Quantum Computing Development

Quantum computing is the most mysterious and unexplored area of all quantum technologies. In the next decade, a quantum computer is expected to produce new materials for cars and airplanes, medicines for previously incurable diseases, and instant optimization of hundreds of different parameters.

Quantum computing solves problems by manipulating quantum objects: atoms, molecules, photons, electrons, and specially created macrostructures. This allows scientists to achieve two quantum phenomena: superposition and entanglement. Thanks to this, researchers can synthesize new materials and drugs, model complex molecules, and solve optimization problems that are currently inaccessible to the most powerful computers.

If you look at the term quantum computing itself, you will find that a quantum computer is essentially the future product of this mysterious quantum computing. In general, quantum computing systems are divided into two main classes—quantum computers and quantum simulators.

Technologies in the quantum direction of physics—communications and sensors—are actively used in modern world practice, unlike quantum computing, which has just begun to enter the specialized market. Sensors are now used in astronomy, geography, meteorology, and medicine.

The current development of physics is considered the era of the second quantum revolution. The starting point of the first is considered to be the discovery of quantum theory in 1900.

Thanks to the development of this area of physics, lasers, and computers appeared, and with them—the Internet, cellular communications, consumer electronics, LED lamps, complex microscopes, digital cameras, and magnetic resonance imaging.

How is a quantum computer different from a regular one?

Because scientists build quantum computers on several different platforms (which we’ll discuss below), the appearance of these machines also varies from one to another.

Modern superconductor quantum computers look more like steampunk chandeliers and operate at a specific temperature: each level of the machine requires its own microclimate. If the room gets warmer or colder, the computer becomes useless.

Quantum computers operate using a liquid helium cooling system. The computer itself is enclosed in a cylindrical case with cooling system pumps. A number of traditional computers are connected to this structure to solve problems. Inside, the quantum computer consists of connections and pipes that transmit signals to the machine’s quantum “brain.”

To solve algorithmic problems, quantum computers use qubits, which take the value 0 or 1 when exchanging information. However, unlike bits, qubits can simultaneously be in the states 0 and 1, thanks to the property of quantum objects — superposition. This helps speed up solving problems tens of orders of magnitude faster than classical computers.

If a classical computer can factor a number with 500 decimal places into prime factors in 5 billion years, then a quantum analog can theoretically do it in 18 seconds.

Qubits do not sequentially sort through all possible variants of system states and combinations like a regular computer but make calculations instantly. This property can be used when searching for information in databases, creating a route, modeling the behavior of complex molecules, and synthesizing materials. Solving problems that require sorting through hundreds and thousands of variants is accelerated many times.

Multi-qubit quantum computers now cost millions of dollars, and their manufacture is complex. Today, a quantum computer is an installation that does not imply personal use at home. To work with this class of devices, one must have special competencies and be able to break down tasks into a language understandable to the machine.

What platforms are being discussed in connection with quantum computers?

Quantum computers are built on four main platforms: superconducting chains, ions, neutral atoms, and photons. In fact, there are many more platforms: integrated optics, quasiparticles (excitons, polaritons, magnons, etc.), impurity atoms, molecules, semiconductor quantum dots, and color centers. One computer can be built on several platforms, and they can all work separately from each other.

A quantum platform is a physical object, similar to a chip, on which the quantum state of qubits is placed and stored.

A few years ago, all commercial computing devices worked exclusively on superconducting chains. Unlike other qubits, they scale well, are stable in operation, allow parameters to be controlled, and are easier to manage. However, now we see that the international quantum community has become increasingly interested in ions.

The first commercially available ion quantum computer was presented in December 2018 by the technology startup IonQ. As the developers stated, the system they built can perform more complex calculations than all existing analogs on the market. At the end of 2020, the American corporation Honeywell announced that it had created the most accurate ion quantum computer. However, this technology also has its drawbacks: ion computers are difficult to scale due to abnormal heating.

Ultracold atoms are among the three most promising platforms for implementing a universal quantum computer. Academic institutes and universities are most often involved in developing such systems.

What is a quantum computing cloud platform?

Today, quantum computers and simulators operate only in laboratories, and external customers can only access them through cloud access. However, in the long term, using a cloud platform is also more economically justified than purchasing expensive equipment yourself.

Microsoft has launched open testing of its Azure Quantum service, providing cloud access to quantum computing. An hour of work with it costs from $10 to $900. However, Microsoft does not have its own quantum computer. The system runs on solutions from the corporation’s partners, such as Honeywell Quantum Solutions and IonQ.

