A multidisciplinary team of researchers including computer scientists at the University of California San Diego has been awarded a $37.5 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) for a center aimed at designing practical and self-correcting quantum computers from top to bottom, and pointing the way forward for industry to build reliable machines.
The grant, led by faculty at Yale, is one of 8 that NSF has awarded for large-scale interdisciplinary research centers known as Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes that address major challenges at the frontiers of quantum information science and technology. Read the original Yale announcement here.
"For more than four decades, NSF has been laying the foundational groundwork of research and discovery that is powering today's modern quantum computing, sensing and communication," said Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF director. "It's time for focused activities to leverage that base of knowledge to drive us even farther forward to the benefit of all Americans. The NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes are a next step for us in understanding the quantum world we live in."
Quantum computing holds the promise of solving a range of problems that are nearly impossible for classical computers. Potential applications in materials science, drug design, and more could enhance quality of life and drive economic growth. One of the main challenges, though, is that quantum machines are much more prone to error than classical machines. That’s because qubits — the units of information in quantum computing — are very fragile. In comparison, the ones and zeros of conventional computers are incredibly robust, but quantum states can easily be affected by noise and other factors in their environment.
To be reliable and practical, quantum computers must be able to detect and correct errors in these machines faster than they occur.
To that end, the research team, will launch a new effort focusing on the Physics and Engineering of Practical Quantum Error Correction (NSF PRACTIQAL), a center that brings together computer scientists, chemists, physicists, and engineers from numerous universities. NSF PRACTIQAL is focused on making advances at every level of the quantum computer, from the physical qubits and control electronics to the way algorithms are run. The center is designed to foster a community of scientists and engineers from a wide range of disciplines who can contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the hardware and software needed to realize large-scale, error-corrected quantum computing.
NSF PRACTIQAL will primarily focus on two challenges in quantum computing. One is identifying key issues that have hindered the scaling of error-corrected machines and finding ways to make quantum error correction more practical and efficient. Second, the researchers will explore the uses of specially designed qubits known as “erasure qubits.” Pioneered by members of the PRACTIQAL team, these qubits act as flags that signal exactly where and when an error has occurred.