Every year, The IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering – or IEEE Quantum Week – brings together engineers, scientists, researchers, students, and others to learn about advancements in quantum computing.

At this year’s conference from September 15^th – 20^th, the Quantinuum team shared insights on how we are forging the path to fault-tolerant quantum computing with our integrated full-stack. Check out our CEO, Dr. Rajeeb Hazra's keynote address to discover how Quantinuum will deliver universal, fully fault-tolerant quantum computing by the end of the decade: 

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The below sessions will be available to view on-demand soon. Stay tuned to learn about recent upgrades to our hardware, our path to error correction, enhancements to our open-source toolkits, and more.

Sunday, September 15

Workshop: Towards Error Correction within Modular Quantum Computing Architectures‍

Speaker: Henry Semenenko, Senior Advanced Optics Engineer

Time: 10:00 – 16:30

QSEEC: High schoolers excel at Oxford post-graduate quantum exam: experimental evidence in support of quantum picturalism

Speakers: Bob Coecke, Chief Scientist, chaired by Lia Yeh, Research Engineer, who is chair of Quantum in K-12 and Quantum Understanding sessions

Time: 13:00 – 13:15

Monday, September 16

Birds of a Feather: AI in Quantum Computing

Speaker: Josh Savory, Director of Offering Management, Hardware and Cloud Platform Products

Time: 10:00 – 11:30

Tutorial: Using and benefiting from Quantinuum H-Series quantum computers’ unique features

Speakers: Irfan Khan, Senior Application Engineer, and Shival Dasu, Advanced Physicist

Time: 13:00 – 16:30

Tuesday, September 17

Workshop: Applications Explored on H-Series Quantum Hardware

Speakers: Michael Foss-Feig, Principal Physicist, and Nathan Fitzpatrick, Senior Research Scientist

Time: 10:00 – 16:30

Panel: How Microsoft and Quantinuum built on decades of research to achieve the most reliable logical qubits on record

Speakers: Josh Savory, Director of Offering Management, Hardware and Cloud Platform Products, and David Hayes, Senior R&D Manager for the theory and architecture groups

Time: 10:00 – 11:30

Panel: The Role of Error Suppression, Mitigation and Correction in Reaching the First Algorithmic Quantum Advantages

Speaker: Michael Foss-Feig, Principal Physicist

Time: 15:00 – 16:30

Thursday, September 19

Keynote: Quantinuum H-Series: Advancing Quantum Computing to Scalable Fault-Tolerant Systems

Speaker: Rajeeb Hazra, President & Chief Executive Officer

Time: 8:00 – 9:00

Workshop: Current Progress and Remaining Challenges in Scaling Trapped-Ion Quantum Computing

Speaker: Robert Delaney, Advanced Physicist

Time: 10:00 – 16:30

Tutorial: From Quantum in Pictures to Interpretable Quantum NLP

Speakers: Bob Coecke, Chief Scientist, and Lia Yeh, Research Engineer

Time: 13:00 – 16:30

Workshop: Quantum Software 2.0: Enabling Large-scale and Performant Quantum Computing

Speaker: Kartik Singhal, Quantum Compiler Engineer

Time: 10:00 – 16:30

Birds of a Feather: Navigating the Quantum Computing Journey: Student to Professional Opportunities

Speaker: Lia Yeh

Time: 10:00 – 11:30

Friday, September 20

Workshop: Academic and professional training in quantum computing: the importance of open-source

Speaker: Lia Yeh, Research Engineer

Time: 10:00 – 16:30

Panel: What Does “Break Even” Mean?

Speaker: David Hayes, Senior R&D Manager for the theory and architecture groups

Time: 10:00 – 11:30

*All sessions are listed in Montreal time, Eastern Daylight Time

Quantinuum is excited to introduce the beta availability of Quantinuum Nexus, our comprehensive quantum computing platform. Nexus is built to simplify quantum computing workflows with its expert design and full-stack support. We are inviting quantum users to apply for beta availability; accepted users can work closely with Quantinuum on how Nexus can be adopted and customized for you.

Nexus was developed by our in-house quantum experts to streamline the deployment of quantum algorithms. From tackling common tasks like installing packages and libraries to addressing pain points like setting up storage, Nexus seamlessly integrates thoughtful details to enhance user experience. 

