Quantum Revolution 2.0 Epilogue - In the year 2050

 

 Markus, who was born in the year 2020, is sleeping a little longer today. 

His 30th birthday has arrived. 

His fMRT alarm clock interacts with Markus's subconscious by logging into his dream and allowing it to become lucid (with lucid dreams, the dreamer is aware that he is dreaming). 

Markus emerges from the REM period as fresh as possible, according to the system's long-ago calculation of the optimum wake-up time. 

The nanobots in his body monitor the latest developments on potential inflammations, vascular plaques, or cell alterations just before he wakes up. 

The info appears on Markus' nano-retina as soon as he opens his eyes. 

His breakfast consists of a butter croissant and jam, like it does every morning. 

Nanobots have become active once again. 

All unnecessary sugar and fat molecules have been eliminated, and essential vitamins, trace minerals, and dietary fibre have been added in their stead. 

The fact that the croissants still taste as buttery as they did forty years ago may also be attributed to the nanobots' abilities. 

They use the right neuro-signals to activate Markus' taste buds. 

The kitchen is eerily quiet. 

Appliances and materials for the kitchen are no longer required. 

What was formerly a tiny oven that was ideally suited to the size of the roast has now been transformed into a toaster. 

This is made feasible through the use of nanoparticle-based programmable matter. 

Markus puts the almost fat-free butter on his croissant carefully. 

Markus is immediately linked to the internet through his retina implant and a microchip in his brain, which transmits messages customized to his interests straight into his brain. 

Markus's tastes, ranging from his favorite football team to his political beliefs, are better known to the AI running on quantum computers, which has been taught and tailored for him and his personality. 

Because it has kept track of every detail of his life and is constantly running algorithms to improve his well-being. 

The conversation between Markus and his AI is, of course, bidirectional. 

He expresses his desire to learn more about the Middle East conflict via his ideas. 

He instantly gets the necessary information, which is delivered to the proper neurons in his brain through suitable impulses, allowing him to not only see but also smell, taste, and hear the smoke and gunshots. 

He recognized the rainforest scene on the wall as the one that lulled him to sleep the night before. 

The scent of dampness is still in his nose, or rather, in the relevant neurons in his brain's olfactory bulb. 

He likes a beach this morning, so he makes his wish. 

Immediately, a tropical coral reef appears in front of him, complete with ocean noises and scents. 

Perceptions are produced directly in his brain, or rather within him. 

When he uses Brainchat, the new brain-to-brain program, to communicate with his love Iris, his AI informs him that an unauthorized individual is listening in on his quantum communication channel. 

The program gives you the option of changing the encryption or switching to a different channel. 

The news article that has been playing in his head has altered. 

He's now listening in on a debate on the abolition of money. 

The value of ownership has shifted dramatically in recent years. 

There are no longer any rare products worth spending money on. 

With 3D printers, even the most basic materials can be made into anything. 

All desired emotions and sensations may be generated directly in the brain via appropriate neuro-stimulation. 

Representatives of the new socialist movement urge that all software for printing and converting goods be made freely available. 

Alphabet and Dodax (formed in 2029 following the merging of Facebook and Microsoft), the only surviving software firms from the information era in the first 20 years of the twenty-first century, continue to resist. 

However, their cause has long since been abandoned. 

The free market economy has lost its luster. 

Everything that humans need may be found in the form of software. 

All they have to do now is print things out or load the necessary software into the physical devices. 

Previously, software needed the use of specific devices known as computers. 

They were both costly and rigid. 

But 10 years ago, when the technical issue of decoherence of entangled quantum systems had been addressed, quantum computer software was created and immediately integrated into objects, for virtually any type of matter. 

Quantum computers allowed individual atoms in a material combination to be controlled in such a manner that they could be combined to create any energetically feasible shape. 

All that was required was the right software. 

In parliament, the New Socialists, who evolved from the Social Democratic movement in 2041, currently have a two-thirds majority. 

They want to make free access to all software a fundamental right for all citizens, according to their electoral program. 

Alphabet and Dodax would be extinct. 

However, it might not be such a terrible thing, and this is the current debate's tone.

It would be like to the last dinosaurs becoming extinct. 

