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One thought on “So, You Want to Program Quantum Computers…”

Nice article; however, disappointed that the author expanded the exploration of programming in Quantum to include Google, MIT, U. Sydney, etc. who all have been exploring the programming on QC. D-Wave indeed is doing a lot in this space and has been even training numerous US Government personnel on QC; just would be interesting to learn more about the advances in this space from other players who have been sharing for several months their breakthroughs in programming QC.


The jury is still out when it comes to how wide-ranging the application set and market potential for quantum computing will be. Optimistic estimates project that in the 2020s it will be a billion-dollar field, while others expect the novelty will wear off and the one company behind the actual production of quantum annealing machines will go bust.

Ultimately, whichever direction the market goes with quantum computing will depend on two things. First, the ability for applications of sufficient value to warrant the cost of quantum systems have to be in place. Second, and connected to that point, is the fact that enough problems can be mapped to these machines—a tricky problem that if not solved, will lead to a limited ecosystem of capabilities and, of course, developers.

There is no doubt D-Wave understands this. The company is getting in front of those challenges by hosting quantum computing programming courses designed to onboard new developers. As one might imagine, however, determining the right background for participants is as nebulous as the future of the quantum computing ecosystem.

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Quantum information encoded in spinning black holes

Rotating black holes can implement quantum gates and quantum circuits, like Bell states, which are quantum counterparts of the classical computer programing.


The black holes sparked the public imagination for almost 100 years. Their presence in the universe has been debated for long; however, the detection of X-ray radiation coming from the center of the galaxies has put an end to the discussion and undoubtedly proven their existence.

The vast majority, if not all, of the known black holes were unveiled by detecting the X-ray radiation emitted by the stellar material around them. Black holes emit X-ray radiation, light with high energy, due to the extreme gravity in their vicinity. X-ray photons emitted near rotating black holes not only exposed the existence of these phantom-like astrophysical bodies, but also seem to carry hidden quantum messages.

A recent article posted in the pre-printed arXiv (“Photonic Bell states creation around rotating black holes”) argues that X-ray radiation coming from fast spinning black holes encompasses quantum information.

black hole

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18 Corporations Working On Quantum Computing

Not a complete list — where are al the various joint ventures & start ups that are also in play; however, what about all those Laboratories (Governmental, Universities, and joint venture related labs) such as Los Alamos or ORNL or MIT or USC, and what about all of the governmental agencies (NASA, DoD, etc.), and how about all of those special programs like DARPA. And, this is only the US not to mention what has been happening in China, Australia, Canada, UK, Spain, Germany, Russia, Singapore, etc.

Nice article to use as a starting list only; itmissed many, many other companies, labs, universities, and governments who are really leading most of the progress forward in QC. Some start up to add — Qubitekk, QC Ware, Rigetti Computing to just name 3 off the top of my head. Article is missing a lot in its list.


Google, Microsoft, and Airbus are investing in quantum computing. In all, we identified 18 corporates developing the tech, or partnering with startups like D-Wave to do so, and what they hope to achieve.

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Quantum Cosmology and the Evolution of Inflationary Spectra [CL]

We illustrate how it is possible to calculate the quantum gravitational effects on the spectra of primordial scalar/tensor perturbations starting from the canonical, Wheeler-De Witt, approach to quantum cosmology. The composite matter-gravity system is analysed through a Born-Oppenheimer approach in which gravitation is associated with the heavy degrees of freedom and matter (here represented by a scalar field) with the light ones. Once the independent degrees of freedom are identified the system is canonically quantised. The differential equation governing the dynamics of the primordial spectra with its quantum-gravitational corrections is then obtained and is applied to diverse inflationary evolutions. Finally, the analytical results are compared to observations through a Monte Carlo Markov Chain technique and an estimate of the free parameters of our approach is finally presented and the results obtained are compared with previous ones.

Read this paper on arXiv…

A. Kamenshchik, A. Tronconi and G. Venturi Tue, 13 Sep 16 11/91.

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New Laser Provides Ultra-Precise Tool for Scientists Probing the Secrets of the Universe

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a new laser that makes it possible to measure electron transition energies in small atoms and molecules with unprecedented precision. The instrument will help scientists test one of the bedrock theories of modern physics to new limits, and may help resolve an unexplained discrepancy in measurements of the size of the proton.

The team will present their work during the Frontiers in Optics (FiO) / Laser Science (LS) conference in Rochester, New York, USA on 17 −21 October 2016.

“Our target is the best tested theory there is: quantum electrodynamics,” said Kjeld Eikema, a physicist at Vrije University, The Netherlands, who led the team that built the laser. Quantum electrodynamics, or QED, was developed in the 1940s to make sense of small unexplained deviations in the measured structure of atomic hydrogen. The theory describes how light and matter interact, including the effect of ghostly ‘virtual particles.’ Its predictions have been rigorously tested and are remarkably accurate, but like extremely dedicated quality control officers, physicists keep ordering new tests, hoping to find new insights lurking in the experimentally hard-to-reach regions where the theory may yet break down.

