IBM's research laboratories are making the quantum computing systems developed by IBM available to the general public for the first time. From now on, non-IBM users will be able to access the quantum processor that IBM built, and run experiments and applications that they develop on it.
IBM's research laboratories are making the quantum computing systems developed by IBM available to the general public for the first time. From now on, non-IBM users will be able to access the quantum processor that IBM built, and run experiments and applications that they develop on it.
IBM's quantum computing platform is provided, via the company's computing cloud, from its Thomas Watson Research Center located in Yorktown Heights, New York. IBM predicts that the possibility of access to quantum processors will open a new era of computing. A universal quantum computer, when it is fully built, will be a milestone in the history of information technologies and it may help solve a series of problems that ordinary computers are unable to handle.
The researchers at IBM have built a quantum processor that can now be accessed via the IBM cloud, from any desktop computer or mobile device. IBM's platform, which has been named the "quantum experience", will allow users to run algorithms and conduct experiments in the new processor environment, while working up to the level of quantum bits (qubits), and experimenting with simulations of the possibilities that open up with the help of quantum computing.
IBM's quantum processor is built from five quantum bits with superconducting capabilities and represents the next step
IBM researchers have arrived in the development of an architecture, which can also be expanded to larger systems. Today, this approach is considered a leader in its field, as far as the vision of building a universal quantum computer is concerned.
A universal quantum computer will be programmable in order to perform any computing task and exponentially faster compared to classical computers - as far as particularly important applications required in the scientific and business world are concerned. Such a computer does not yet exist, but IBM predicts that in the next decade medium-sized quantum systems will be operating that will include 50-100 quantum bits. A quantum computer with 50 quantum bits will offer capabilities that are above and beyond the most powerful supercomputer systems known today. The community of scientists and theoreticians in the field of quantum computing is currently working to define methods and ways that will make it possible to leverage this power. Applications such as system optimization and computational chemistry are expected to be among the first areas of use for the new computers.
Quantum computers are fundamentally different from the ones we know today, not only in appearance or in the materials they are made of - but also, and more importantly, in their ability to perform. Quantum computing is now approaching the stage of realization in reality, in a way that will significantly expand the existing concept regarding the performance capabilities of computer systems. IBM estimates that the opportunity now given to the scientific community to actually experience the use of quantum systems will allow researchers to accelerate the pace of innovation in the quantum field, and to discover new applications for which the ever-developing technology can be harnessed.
The next era of computing
Moore's Law, which predicts systematic cycles of doubling the amount of transistors on a single chip and with it also doubling the performance, is getting closer to the full exploitation of the miniaturization potential. Quantum computing is expected to be one of the technologies that will enable a new era in a wide range of fields of economy and industry. This leap in computing may lead to the discovery of new drugs, and enable full security of cloud computing systems. It is expected to enable new applications in the fields of artificial intelligence - such as new and more powerful applications of IBM's Watson system. It lays an infrastructure for the development of new materials, and for searching large databases, especially in Big Data applications.
Quantum information is characterized by a particularly fragile and delicate structure, and is required to protect against errors that may arise from heat to which the processor is exposed, as well as electromagnetic radiation. These information signals are sent into and out of an environment cooled by liquid nitrogen, while measuring the activity on the processor.
The IBM research team recorded a series of engineering innovations, both at the level of the system and at the level of the electronic control that surrounds it - in a way that guarantees users of the "quantum experience" environment a high level of reliability and high performance.
Together with the expertise that IBM's research system brings in the field of software, the team built a dynamic user interface that runs on top of IBM's cloud platform, allowing users to easily connect to the quantum software - through the cloud. In the current process, IBM sees the jump shot towards the establishment of a new user community, which will adopt the use of the quantum world.
In the future, users will be able to contribute results and review the work of colleagues to the community. IBM plans to integrate in the new platform additional quantum bits and additional processors that present a different set of bits - in a way that will allow users to expand the experiments they conduct and discover new possible applications for quantum technology.
From traditional physics - to the quantum world
In the world we live in, classical physics defines our day-to-day experience, guides our intuition, and shapes the way we process information. But nature in general and the atomic level in particular, are governed by another set of laws, known as quantum mechanics. This concept cannot be achieved and conceptualized using classical computers, and they are unable to solve problems that exist in nature in which quantum mechanics has a role. Thus, for example, classical computers have difficulty understanding how molecules behave - and predicting their behavior over time.
In order to overcome this problem, already in 1981 Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1965), proposed to build computers based on the laws of quantum mechanics. Three decades later, IBM is now helping to make this vision a reality.
Quantum computers work in a fundamentally different way than the computers we know today. A normal computer uses bits to process information, where each bit represents "zero" or "one". In contrast, a quantum bit is able to represent "zero", "one", or "both at the same time" - what is known as "superposition". This feature, together with other quantum effects, allow quantum computers to perform certain calculations at a fast rate far beyond that possible in classical computers.
Most research in the field of quantum computing in academia and the information technology industry is currently focused on building a universal quantum computer. The key challenges here include the need to build high-quality quantum bits and package them together in a scalable structure so that they can perform complex calculations in a controllable manner.
IBM uses quantum bits based on superconductors, built with metallic materials with superconductor properties, and contained in a silicon chip. These chips can be produced with the production technologies that exist today. Last year, IBM researchers presented a critical technological breakthrough, as far as the detection of quantum errors is concerned, through the combination of superconductor-based quantum bits organized in a helical structure - in an array of circuits which is the only physical structure that can also be expanded to larger dimensions.
Now, the scientists indicate further progress, and the ability to integrate five quantum bits in the array designed in the architecture they defined to display active capabilities that are key to real computing work: performing an operation known as parity measurement, which is the basis for many protocols for correcting errors in a quantum environment. Progress on the road to building a universal quantum computer depends on error correction capabilities - and the IBM team is now presenting an important step in this direction.