Markus returns to his passion of creating new animal and plant species via genetic engineering. 

He hasn't had a paid work in years, and most of his pals have also lost their jobs. 

At the press of a button, he has access to almost everything he needs (and, eventually, almost everything). 

Almost everything is taken care of by AI-enabled devices and nanobots. 

There is no longer any need to work for a living. 

Money as a means of trade has lost its significance, and the next generation will struggle to comprehend why it was once so essential. 

Markus shivers as he recalls previous times when he had to consider if he could afford to purchase the newest model of electric vehicle and struggled to repay his debts. 

As he leans over his little CRISPR gadget, he wonders if his brain chip, which links him to the central AI, was designed to have such a strong dislike for previous eras. 

But then he grins to himself and returns his attention to the orange color of the moss he intends to use to cover his walls.

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Revolution 2.0 - Our First Civic Duty Is to Educate Ourselves.

One thing is certain: future quantum technologies will profoundly alter the planet. 

As a result, our current choices have a lot of clout. 

The scientific underpinnings for current car, rail, and air traffic, as well as modern communication and data processing, were established in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the foundations for the wonder technologies of the twenty-first century are being created now. 

There is just a short window of opportunity before technology and social norms become so entrenched that we won't be able to reverse them. 

This is why an active, wide-ranging social, and, of course, democratic debate is so critical. 

The ethical assessment and political molding of future technologies must go beyond individual, corporate, or governmental economic or military objectives. 

This will require a democratic commitment from everyone of us, including the responsibility to educate ourselves and share ideas. 

It should also be a requirement of ours that the media offer thorough coverage of scientific advances and advancements. 

When journalists and others who shape public opinion report on global events and significant social changes, there is much too little mention of physics, chemistry, or biology. 

In addition to ethical integrity, we must expect intellectual honesty from politicians and other social and economic decision-makers. 

This implies that intentional lies, as well as information distortion and filtering for the aim of imposing certain objectives, must be constantly combated. 

It is intolerable that false news can wield such devastating propagandistic influence these days, and that a worrying proportion of politicians, for example, continue to genuinely question climate change and Darwin's theory of evolution. 

The commandment of intellectual honesty, however, also applies to those who receive knowledge. 

We must learn to think things through before jumping to conclusions, to examine our own biases, and to participate in complicated interrelationships without oversimplifying everything. 

Last but not least, we must accept uncomfortable facts. 

Every citizen's role in influencing our technological future is to aim for a wide, reasonable, information- and fact-based debate. 

It will be beneficial to keep a careful eye on the progress of quantum physics research. 

The unique characteristics of the quantum universe are becoming an essential part of our daily lives, and we are seeing a watershed point in human history. 

Those who do not pay attention risk losing out and discovering what has occurred after it is too late. 

Our current knowledge of entanglement offers us a peek of what may be possible in the not-too-distant future of technology. However, the future has already started. 

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Revolution 2.0 - Who's in Charge?

 A number of social actors come to mind as candidates for guiding technology development in a manner that is consistent with our human values. 

However, if they were the only designers, two of the most often cited social players would certainly be overwhelmed: 

The ability of social decision-makers (politicians, corporate leaders, media workers, and others) to respond to the ever-accelerating dynamics of technological change is much too sluggish. 

This is due to a lack of understanding among our political, economic, and cultural leaders of the present level of scientific research, among other things. 

Scientists will be unable to regulate technological development as well. In reality, the reverse is true. 

They, like all other members of society, are primarily guided by market logic. 

If they create new technology based on their ideas, they might become millionaires today. 

Furthermore, they are constantly reliant on the government or other organizations to provide funding for their study. 

The free market is a third socially productive force. 

Until now, technology advancement has almost entirely followed the logic of market-based (or military) application. 

To put it another way, whatever was feasible and provided someone a financial (or military) edge was done. 

Can we expect that the processes of free market competition will best regulate technological development for the greater good? 

Allowing the free market to determine development would imply that Google, Facebook, and Amazon would decide whether quantum computers or greater artificial intelligence would be used. 

Even the most ardent advocates of free market philosophy may find it difficult to believe that this will work out nicely for all of us. 