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Lighting the way to miniature devices

Electromagnetic waves created on a layer of organic molecules could provide the perfect on-chip light source for future quantum communication systems.

A team of scientists including researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, has captured tiny flashes of light from an ultrathin layer of organic molecules sandwiched between two electrodes that could replace lasers and LEDs as signal sources for future miniature, ultrafast quantum computing and light-based communication systems.

To investigate electromagnetic waves called plasmons, which skim along the interface between two materials, Nikodem Tomczak from the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and colleagues collaborated with Christian A. Nijhuis from the National University of Singapore to construct a junction consisting of a layer of thiol molecules on a metal electrode and liquid gallium-indium alloy as a top electrode.

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Benchtop Black Holes Help Physicists Glimpse the Quantum Universe

A black hole is a physicist’s playground: A place where some of the most bizarre and fundamental concepts in physics can be observed and tested. However, there is currently no way to directly observe black holes in action; these bodies of matter don’t emit the sort of radiation, like light or X-rays, that telescopes are equipped to detect. Fortunately, physicists have figured out ways to imitate the conditions of a black hole in the lab—and in creating analogues of black holes, they are beginning to unravel some the most fascinating puzzles in physics.

Jeff Steinhauer, a researcher in the Physics Department of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, recently caught the attention of the physics community when he announced that he had used an analogue black hole to confirm Stephen Hawking’s 1974 theory that black holes emit electromagnetic radiation, known as Hawking radiation. Hawking predicted that this radiation would be caused by the spontaneous creation of a particle-antiparticle pair at the event horizon, the point at the edge of a black hole beyond which nothing—not even light—can escape. Under the terms of Hawking’s theory, as one of the particles crosses the event horizon and is captured by the black hole, the other would be ejected into space. Steinhauer’s experiment was the first to exhibit the sort of spontaneous fluctuations that support Hawking’s calculations.

Physicists have cautioned that this experiment still doesn’t confirm the existence of Hawking radiation in astronomical black holes, as Steinhauer’s black hole isn’t exactly the same as one we might observe in space. It’s not yet physically possible to create the intense gravitational fields that form black holes. Instead, the analogue imitates a black hole’s ability to absorb light waves by using sound.

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Effects of Band Nonparabolicity and Band Offset on the Electron Gas Properties in InAs/AlSb Quantum Well

One-band effective mass model is used to simulation of electron gas properties in quantum well. We calculate of dispersion curves for first three subbands. Calculation results of Fermi energy, effective mass at Fermi level as function of electron concentration are presented. The obtained results are good agreement with the experimental dates.

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Quantum Entanglement & Space Travel

Now, if we could just get the US to launch our own Quantum Satellite in space.


Recent research has taken quantum entanglement out of the theoretical realm of physics, and placed into the one of verified phenomena. An experiment devised by the Griffith University’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics, led by Professor Howard Wiseman and his team of researchers at the university of Tokyo, recently published a paper in the journal Nature Communications confirming what Einstein did not believe to be real: the non-local collapse of a particle’s wave function. (source)(source), and this is just one example of many.

They did this by splitting a single photon between two laboratories, and testing whether measurement of it in one laboratory would actually cause a change in the local quantum state in the other laboratory. In doing so, researchers were able to verify the entanglement of the split single photon.

Researchers have since replicated this experiment over and over again, with results of entanglement seen at kilometres of distance. Below is a great visual depiction of what quantum entanglement from the film, “What The Bleep Do We Know.”

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China’s plan to step up to Silicon Valley

No surprise at all. My 13 year old nephew wants to be the next Steve Jobs. Along with learning Quantum & Biology, I will need to suggest that he should focus on China as a possible future.


China’s provincial city of Hangzhou is buzzing with tech activity, with officials aiming to open thousands of tech enterprises by the end of the decade. As Tara Joseph reports, the city is brimming with tech office parks and tech products, though truly innovative concepts are still missing.

They’re calling it Asia’s Silicon Valley In the city of Hangzhou about 100 miles south of Shanghai… you can order your dinner on your phone without a waitress… Or pay for a haircut with a quick swipe. …everyday signs of the start-ups that officials hope can one day drive the economy. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TARA JOSEPH, REUTERS CORRESPONDENT, SAYING: “Here its easy to run into people talking about building a new app — or planning a new tech venture — and every where you go in this city there are new office parks sprouting called tech zones and massive office blocks going up. The scale is absolutely mind boggling.” Hangzhou’s officials have a plan to open a thousand high tech enterprises… employing three HUNDRED thousand people by the end of the decade. It started here with tech giant Alibaba — now a multi-billion dollar company listed in New York led by rock star CEO Jack Ma. In its wake, a new wave of entrepreneurs have emerged — like Li Hongwei.

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