"Students and graduates of computer science must convert to quantum programming, because this is the future"

Says Nir Minrabi, CEO of Classiq, in an interview with the Hidan website. This requires a certain set of tools that includes linear algebra and an understanding of quantum theory. The company is developing a software language for quantum computers that will make it easier for programmers

"The bottleneck of the quantum computing revolution is a lack of expert developers in the field." This is what Nir Minrabi, CEO of Classiq, says in an interview with the Hidan website. He points out that a dedicated set of tools is required. The company is developing a software language for quantum computers that will make it easier for programmers and bridge the gap between classical computing and quantum computing (hence the Q at the end of the company's name).

"Quantum computing has been talked about for 40 years and throughout this period it was clear that as soon as someone succeeds in producing a working quantum computer - this will change the world in many dimensions, it will make it possible to solve very computational problems. The bottleneck of the quantum computing revolution is a lack of expert developers in the field. Difficulties that cannot be solved using classical computers - not even supercomputers, even if we give them thousands of years."

"This revolution is called the "second quantum revolution". The first revolution occurred at the beginning of the 20th century with the discovery of quantum theory. The second quantum revolution consists of two central axes. One is the hardware and the software.
The hardware is built from the ground up of the quantum computer itself. This axis is led by the giants of technology such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Apple and also smaller players, all of whom aim to build the first useful working quantum computer. An arms race is developing between the technology giants and between governments to lead the development of quantum computers, this race is still open."

"Computing power is increasing sharply from year to year, and in the coming years, when quantum computers with hundreds and thousands of qubits will be launched, it will be possible to solve difficult problems that significantly affect heavy industries."

"The second axis is the software. How do you develop software for a quantum computer, what are the leading applications? In the last three years, more and more large companies in various fields, banks, major pharmaceutical companies, car manufacturers and one of the largest chemical industries in the world are opening a group or department dedicated to the development of software for a quantum computer. Their goal is to develop software that can also be run on today's computers and when the big quantum computers arrive, they will be able to leave dust to the competitors."

develop drugs in a few weeks

Can you give examples?

Minerbi: "For example, it will be possible to develop medicines in a few weeks and not in laboratory experiments that last 15 years. And in general it is possible to change the branch of the chemical industry from end to end, to discover new materials and to make it possible to do a complex simulation. For example - ammonia is the most common fertilizer in the world. The problem is that they will require a lot of energy: 2% of the world's energy consumption. The process of producing ammonia without consuming energy is a process that any plant can do - nitrogen fixation. We are unable to imitate the process artificially because the simulation of chemical processes is something that consumes a lot of computers and even if we give supercomputers millions of years - it is not something they will be able to do, it is a big computational task. For quantum computers this is a natural way, they can create simulations of molecules easily and therefore the expectation is that quantum computing will revolutionize the worlds of chemistry, medicine and energy and this is just one example."

Explain what you do?

"Today when you design a chip, you don't do it at the level of logic gates and transistors. There are development tools and modeling languages ​​such as VHDL or Varilog, and tools such as 'Cadence' for example that allow development at a high level of abstraction and the design of the circuit itself is done automatically. Obviously, arranging billions of transistors next to each other is not a task that a person can do by hand. You can look at us as the "cadence" of quantum computing. We enable the development of quantum software at a high level of abstraction and allow the developer to focus on what they want to happen, what algorithm they want to be executed, but not in the implementation at the level of logic gates because it is not something that can be done manually."

The state of quantum programming today - like the punch cards

"The problem is that the development tools for the quantum field are really in their infancy. The development is carried out at the level of the logic gates as it was in the normal computers at the time of punched cards. What limits the ability to develop software for quantum computers is that there are very few people with the required expertise. Even the experts have to go step by step because they are not able to do their work using the existing development tools. This is exactly the problem that our company solves."

"In general, qualified personnel for this field is going to be a significant bottleneck. Today there are very few people with the right set of tools - knowledge of quantum physics and knowledge of software. On the other hand, masses will be required in the coming years when it becomes the common domain and every significant company will need many of them."

What are the skills required to be a quantum computer programmer?

Minerbi: "The situation is somewhat reminiscent of what happened in the field of data scientists in the last decade. Initially, only people who received special academic training with advanced degrees could engage in this, and there was a constant shortage. Today, the software does part of the work by itself and any programmer with a reasonable background in mathematics and computer science is able to learn the field. Quantum computing is also completely like that. There is nothing inherent here that requires genius. You need a suitable mathematical toolkit - mainly linear algebra, you need a basic understanding of quantum information, i.e. how the worlds of quantum computing work. Most universities have such courses, not bad, even in Israel."

"Those who are smart enough to start working in the field today - to understand quantum algorithms, how to program a quantum computer and enter this field early, will find themselves in a good position for a market that is developing and it is developing very quickly. Israel has a very strong academic exosystem. Almost every top university has strong faculties and strong professors. Israel has the data to be a leader in this field. We also see the beginning of an industry in the field in Israel."

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• Classic has completed raising $10.5 million to accelerate software development for quantum computing
• Israel will invest in a quantum computing system for security issues