Run, track, and manage your usage

Nexus allows users to run, track, and manage resources across multiple quantum backends, making it easier for researchers to directly compare results and processes when using our H-Series hardware or other providers. Additionally, Nexus features a cloud-hosted and preconfigured JupyterHub environment and dedicated simulators - most notably, the Quantinuum H-Series emulator. Nexus’ emulator integration means that new users and organizations that don’t have access to H-Series hardware can start experimenting with H-Series capabilities right away.

Full-stack mindset

Quantinuum Nexus is at the core of our full stack, integrated fully with our H-Series Quantum Processor, our software offerings such as InQuanto™, and our H-Series emulators. Nexus is also back-end inclusive, interfacing with multiple other hardware and simulation backends. In the future, we will be introducing new cutting-edge tools such as a more powerful cloud-based version of our compiler, powered by version 2 of TKET.

Nexus also stores everything you need to recreate your experiment in one place – meaning a full snapshot of the backend, the settings and variables you used, and more. Combined with easy data sharing and storage, you can stop worrying about the logistics of data management. You’re in control of how you structure your data, how you track what’s most important to you, and who gets to see it.

Tools for Administrators

Administrators benefit from resource controls within Nexus, allowing them to manage user access, create user groups, and update usage quotas to match their priorities. With multiple backend support, administrators can track jobs and usage for all their quantum resource in one platform. Advanced usage visualization allows administrators to quickly gain insight from historical trends in usage. Nexus also features collaboration tools that give users the ability to share data, as well as access controls that allow administrators to ensure this is done securely.

Why Quantinuum Nexus?

Users, developers, and administrators have several options when it comes to selecting a platform for managing quantum resources. So why Nexus? Quantinuum Nexus was built by quantum experts, for quantum experts. Our experiment management and cataloging system makes us stand out as the best platform for collaborating between scientific teams. Our provision of the H-Series emulator in the cloud means you get more access to the emulator of one of the world's best devices with less time in the queue, so you can spend more time with your results. Our quantum chemistry package InQuanto™ is integrated into Nexus, meaning zero setup time with easy data storage in our managed environment.

Nexus provides a consistent API for working with a range of quantum devices & tools. This improves the experience of our end users, as scripts that work for one device can easily be ported to other devices with only a change to the config. The Nexus API interface also improves integration with 3^rd party partners by providing them a programmatic way to access Quantinuum tools, alongside a pathway for integrating these resources into their own tools for redistribution.

With Nexus, Quantinuum is setting a new standard in quantum Platform-as-a-Service providers, empowering users with cutting-edge tools and seamless integration for quantum computing advancements.

Communication is the connective tissue of society, weaving individuals into groups and communities and mediating the progress and development of culture. The technology of communications evolves continuously, occasionally undergoing paradigm shifts such as those brought about by the Gutenberg press and broadcast television.

From historical examples such as the proliferation of fast merchant trading ships, to the modern telecommunications networks spread across the world via a web of cables buried under the sea floor and satellites thousands of kilometres high, the need for better communication infrastructure has driven some of our most ambitious technologies to date. 

Today, emerging quantum technologies are poised to revolutionise the field of communication once again. They promise new and incredibly valuable opportunities for dependable and secure communications between people, communities, companies, and governments everywhere. Our ability to understand and control quantum systems has opened a new world of exciting possibilities. Soon we might build long-distance quantum communication links and networks, eventually leading to what is known as the quantum internet. 

While some embryonic quantum communication systems are already in place, realisation of their full potential will require significant technological advances. With engineering teams around the world working at pace to deliver this promise across industrial sectors, the need to invest in expert knowledge is rising. 

NASA has been a pioneer in space-based communication over many decades, and more recently has emerged as a leader in space-based quantum communication, dedicating new resources for scientists, engineers and communication systems experts to learn about the field.

Recently, NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program commissioned a booklet titled Quantum Communication 101, authored by several of our team at Quantinuum. This will be a go-to resource for the global community of scientists and experts that NASA supports, but importantly it has been written so that it requires almost no prior technical knowledge while providing a rigorous account of the emerging field of quantum communications.

What follows is a taster of what’s in Quantum Communication 101.

What is quantum communication?

For the words I am typing now to reach your computer screen, I need to rely on modern communication networks. My laptop memory, Wi-Fi router and communication channels rely on the physics of things like transistors, currents, and radio waves which obey the more familiar, “classical" laws of physics. 

