits have certain properties that mean a connected group of them can provide way more processing power than binary bits from classical computing. In short, where binary bits store 1s and 0s to handle a task, qubits can represent numerous possible combinations of these simultaneously.

Practical Example

An example of this could be if running a travel agency. Lets say three people need to move from one place to another, Jenny, Anna and Steve. For that purpose, there are two taxis and the problem you want to solve is who gets into which taxi. However, we know that Jenny and Anna are friends, Jenny and Steve are enemies and Anna and Steve are enemies.

The aim would be to maximize the number of friend pairs and minimize the enemy pairs sharing the same taxi. A classical computer would store each possible solution with bits one at a time before being able to calculate a potential solution. However, a quantum computer will use qubits to represent all the solutions at the same time. It will find the best solution in a few milliseconds as it piles everything into just 1 operation.

The difference here is a traditional computer performs more and more calculations every time the data scales up, whereas a quantum computer will only ever have to process one operation.

In the real-world, one industry that could heavily benefit from this technology and processing power is banking.

Quantum Computing in Banking

In an article from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) from October 2019, it was suggested that this kind of quantum computing power might fundamentally change the face of banking in time.

Encryption of personal data is critical to banking, with RSA-2048 being used at the highest levels. For a classical computer to find the key to decrypt the algorithm would take 1,034 steps. To put that into context, a processor capable of a trillion operations per second would still take 317 billion years to resolve the problem. Realistically, that makes decryption impossible.

However, a quantum computer could solve the decryption in just 107 steps. If the computer were running at a million operations per second, this calculation would only take 10 seconds to complete. The potential of quantum computing in this context is quite amazing. That said, we are still a long way off having enough processing power to reach those heights, but experts are working on it.

Barclays

Researchers at Barclays Bank in collaboration with IBM have created a proof-of-concept quantum optimized application. The solution revolves around the transaction settlement process. A settlement works on a transaction-by-transaction basis where they are pushed into a queue and settled in batches. During a processing window, as many trades as possible from the queue are settled.

Trades are complex by nature according to Lee Braine, director of research and engineering at Barclays. Traders can tap into funds before the transaction has been cleared. They are settled if funding is available or if there is some sort of credit collateral facility.

In a quantum computing context, a small number of trades could, in theory, be done in your head. However, as you get up to 10 or 20 transactions, you might need to use a pen and paper. Any more than that and we start going into classical computing. However, as we get to hundreds of trades, the machines begin to experience limitations.

A bit like the travel agency example we gave earlier, a quantum computer could run masses of complex aspects of trading. Using a seven-bit qubit system, the team could identify certain features that were of sufficient complexity. The same calculations would need about 200 traditional computers.

JP Morgan

Using an IBM machine, researchers at JP Morgan have demonstrated that they could simulate the future value of a financial product. They are testing the use of quantum computers to speed up intensive pricing calculations which would take traditional machine hours to compute. As portfolios become larger, the algorithms have greater complexity and could get to a point where they are impossible to calculate.

The research by the team has shown that a commercial-grade quantum computer can run the same calculations in a matter of seconds.

Summary

According to Deltec Bank, the Bahamas Banks are successfully testing quantum computers to solve problems that were previously very resource-intensive or impossible to complete. Although the technology is still some years away from changing the way banks calculate financial models due to complex hardware requirements, it is important to start testing now.

IBM themselves have stated they are a while away from a perfect solution with big breakthroughs still required but the time will certainly come.

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The Impact of Quantum Computing on Banking will be gigantic says Deltec Bank, Bahamas - Quantaneo, the Quantum Computing Source

Quantum computing has come a long way since its first introduction in the 1980s. Researchers have always been on a lookout for a better way to enhance the ability of quantum computing systems, whether it is in making it cheaper or the quest of making the present quantum computers last longer. With the latest technological advancements in the world of quantum computing which superconducting bits, a new way of improving the world of silicon quantum computing has come to light, making use of the silicon spin qubits for better communication.

Until now, the communication between different qubits was relatively slow. It could be done by passing the messages to the next bit to get the communication over to another chip at a relatively far distance.

Now, researches at Princeton University have explored the idea of two quantum computing silicon components known as silicon spin qubits interacting in a relatively spaced environment, that is with a relatively large distance between them. The study was presented in the journal Nature on December 25, 2019.

The silicon quantum spin qubits give the ability to the quantum hardware to interact and transmit messages across a certain distance which will provide the hardware new capabilities. With transmitting signals over a distance, multiple quantum bits can be arranged in two-dimensional grids that can perform more complex calculations than the existing hardware of quantum computers can do. This study will help in better communications of qubits not only on a chip but also from one to another, which will have a massive impact on the speed.