In reality, when it comes to ethical problems, the market is a terrible arbitrator. 

To determine how much of future technology development should be left to the free market, we must first understand and identify the factors that prevent it from making the optimal choices for society as a whole. 

Aside from the possibility of billions of dollars in commerce, which would almost certainly lead to insurmountable conflicts of interest, there are additional issues with blindly trusting the forces of the free market: 

1. Externalities: 

One group's economic actions may have an effect on other groups—possibly even all individuals on the planet—without the actors bearing the full cost. 

Externalities are most noticeable in public products that do not have a market price. 

Environmental resources and general health are examples of this. 

Some examples include: 

• polluting the environment still costs the polluter little or nothing; 

• climate-damaging CO2 emissions are still not associated with higher costs for producers; 

• the safety risks associated with nuclear power generation or natural gas fracking are largely borne by the general public; and 

• while the widespread use of antibiotics in agriculture produces higher yields for livestock.

2. Rent-seeking: 

Powerful groups often succeed in altering political and economic norms to their own benefit, resulting in different kinds of governmental guarantees that do not improve or even worsen general societal well-being. 

Corruption is the most apparent example. 

3. Asymmetries in information: 

In 1970, economist Georg Akerlof demonstrated in his article "The Market for Lemons" that free markets cannot operate effectively unless buyers and sellers have equal access to information.

However, significant information access asymmetries can be found in a variety of markets, including the labor market, the market for financial products (which allows banks to charge exorbitant fees for their investment products), the healthcare and food markets, the energy market, and, most importantly in our context, the market for new scientific knowledge and technologies. 

Anyone who wishes to balance the benefits of a new technology against its dangers must first learn all there is to know about it. 

The creator and producer, on the other hand, are the ones who know the most about it, and they are more interested in the possibilities for profit than the dangers. 

In a free market system, lying is simply part of the game for profit-driven businesses. 

This involves spreading doubt about accepted scientific knowledge on a systematic basis. 

Akerloff was subsequently given the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for this discovery. 

4. Cognitive Irrationalities: 

Standard economic theory implies that we are aware of our own best interests. 

Behavioral economics, on the other hand, has long shown that humans are much less reasonable than proponents of the free market would have us think. 

As a result, rather than long-term logical concerns, producers and consumers are often driven by short-term emotional impulses. 

These are the four reasons why the free market is inadequate for directing socially acceptable technology development. 

The exploitation logic of capitalism is a powerful force that works against distinction and ethical thought in the creation and use of new technology. 

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Revolution 2.0 - Welcome to the Fast and Furious New World

Huxley portrays an unsettling future scenario in his landmark book about a human civilization made up of several classes of genetically modified people. 

Everyone's social position is established at birth as a result of genetic modification; the hierarchy comprises five classes of people, ranging from alpha to epsilon. 

The ruling caste is made up of Alpha humans, while the Epsilons, who are solely employed for basic jobs, have their intellect artificially lowered to a minimum. 

Because he estimated it would take more than 600 years for such a situation to become technologically possible, Huxley puts his terrifying scenario in the year 2540. 

(the social acceptance of such a world did not appear as far-fetched in the 1930s). 

Modern genome editing techniques, however, make this scenario seem much more technologically plausible today, less than 90 years after the book was written. 

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, is set 600 years in the future. 

However, less than a century after his publication, an execution of the situation he outlined seems technologically feasible. 

Many futuristic possibilities from the last century or so are no longer science fiction dreams. 

The scientific foundation for all of the technologies listed below is presently being developed in labs across the globe. 

Here is a sampling of quantum technology advancements: 

• Health: 

• Nanobots will be employed as molecular robots and super-small tracking devices. 
• They will travel about within the body, detecting and treating cancer cells, vascular plaques, and infections as early as possible. 

• Mind and body enhancement: 

• Nanoparticle-based artificial body components, such as an artificial nano retina, will be able to increase our sensory perceptions and physical skills. 
• Our cognitive and communicative abilities will improve as a result of the use of brain chips. 

• Artificial intelligence in new dimensions: 

• "Quantum Machine Learning" will integrate quantum physics with cutting-edge machine-learning methods to create artificial intelligence that will outperform human cognitive skills in ways that humans will be unable to understand. 

