Breakthrough achievement in quantum computing

Date:
September 9, 2021
Source:
University of Texas at San Antonio
Summary:
Researchers have set a world record for innovation in quantum
computing.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) researcher is part of a collaboration that has set a world record for innovation in quantum
computing.

The accomplishment comes from R. Tyler Sutherland, an assistant professor
in the College of Sciences Department of Physics and Astronomy and
the College of Engineering and Integrated Design's Department of
Electrical Engineering, who developed the theory behind the record
setting experiment.


========================================================================== Sutherland and his team set the world record for the most accurate
entangling gate ever demonstrated without lasers.

According to Sutherland, an entangling gate takes two qubits (quantum
bits) and creates an operation on the secondary qubit that is conditioned
on the state of the first qubit.

"For example, if the state of qubit A is 0, an entangling gate doesn't
do anything to qubit B, but if the state of qubit A is 1, then the gate
flips the state of qubit B from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0," he said. "The name
comes from the fact that this can generate a quantum mechanical property
called 'entanglement' between the qubits." Sutherland adds that making
the entangling gates in your quantum computer "laser-free" enables more cost-effective and easier to use quantum computers.

He says the price of an integrated circuit that performs a laser-free
gate is negligible compared to the tens of thousands of dollars it costs
for a laser that does the same thing.

"Laser-free gate methods do not have the drawbacks of photon scattering, energy, cost and calibration that are typically associated with using
lasers," said Sutherland. "This alternative gate method matches the
accuracy of lasers by instead using microwaves, which are less expensive
and easier to calibrate." This quantum computing accomplishment is
detailed in a paper Sutherland co- authored titled, "High-fidelity
laser-free universal control of trapped-ion qubits." It was published
in the scientific journal, Nature, on September 8.

Quantum computers have the potential to solve certain complex problems exponentially faster than classical supercomputers. One of the most
promising uses for quantum computers is to simulate quantum mechanical processes themselves, chemical reactions for example, which could
exponentially reduce the experimental trial and error required to solve difficult problems. These computers are being explored in many industries including science, engineering, finance and logistics.

"Broadly speaking, the goal of my research is to increase human control
over quantum mechanics." said Sutherland. "Giving people power over
a different part of nature hands them a new toolkit. What they will
eventually build with it is uncertain." That uncertainty, says
Sutherland, is what excites him most.

Sutherland's research background includes quantum optics, which studies
how quantum mechanical systems emit light. He earned his Ph.D. at Purdue University and went on to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for
his postdoc, where he began working on experimental applications for
quantum computers.

He became a tenure-track assistant professor at UTSA last August as part
of the university's Quantum Computation and Quantum Information Cluster
Hiring Initiative.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Texas_at_San_Antonio. Original written by Bruce Forey. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. R. Srinivas, S. C. Burd, H. M. Knaack, R. T. Sutherland,
A. Kwiatkowski,
S. Glancy, E. Knill, D. J. Wineland, D. Leibfried, A. C. Wilson,
D. T. C.

Allcock, D. H. Slichter. High-fidelity laser-free universal
control of trapped ion qubits. Nature, 2021; 597 (7875): 209 DOI:
10.1038/s41586- 021-03809-4 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210909124359.htm

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