Communications of the ACM
Cooling Breakthrough Could Improve Performance of Quantum Computers
Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a way to minimize errors associated with heating in quantum optimization processors.
Credit: iStock
The University of Southern California (USC)-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center is a supercooled, magnetically-shielded facility built to house the first commercially available quantum optimization processors. Due to the exotic way in which quantum computers process information, they are highly sensitive to errors of different kinds, and USC researchers have developed a method to minimize errors.
Their solution focuses on reducing and correcting errors associated with heating, which is common and particularly detrimental to quantum optimizers.
By coupling several quantum bits (qubits) together on a quantum optimizer, without changing the hardware of the device, the researchers found the qubits act effectively as one qubit that experiences a lower temperature. As more qubits are coupled, the temperature experienced drops, enabling researchers to minimize the effect of heating as a source of noise or error.
They say this nesting scheme can be used with other future quantum optimization devices with different hardware architectures.
"Our work is part of a large-scale effort by the research community aimed at realizing the potential of quantum information processing, which we all hope might one day surpass its classical counterparts," says USC professor Daniel Lidar.
From USC News
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2016 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found