Quantum information processing with superconducting circuits: a perspective

Abstract

The last five years have seen a dramatic evolution of platforms for quantum computing, taking the field from physics experiments to quantum hardware and software engineering. Nevertheless, despite this progress of quantum processors, the field is still in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) regime, seriously limiting the performance of software applications. Key issues involve how to achieve quantum advantage in useful applications for quantum optimization and materials science, connected to the concept of quantum supremacy first demonstrated by Google in 2019. In this article we will describe recent work to establish relevant benchmarks for quantum supremacy and quantum advantage, present recent work on applications of variational quantum algorithms for optimization and electronic structure determination, discuss how to achieve practical quantum advantage, and finally outline current work and ideas about how to scale up to competitive quantum systems.

Quafu-RL: The cloud quantum computers based quantum reinforcement learning

“…[4,5] With the obstacle of constructing ideal quantum processing units (QPUs) in the short term, a current trend indicates that it is necessary to build hybrid quantum-classical infrastructures to explore useful applications while making efforts to scale up QPUs. [6] Quantum computing clouds such as IBMQ, Amazon Bracket, and Quafu [7] serve as bridges to connect developers in quantum software applications with advanced quantum computers in the NISQ era. Although quantum computing is promising to solve some intractable classical NP-hard problems, deficient quantum devices nowadays favorably excel at hybrid algorithms leveraging both quantum circuits and classical computing.…”

Observation of Josephson Harmonics in Tunnel Junctions

“…Tunnel Josephson junctions (JJs), formed by two overlapping superconducting films separated by a thin insulating barrier, have enabled superconducting hardware to become one of the leading platforms for the realization of fault-tolerant quantum computers [1][2][3][4]. JJs are also at the heart of metrological applications [5], such as the definition of the voltage [6] and current standard [7], quantum limited amplification [8], and they enable quantum detectors such as the microwave photon counter [9].…”