• Goods production: 

• A "quantum 3D printer" will be capable of arranging individual atoms in virtually any manner imaginable—for example, from a handful of dust—at the press of a button or even by mind control. 
• Matter may be transformed into whole new shapes and functions because to this precise atomic organization. 
• Programmable, intelligent materials will pervade our daily lives in the same way that plastic cups and metal gadgets do now. 
• You don't like your flat any longer? Could be a future advertising slogan. Within a day, we may program a new one for you. 

• Economics: If matter can be manipulated almost without restriction—for example, by printing food or programming it to take on almost any properties—everyone will get what they want right away, and a lack or scarcity of goods and resources would have a significant impact on the economy and society as a whole. 

What would it be like to live in an economy where ownership is no longer a factor? 

What tasks would be required? 

Would everyone be socially equal as a result? 

 

Future quantum technologies, such as a sort of man-machine coalescence, would radically alter our perceptions of personal belongings and social status, health, and, ultimately, ourselves. 

All of the fascinating, promising, and terrifying potential of future quantum technologies (as well as all other technologies) pose a lot of questions:

• Will we be able to regulate quantum computers' infinite processing power? 

• What happens if an artificial intelligence emerges that outperforms humans across the board, not just in certain cognitive areas but in all? 

• And do we really want nanobots to be able to communicate with our brains? 

Finding solutions to the following questions will be the primary challenge: 

• How can technology development be planned in such a way that it does not overwhelm us? 

• And how will we deal with the looming societal tensions? 

If the prospect of controlling the destiny of humanity and our civilization via Quantum Technology 2.0, Genetic Engineering, and AI is scary, the prospect of having this technical power and being unable to manage it is much worse. 

How we cope with ethical and social problems that emerge as a result of technological development will decide the future of our individual dignity and freedom, and eventually of humanity as a whole. 

Who, on the other hand, might be in charge of steering our knowledge and technological innovation in socially acceptable directions? 

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Revolution 2.0 - The Mighty Trio

Overall, three key technical fields will have a significant impact on our civilization in the near future: genetic engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum technology 2.0. 

Artificial intelligence and gene technology are generally considered as dangerous, and the debate over their usage and effect is in full gear. 

In reality, these technologies have the potential to transform not just our daily lives, but also humanity itself. 

They might, for example, be used to combine people and machines in the future to enhance our capacities by merging our cognitive skills with machine computing and physical performance. 

However, machine intelligence superior to ours in general cognitive skills, not only in mathematics, chess, or Go, is possible. 

However, quantum technologies 2.0 (such as quantum computers and nanomaterials) are now just a hazy blip on the radar of people concerned about the social effect of emerging technology. 

At the same time, the three technologies described before are inextricably linked. 

They will cross-fertilize each other, resulting in a considerably greater effect when combined. 

New quantum technologies, for example, have the potential to improve AI and genetic engineering significantly: 

• The processing power of quantum computers may help AI researchers enhance neural network optimization methods once again. 

• Nanomachines might reproduce themselves using a handbook provided by humans and enhance these instructions using genetic algorithms on their own. 

• Using smart nanobots as a genetic editing engine, we might actively alter our DNA to repair and enhance it indefinitely. 

The main issue is deciding who will be responsible for determining what constitutes an optimization.

Quantum Technology 2.0's effect has been grossly overestimated. 

Its contribution to the advancement of artificial intelligence, as well as its prospective use in genetic engineering, will be critical. 

The debate of the possible health risks of nanoparticles in human bodies is still the primary focus of emerging quantum technologies today. 

This odd rejection of quantum technology's potential isn't completely innocuous. 

This blind hole is exacerbated by another cognitive bias: we've become used to the notion that technological development is accelerating, but we underestimate its absolute pace. 

Aldous Huxley's renowned 1932 book Brave New World is an example of this. 

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Revolution 2.0 - Technology and Social Change

Increased scientific knowledge has always had a significant effect on technical, social, and economic advances, just as it has always entailed enormous ideological revolutions. 

