Simon Benjamin's

We’ve brought over the news posts from qunat.org – the previous home of the research group. You can read these posts after this one.

Many researchers believe that the best way to make a quantum computer is to interlink many small modules. But what does “small” mean? In particular, will be quantum machine be more powerful (or perhaps, more resistant to errors) if it each module is itself a powerful device with 100’s of qubits? Or can we focus on making very simple and small modules that are individually weak, and yet collectively they will be just as powerful? In Read more…

The process called quantum annealing is a hot topic! We’ve posted a preprint which extents recent ideas from an Innsbruck team, for realising such a technology in a powerfully flexible form. The word ‘annealing’ usually refers to a process where a metal is heated and slowly cooled (see image). But in quantum annealing a system is slowly moved from one cold state (actually, the ground state, which is the coldest possible!) to another, and then all its components (‘spins’) are measured. The Read more…

A new project on Quantum Optimisation and Machine Learning “QuOpaL” is now underway. Based at the University of Oxford, it’s a joint endeavour between the University, Nokia and Lockheed Martin. The aim of the project is to understand the potential for quantum technology to enhance optimisation and machine learning tasks – these are some of the hardest and most important applications in computer science today. The project will be based here in the QuNaT group and Read more…

  In a paper to appear in PRX, Naomi and Simon present detailed calculations simulating a quantum computer built from many small units — each unit being similar in complexity to the devices that can already be created in the lab. They find than an architecture involving connecting up many small units can be both robust and fast (a process called entanglement purification can quickly remove any ‘noise’ due to dodgy links). The preprint paper is Read more…