-------- Forwarded Message --------
FYI --
"The simulator is 30 qubits, which requires 32 gigabytes of memory. That means it
can run on a high-end laptop or desktop. Every qubit added, he warns, will *double* the
memory requirement."
http://fortune.com/2015/11/13/microsoft-quantum-computing-simulator/?xid=yahoo_fortune
Microsoft Simulator Brings Quantum Computing One Step Closer to the Masses
by Barb Darrow @FortuneMagazine 9:11 AM EST
On Friday, Microsoft is releasing simulation software that it says will let
academics, scientists, or even do-it-yourself eggheads simulate quantum
computing on their laptops.
The promise of quantum computing, which breaks the nuts-and-bolts of computing
down to the sub-atomic level, is that it can solve problems that go far beyond
the capabilities of even today’s most powerful computers.
The current generation of computers represent all data as ones and zeros. It’s
all a very binary, on-or-off proposition. By relying on smaller particles,
like photons or electrons, a quantum computer would be able to look at data
that can hold several contradictory states at the same time. For instance,
instead of those ones and zero, a quantum computer would deal with quantum bits
(also known as qubits), which would accommodate multiple states.
It’s a bit complicated for mere mortals to understand, but what all that means
is that quantum computers should be able to calculate certain problems—modeling
molecules for example—-much, much faster than their transistor-based forebears.
One problem with all of this work is it’s still largely theoretical.
Scientists think it will work, but the gear required to run these calculations
isn’t here yet. That’s because to keep all those wee subatomic particles in a
stable state, the equipment has to be very, very cold—100 times colder than the
temperature in outer space—according to Dave Wecker, chief architect of the
Microsoft’s quantum team, also known as QuArC.
As if that’s not difficult enough, it’s also not clear how best to state the
problems that need to be solved by quantum computers, or how to interpret those
results since this will be a whole new qubit-inspired world. That’s something
the simulator can help researchers get their minds around.
The software, which Microsoft has been using in house for some time, is called
Language-Integrated Quantum Operations, or LIQUi|> (and no, that’s not a typo).
LIQ stands for language integrated quantum, says Wecker. The vertical bar stands
for “ket” which is tech speak for the quantum state. U is the operation performed
on the quantum state and the “greater than” bracket is simply a bracket, Wecker
says.
As an example of a problem that a quantum computer could solve, Wecker cites
the creation of high-temperature superconductors. “We lose electricity on our
transmission lines. Superconductors would have no losses, but no one can build
a super conductor at anything near room temperature. We could model than on a
quantum computer and at least have the hope of solving that problem,” Wecker
says.
Ditto the creation of organic batteries, which wouldn’t have to rely on
expensive and polluting heavy metals. “We know we can build them but which
molecules do we use? There are millions. A cloud of quantum computers could
test them all out.”
Drug modeling and testing is another potentially huge use for these computers,
which explains why companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others are
investing in the field. D-Wave Systems, has its own version of a quantum
processor, one of which was just sold to Los Alamos National Laboratory.
There are also other quantum computing simulators on the market, including one
from Google for example. Wecker says the differentiator here is this is
industrial strength and academics or researchers can extend it, adding their
own quantum calculations as needed.
The simulator is 30 qubits, which requires 32 gigabytes of memory. That means
it can run on a high-end laptop or desktop. Every qubit added, he warns, will
double the memory requirement. The code means some simulations can run
locally, or if you have bigger requirements, you can turn to the cloud of your
choice—such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, or Google Cloud
Platform—-he adds, there are no restrictions on use.
The executable code, along with documentation, will be available on the Github
code repository for download. Microsoft will talk more about the simulator
next week at Supercomputing 2015 in Austin.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Everything List" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