The natural sciences are, in reality, the primary engine of our contemporary wealth. 

The persistent quest of information leads to scientific advancement, which, when coupled with the dynamism of free-market competition, leads to equally consistent technical advancement. 

The one gives humanity with ever-increasing insights into the structure and processes of nature, while the second provides us with almost unlimited opportunities for individual activities, economic growth, and quality-of-life improvements. 

Here are a few instances from the past: 

• During the Renaissance, new technical breakthroughs such as papermaking, printing, mechanical clocks, navigation tools/shipping, building, and so on ushered in unparalleled wealth for Europeans. 

• The fruits of Newtonian physics found a spectacular technical expression in the shape of steam engines and heat machines, based on the new theory of heat, during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. 

• Transportation and manufacturing were transformed by railway and industrial equipment. 

• In the late 1800s, Faraday and Maxwell's electromagnetic field theory led immediately to city electricity, modern telecommunications, and electrical devices for a significant portion of the rural population. 

• The technological revolution of the twentieth century roughly corresponds to the first generation of quantum technologies and has brought us lasers, computers, imaging devices, and much more (including, unfortunately, the atomic bomb), resulting in a first wave of political and economic globalization. 

Digitization, with its ever-faster information processing and transmission, industrial integration with information and communication technology, and, of course, the internet, has ushered in a new era of political and economic globalization. 

Something new will emerge from the impending second quantum revolution. 

It will radically transform communication, engagement, and manufacturing once again. 

The Quantum Revolution 2.0, like all other technological revolutions, will usher in yet another significant shift in our way of life and society. 

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Revolution 2.0

When Nanobots and Quantum Computers Become Part of Our Everyday Lives.

Quantum theory is the biggest scientific revolution of the twentieth century. 

Furthermore, the notion that we live in an universe that is only ostensibly real and predictable is a total departure from our normal thinking patterns. 

We still don't know how this revelation will influence our thinking in the future. 

The philosophical implications of a breakdown of subject–object dualism in the microcosm, the laws of symmetry in theoretical physics, and the non-local effects of entangled particles have yet to pervade our daily lives and thoughts. 

Despite this, quantum physics has already profoundly impacted our contemporary worldview. 

Many individuals today have said their goodbyes to absolute certainty, whether religious, philosophical, or scientific in character. 

They can cope with the ambiguity of contradictory facts (in the sense of Bohr1). 

This isn't even the most impressive feature of quantum theory. 

What else is there to look forward to? Great shifts in our perspective in the past have always profoundly altered our life, sooner or later: • The development of rational philosophical thinking in ancient Greece is the earliest historical example. 

Traditional (religious) solutions to basic issues of mankind, such as how the universe came into existence, what happens to us after death, why this or that natural event occurs, and so on, were no longer sufficient. 

The image of Zeus, the ultimate deity, pouring bolts of fire down to Earth was no longer sufficient; global events were increasingly subjected to rigorous examination based on logical rules and empirical observation standards. 

It took many centuries for the “transition from myth to logos” to occur (from about 800 to 200 BC). 

The synthesis of a naturalistic and rational view of nature that emerged at this period continues to influence how people think today. 

Then, in the late Renaissance, came the creation of the scientific method. 

People rediscovered the philosophers of Ancient Greece after one and a half millennia of religious rigidity, and they started to evaluate nature scientifically and logically once again. 

What was new was that scientists were now attempting to explain nature using mathematical principles in a systematic and theoretical manner. 

This resulted in significant intellectual, religious, social, and political shifts. 

Humans quickly realized they were no longer at the mercy of the elements. 

Their yearning for a unique way of life, economic independence, and the exploration of new horizons outweighed the intellectual and geographic limitations of the Middle Ages. 

Scientists' efforts to comprehend the world resulted in a rising urge to change it. 

During the Enlightenment, a new, critical style of scientific thought gained popular. 

God was relegated to the position of watchmaker in Newton's mechanics. 

The religiously justified legitimacy of political, social, and economic authority started to crumble since there was no longer an everlasting "Godordained" order. 

Impenetrable walls between hierarchical social systems eventually become porous over thousands of years. 