The computers require as many qubits as possible to communicate effectively with each other to take the full advantage of quantum computings capabilities. The quantum computer that is used by Google and IBM contains around 50 qubits which make use of superconducting circuits. Many researchers believe that silicon-based qubit chips are the future in quantum computing in the long run.

The quantum state of silicon spin qubits lasts longer than the superconducting qubits, which is one of their significant disadvantages (around five years). In addition to lasting longer, silicon which has a lot of application in everyday computers is cheaper, another advantage over the superconducting qubits because these cost a ton of money. Single qubit will cost around $10,000, and thats before you consider research and development costs. With these costs in mind a universal quantum computer hardware alone will be around at least $10bn.

But, silicon spin cubits have their challenges which are part of the fact that they are incredibly small, and by small we mean, these are made out from a single electron. This problem is a huge factor when it comes to establishing an interconnect between multiple qubits when building a large scale computer.

To counter the problem of interconnecting these extremely small silicon spin qubits, the Princeton team connected these qubits with a wire which are similar to the fibre optic (for internet delivery at houses) wires and these wires carry light. This wire contains photon that picks up a message from a single qubit and transmits it the next qubit. To understand this more accurately, if the qubits are placed at a distance of half-centimetre apart from each other for the communication, in real-world, it would be like these qubits are around 750 miles away.

The next step forward for the study was to establish a way of getting qubits and photons to communicate the same language by tuning both the qubits and the photon to the same frequency. Where previously the devices architecture allowed tuning only one qubit to one photon at a time, the team now succeeded in tuning both the qubits independent from each other while still coupling them to the photon.

You have to balance the qubit energies on both sides of the chip with the photon energy to make all three elements talk to each other,

Felix Borjans, a graduate student and first author on the study on what he describes as the challenging part of the work.

The researchers demonstrated entangling of electrons spins in silicon separated by distances more substantial than the device housing, this was a significant development when it comes to wiring these qubits and how to lay them out in silicon-based quantum microchips.

The communication between the distant silicon-based qubits devices builds on the works of Petta research team in 2010 which shows how to trap s single electron in quantum wells and also from works in the journal Nature from the year 2012 (transfer of quantum information from electron spins)

From the paper in Science 2016 (demonstrated the ability to transmit information from a silicon-based charge qubit to a photon), from Science 2017 (nearest-neighbour trading of information in qubits) and 2018 Nature (silicon spin qubit can exchange information with a photon).

This demonstration of interactions between two silicon spin qubits is essential for the further development of quantum tech. This demonstration will help technologies like modular quantum computers and quantum networks. The team has employed silicon and germanium, which is widely available in the market.

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How This Breakthrough Makes Silicon-Based Qubit Chips The Future of Quantum Computing - Analytics India Magazine

Scientists at the University of Bristol and the Technical University of Denmark have achieved quantum teleportation between two computer chips for the first time. The team managed to send information from one chip to another instantly without them being physically or electronically connected, in a feat that opens the door for quantum computers and quantum internet.

This kind of teleportation is made possible by a phenomenon called quantum entanglement, where two particles become so entwined with each other that they can communicate over long distances. Changing the properties of one particle will cause the other to instantly change too, no matter how much space separates the two of them. In essence, information is being teleported between them.

Hypothetically, theres no limit to the distance over which quantum teleportation can operate and that raises some strange implications that puzzled even Einstein himself. Our current understanding of physics says that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, and yet, with quantum teleportation, information appears to break that speed limit. Einstein dubbed it spooky action at a distance.

Harnessing this phenomenon could clearly be beneficial, and the new study helps bring that closer to reality. The team generated pairs of entangled photons on the chips, and then made a quantum measurement of one. This observation changes the state of the photon, and those changes are then instantly applied to the partner photon in the other chip.

We were able to demonstrate a high-quality entanglement link across two chips in the lab, where photons on either chip share a single quantum state, says Dan Llewellyn, co-author of the study. Each chip was then fully programmed to perform a range of demonstrations which utilize the entanglement. The flagship demonstration was a two-chip teleportation experiment, whereby the individual quantum state of a particle is transmitted across the two chips after a quantum measurement is performed. This measurement utilizes the strange behavior of quantum physics, which simultaneously collapses the entanglement link and transfers the particle state to another particle already on the receiver chip.

The team reported a teleportation success rate of 91 percent, and managed to perform some other functions that will be important for quantum computing. That includes entanglement swapping (where states can be passed between particles that have never directly interacted via a mediator), and entangling as many as four photons together.

Information has been teleported over much longer distances before first across a room, then 25 km (15.5 mi), then 100 km (62 mi), and eventually over 1,200 km (746 mi) via satellite. Its also been done between different parts of a single computer chip before, but teleporting between two different chips is a major breakthrough for quantum computing.

The research was published in the journal Nature Physics.

Source: University of Bristol

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Information teleported between two computer chips for the first time - New Atlas