In what areas will a quantum computer be particularly relevant?

Finance

• Optimization of investment portfolios;
• Predicting financial crises;
• Predicting customer creditworthiness;
• Construction of credit risk models;
• Fraud protection through transaction history analysis;
• Recognition of fraudulent activities.

The computing power of quantum computers significantly transforms all these processes. Problems will be solved instantly, not within hours and days.

Medicine and Pharmaceutics

Quantum computers will help optimize the search for protein structures, leading to faster drug production, personalized medicine, and genome assembly. The latter process can be used in cancer diagnostics since gene fusion and rearrangement are common causes of malignant tumors. D-Wave has already used its quantum annealer (a computer suitable for solving only some optimization problems) to detect adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, two types of deadly disease, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Logistics

Optimization of logistics chains will reduce the length of routes and enable businesses to reduce fuel costs. Quantum algorithms calculate travel options several times faster and select the most optimal ones.

The first project of this kind was carried out in 2019, when technology company Groovenauts, together with Mitsubishi Estate, were able to optimize the network of waste collection routes and the sizes of shipping containers for 26 large office centers in central Tokyo.

Information security

Today, algorithms have been developed that allow a quantum computer to reduce the time it takes to select a password and decrypt information to several hours or minutes.

Even highly secure methods based on public-key cryptography can be easily cracked by a quantum computer. This is why quantum computing is a national security technology, and the first states to build a high-qubit quantum computer will have a virtually perfect technological weapon. Hence, the quantum race and the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in the technology.

Chemical industry

“Quants” will help create new composite materials for aircraft construction and chemical industries. The resulting compositions will improve the functional properties of airliners, reduce their weight by 20-40% and increase wear resistance;

Using quantum sensors to produce materials will make it possible to track critical deformations of structures, reducing the costs of diagnostics, technical inspection, and repair work.

Google, IBM, Intel, smaller companies such as D-Wave, and the startup Rigetti are building their quantum computers. D-Wave has created a quantum annealing machine with 5,000 qubits, which surpasses the previous generation of devices in size, the number of connections between qubits, and the operating speed. The device is a significant engineering achievement that will be used in the future for universal quantum computers. National programs for developing quantum computers have also been created at the country level — in the European Union, the United States, and China.

Google was the first in the world to achieve “quantum supremacy” in laboratory conditions. The Sycamore computer could perform a calculation in 200 seconds, while a traditional supercomputer would have completed this operation in 10,000 years; the journal Nature described the results of the company’s experiment.

Challenges and hopes

The problems solved with the help of quantum computing are primarily in finance, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and the chemical industry. McKinsey experts expect the most serious economic effect from the introduction of quantum computing in these spheres, the size of which, in total, can approach $1.3 trillion by 2035. The most significant number of optimization and machine learning problems is found in the financial sphere, where the most noticeable effect from the introduction of quantum computers is expected, which can reach $700 billion.

According to Deloitte analysts, the financial sector will be the leading buyer of equipment and services related to quantum computing in the next 10 years.

On a global scale, the financial services industry’s spending on quantum computing is expected to increase 233 times from $80 million in 2022 to $19 billion in 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 72% over 10 years.

Financial services companies will also use quantum computing to improve their operations. It will find applications in Monte Carlo simulations of market conditions, portfolio optimization, risk minimization, and derivatives pricing. Banks and insurance companies can also use quantum computing to improve customer service.

For example, by processing incoming data and customer behavior patterns to predict their needs in near real time.

Using quantum computing will require knowledge and skills different from those needed to program and design traditional IT systems. Therefore, several financial services companies, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Barclays, have already begun to form teams to identify problems that can be solved with quantum computers and to create the necessary algorithms that could be useful in the next decade.

The creation of algorithms for quantum computing is still more theoretical than practical. Since systems with a sufficient number of stable, noise-resistant qubits to solve complex problems are not yet in commercial production, the development of quantum algorithms often occurs using simulators—programs for classical computers that imitate the operation of quantum ones.

Investments in quantum computing continue to flow in, but the rate of fund inflow into startups in the US and Europe has slowed.

Quantum computers will remain a business tool for the foreseeable future and will not be mass-produced. They can be used to gain an advantage in solving a limited range of problems related to the simulation of chemical processes, optimization of financial portfolios, and processing of logistics tasks.

Of course, quantum computing is not all rosy prospects. It requires ultra-low temperatures to operate with stability that few labs can provide and remains capricious. But despite all the difficulties, we already see results that make us believe that the quantum era has begun.