All of this led to a considerably higher level of human intellectual potential—what we now call "human capital." Albert Einstein, who was born in the early 17th century, would have most likely followed in his father's footsteps as a modest trader. 

As a physicist in the twentieth century, he was able to alter our worldview. 

Darwin's theory of evolution shifted man's place in the universe, making him the product of a process that all animals and plants had gone through. 

As a consequence, God as Creator and other similar transcendent concepts were rendered obsolete indefinitely. 

Darwin's assertion that each human being is evolutionarily distinct fueled the contemporary world's strong individuality. 

The new picture of man had an effect on moral ideals as well: social Darwinism, which was widely accepted at the time, put self-preservation and personal achievement at the center of human ambition. 

Darwin's ideas were quickly applied to the social and political fabric of human life, rather from being limited to physical survival and biological reproduction. 

We may expect millennia-old principles of our existence and the way we perceive ourselves to be further revolutionized as a result of quantum theory's revelation that our reality in its microstructure is non-real and nondeterministic. 

The shifts in our self-perception we've made so far are most likely harbingers of much more dramatic shifts to come. 

The discovery of quantum physics was the most significant intellectual event of the twentieth century, and it is likely to alter our worldview much more than it has already.

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Computing - A 3 Qubit Entangled State Achieved

 

In a completely controlled array of spin qubits in silicon, a three-qubit entangled state has been achieved. 

The gadget in a false-colored scanning electron micrograph. The aluminum gates are represented by the purple and green structures. Six RIKEN scientists used the gadget to entangle three silicon-based spin qubits. The RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science is responsible for this image.

The number of silicon-based spin qubits that can be entangled has been raised from two to three by an all-RIKEN team, emphasizing the promise of spin qubits for implementing multi-qubit quantum algorithms. 

When it comes to specific kinds of computations, quantum computers have the potential to outperform conventional computers. 

They rely on quantum bits, or qubits, which are the quantum equivalents of the bits used in traditional computers. 

Small blobs of silicon known as silicon quantum dots have many characteristics that make them extremely appealing for realizing qubits, despite being less developed than certain other qubit technologies. 

Long coherence periods, high-fidelity electrical control, high-temperature functioning, and a large scaling potential are among them. 

To link multiple silicon-based spin qubits, however, scientists must be able to entangle more than two qubits, a feat that has eluded them until now. 

Seigo Tarucha and five colleagues from RIKEN's Center for Emergent Matter Science have successfully started and measured a three-qubit array on silicon (the probability that a qubit is in the expected state). 

They also used a single chip to integrate the three entangled qubits. 

This demonstration is a first step in expanding the possibilities of spin qubit-based quantum systems. 

"Two-qubit operations are sufficient for performing basic logical computations," Tarucha says. 

"However, for scaling up and incorporating error correction, a three-qubit system is the bare minimum." The team's gadget is controlled by aluminum gates and consists of a triple quantum dot on a silicon/silicon–germanium heterostructure. 

One electron may be found in each quantum dot, and its spin-up and spin-down states encode a qubit. 

An on-chip magnet creates a magnetic-field gradient that divides the three qubits' resonance frequencies, allowing them to be addressed separately. 

The researchers used a two-qubit gate, a tiny quantum circuit that is the building block of quantum computing systems, to entangle two of the qubits. 

By integrating the third qubit with the gate, they were able to achieve three-qubit entanglement. 

The resultant three-qubit state had an astonishing 88 percent state fidelity and was in an entangled state that might be utilized for error correction. 

This demonstration is only the start of an ambitious research program aimed at developing a large-scale quantum computer. 

"With the three-qubit gadget, we aim to show basic error correction and build devices with 10 or more qubits," Tarucha adds. 

"We aim to create 50 to 100 qubits and more advanced error-correction procedures in the next decade, opening the path for a large-scale quantum computer."

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.

Quantum Computers A Step Closer To Reality

Engineers make a significant advancement in the design of quantum computers. 

A significant roadblock to quantum computers becoming a reality has been overcome thanks to quantum engineers from UNSW Sydney. 

• They developed a novel method that they claim would allow them to manage millions of spin qubits—the fundamental units of information in a silicon quantum processor. 