IBM's quantum computing platform is one of the core projects of the IBM Research Frontiers Institute. The institute acts as the key consortium and shares breakthrough computing technologies, in order to promote innovation that will change the face of the world. Companies from various fields of economy and industry can leverage IBM's research skills and the leading infrastructure it offers, in order to examine the implications of quantum computing in their fields of activity.
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17 תגובות
Is 50 qubit enough to run Crysis?
You see that the field is in its infancy. As soon as they start talking about quantum computers of 64 qubits versus 128 qubits then it will be possible to start worrying (instead of throwing out numbers like 50 or 100).
Oh, and another sign would also be to state what the speed of the qubits is (in kilohertz and later in megahertz).
For miracles: I was quick to state that Zenon's paradox was not solved by the infinitesimal calculus. According to you - this is a mathematical trick.
What is a "trick"?
So you don't believe in mathematical "tricks"? when yes Did you learn infinitesimal calculus just to use its formulas?
At the time when I studied this calculus, I thoroughly delved into the definitions and the unfolding of its development. There are basic concepts, there are axioms. All mathematical theory is built on basic concepts and axioms. But beyond that - Zenon's paradox has been resolved.
How much is ...+1/2+1/4+1/8 to infinity of terms?
It is easy to see that if such a sum exists, we will call it S, then it cannot be greater than 1.
On the other hand, S is greater than any number you choose, which is less than 1. For example: 0.98
This is the solution to Zenon's paradox.
You can certainly attack and say: "The sum of infinite terms is not allowed". If so, this will be your axiom: "The addition operation is defined only on a finite number of members".
But I can also attack back: although you are allowed to claim that the sum of infinite terms is not allowed. (variation of an axiom) But then, don't pretend to know the sum of infinite terms, then Zeno's paradox will disappear. Don't introduce Zenon's paradox. This paradox is summed up in infinite parts - and falsely claims that their sum is infinite. If you don't deal with the scheme of infinite members - there is no paradox in the first place!
The whole point is that Zeno was mistaken in thinking that a sum of infinite terms is necessarily infinite.
For those who want to understand what quantum computing is and how it works, I recommend the series of posts on the blog of Inexact... it starts here:
http://www.gadial.net/2014/07/17/quantum_computing_intro/
There is introductory material for quantum computing and there is perhaps quantum computing for dummies. Last but not least, there is a short chapter on the subject in the modern physics book in Hebrew. It is you who also needs to free yourself from ideas of absolute calculation. And it's not easy.
The amount of text on the Internet about "quantum computing" is amazing, but no one manages to explain with practical clarity the way in which you take a bit that can be in two states at the same time and allows meaningful calculations to be performed (and how are we supposed to distinguish between them? And does it matter?)
Maybe someone on the science website can explain this in a clear and intuitive way?
Many orders of magnitude (multiplications) faster.
To the previous commenter, a quantum computer is much, much faster than a normal computer
Because a quantum computer knows how to calculate a huge amount of possibilities (combinations) and tell us which of them give a solution, perhaps it will help bring us closer to solving the question of how the first living cell was created from the chemical components that existed in the ancient soup on Earth.
http://www.research.ibm.com/quantum/
A quantum supercomputer will enable fast solutions to difficult questions. Quantum computing is 4 times faster than a normal computer. A supercomputer can simulate an atomic explosion, in a way that simulates the movement of each and every atom. If so, then it is a faster continuation of rising trends. And I have not kept up for a long time. Who Who wants to protect his research from a thief who won't use the cloud, a simple quantum computer is 4 times faster.
Joseph
I worked on a certain software that deals with testing a system with 300^10 states, so there is no connection between the number of states and the number of particles in the universe. Speaking of the number of particles in the universe - the number you mentioned refers to the visible universe, we have no idea how many particles there are in the universe itself, and it is not at all clear whether this question has any meaning.
And regarding Zenon's famous paradox - a mathematical trick does not solve any physical paradox. The fact that a column converges to a final value does not mean that there is a final value!
As strange as it sounds - this paradox has not yet been resolved.
I of course agree with you that there are no paradoxes in the world, but that doesn't mean we know how to solve them all.
I think I phrased the question not so well:
I would like to see for a start some computational problem that this computer was able to solve, and to know for comparison which classical computer (that is, with what power) is needed to solve the same problem in the same time it took the quantum computer to solve it.
Without such a comparison, the news does not mean much.
(for me at least)
For starters, I would be happy to see an example of some computational problem that this computer was able to solve, and how long it took to reach a solution relative to a classic computer with the same computing power.
As long as there is no point of reference, this information does not mean much.
For decades there was doubt as to whether quantum computing was possible, also because of philosophical issues, seemingly now it seems possible.
For example, if a quantum computer performs 500^10 calculations simultaneously in superposition and in the entire universe (I am not sure of the number) 80^10 atomic particles, then how. Is there proof of parallel universes here? We'd rather think not, and something we don't understand about the paradox. Somewhat similar to the historical twin paradox that arose in the theory of special relativity that was later resolved. Similar to the historical paradox of moving towards a tree every time 1/2 the distance so that apparently never comes to be solved with the infinitesimal calculus. That is, there are no paradoxes, and new tools decipher the apparent paradox.
As described, the effect used is on conductivity and not necessarily optics.
Sounds like April 1st. Because of quantum computing principles about 180 qubits can perform supercomputer calculations in time.
Secondly, I took a look at IBM's website. Still every component there is the size of a jar and cooled by liquid nitrogen - optical quantum computing.
If they really succeeded - this is a significant leap.