• Until far, quantum computer engineers and scientists have only been able to demonstrate the control of a few qubits in a proof-of-concept model of quantum processors. 

• However, the team has discovered what they call "the missing jigsaw piece" in the quantum computer design, which should allow them to manage the millions of qubits required for very complicated computations, according to their new study, which was published today in Science Advances. 

• Dr. Jarryd Pla, a professor at UNSW's School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, says his research group wanted to solve a problem that had plagued quantum computer scientists for decades: how to control millions of qubits without taking up valuable space with additional wiring, which consumes more electricity and generates more heat. 

"Controlling electron spin qubits depended on our providing microwave magnetic fields by sending a current through a wire directly near the qubit up to this point," Dr. Pla explains. 

• "If we want to scale up to the millions of qubits that a quantum computer would require to tackle globally important issues like the creation of new vaccines, this presents some serious difficulties." 

• To begin with, magnetic fields diminish rapidly with distance, so we can only control the qubits that are nearest to the wire. 

• As we brought in more and more qubits, we'd need to add more and more wires, which would take up a lot of space on the chip." 

• And, since the device must function at temperatures below -270°C, Dr. Pla claims that adding additional wires will create much too much heat in the chip, jeopardizing the qubits' stability. 

• "With this wiring method, we're only able to manage a few qubits," Dr. Pla explains. 

A thorough rethinking of the silicon chip structure was required to solve this issue. 

• Rather of putting thousands of control lines on a tiny silicon device with millions of qubits, the researchers investigated the possibility of using a magnetic field generated from above the chip to operate all of the qubits at the same time. 

• The concept of controlling all qubits at the same time was originally proposed by quantum computing experts in the 1990s, but until today, no one had figured out how to accomplish it in a practical manner. 

• "After removing the cable adjacent to the qubits, we devised a new method for delivering microwave-frequency magnetic control fields throughout the device. In theory, we could send control fields to as many as four million qubits "Dr. Pla agrees. 

A crystal prism termed a dielectric resonator was inserted immediately above the silicon chip by Dr. Pla and his colleagues. 

• When microwaves are directed into a resonator, the wavelength of the microwaves is reduced dramatically. 

• "Because the dielectric resonator reduces the wavelength to less than one millimeter, we now have a highly effective conversion of microwave power into the magnetic field that controls all of the qubits' spins." 

• The first is that we don't need a lot of power to create a strong driving field for the qubits, which means we don't produce a lot of heat. 

• The second is that the field is very consistent throughout the device, ensuring that millions of qubits have the same degree of control." Despite the fact that Dr. 

Pla and his team had created a prototype resonator technology, they lacked the silicon qubits with which to test it. 

• So he spoke to his UNSW engineering colleague, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, whose team had proven the earliest and most precise quantum logic utilizing the same silicon fabrication process as traditional computer chips during the previous decade. 

• "When Jarryd presented me with his new concept, I was absolutely blown away," Prof. Dzurak recalls, "and we immediately went to work to see how we might combine it with the qubit devices that my team has created." Ensar Vahapoglu from my team and James Slack-Smith from Jarryd's were assigned to the project as two of our top Ph.D. students. 

"When the experiment turned out to be a success, we were ecstatic. This issue of controlling millions of qubits had been bothering me for a long time, since it was a significant stumbling block in the development of a full-scale quantum computer." 

• Quantum computers with thousands of qubits to address business issues, which were once just a pipe dream in the 1980s, may now be less than a decade away. 

• In addition, due of their capacity to simulate very complex systems, they are anticipated to offer fresh firepower to addressing global problems and creating new technologies. 

Quantum computing technology has the potential to help climate change, medicine and vaccine development, code decryption, and artificial intelligence. 

• The team's next goal is to utilize this new technique to make designing near-term silicon quantum computers easier. 

• "The on-chip control wire is removed, making room for more qubits and the rest of the components needed to create a quantum processor. 

• It simplifies the job of moving on to the next stage of manufacturing devices with tens of qubits "Prof. Dzurak agrees. 

• "While there are still technical hurdles to overcome before computers with a million qubits can be built," Dr. Pla adds, "we are thrilled that we now have a method to manage them."

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.