The field of quantum communication, however, relies on the counterintuitive rules of quantum physics. Thanks to incredible feats of engineering, in place of continuous beams of light from diodes, we can now control individual photons to send and receive quantum information. By taking advantage of the peculiar quantum phenomena that they exhibit, like superposition and entanglement, new possibilities are emerging which were previously unimaginable. 

Cutting-edge applications 

In the growing landscape of potential applications in quantum communication, cybersecurity is already deeply rooted. At Quantinuum, for example, quantum computers are used to generate randomness, the fundamental building block of secure encryption. Elsewhere, prototype quantum networks for secure communications already span metropolitan areas. 

As our techniques in quantum communication advance, we may unlock new possibilities in quantum computing, which promises to solve problems too difficult even for supercomputers, and quantum metrology, which will enable measurements at an unprecedented precision. Quantum states of light have already been used in LIGO - a large-scale experiment operated by CalTech and MIT to detect ripples in the fabric of space-time itself.

Connecting the dots: towards a quantum internet 

The end goal of quantum communication is what many refer to as the quantum internet, through which we will seamlessly send quantum signals across many quantum networks. This will be an enormous engineering challenge, requiring international collaboration and the evolution of our existing infrastructure.

Although the exact form that this network will take is yet unknown, we can say with confidence that it will need to pass through space. Much like satellites help to globally connect the Internet, the launch of quantum-capable satellites will play a vital role in a global quantum internet. 

Building a quantum ecosystem

The path to a quantum internet will depend on growing a diverse and expert workforce. This is well understood by bodies such as the National Science Foundation who recently announced a $5.1M Center for Quantum Networks aimed at architecting the quantum internet. Over the last few years, we have seen growing investment worldwide, such as the $1.1B Quantum Technology Flagship in Europe and the $11B Chinese National Laboratory for Quantum Information Science. Important industrial investments are being made by large corporations such as IBM, Google, Intel, Honeywell, Cisco, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Amongst this surge in interest, NASA’s SCaN program has proposed a series of mission concepts for building and testing infrastructure for space-based quantum communication. These include launching satellites capable of sending and receiving quantum signals between ground stations and eventually other satellites. These quantum signals may be entangled photons – a feature that will play an extremely important role in future networks. One such mission concept is shown below, where a quantum-capable satellite with a source of entangled photons connects an intercontinental quantum network.

The second quantum revolution is at an exciting precipice where our ability to transmit quantum information, both on Earth and in space, will be pivotal. Whilst our evolving quantum technologies already show a great deal of promise, it is perhaps the ground-breaking applications that we are yet to discover which will ultimately determine our success. 

It is more important than ever that we support education and collaboration in advancing quantum technologies. Quantum Communication 101 aims to be a starting point for a general audience looking to learn about the topic for the first time, as well as those who wish to explore in detail the technologies that will make the first quantum networks a reality.

‍If you would like to better understand the exciting prospects of quantum communication, you can find the Quantum Communication 101 booklet on the NASA SCaN website. 

Quantum computing promises to help us understand chemistry in its purest form – ultimately leading to a better understanding of everything from drug development to superconductors. But before we can do any of that, researchers in computational quantum chemistry have to create the basic building blocks for understanding a chemical system: they must prepare the initial state of a system, apply various effects to the system through time, then measure the resulting output. 

The first problem, called “state preparation” is a tricky one – researchers have been leaning heavily on “variational” techniques to do this, but those techniques come with huge optimization costs in addition to serious scaling issues for larger systems. An older technique, called “adiabatic state preparation” promises significant speedups on quantum computers vs classical computers, but has been mostly abandoned by researchers because the typical method used for time evolution is costly and introduces too much noise. This method, called “Trotterized adiabatic time evolution”, involves splitting up time into discrete steps, which requires many, many gates, and ultimately needs error rates well out of reach for any near-term quantum computer.

Recently, researchers at Quantinuum found a way around that roadblock – they eliminated the noisy time evolution in favor of a clever averaging approach. Rather than taking a bunch of discrete time steps they simulate different interactions such that on average you get exactly the right time evolution. A nice aspect of this approach is that it has guaranteed “convergence” – ultimately this means that, unlike other approaches, it works all the time. This new approach has also been shown to be possible on near-term quantum computers: it does not require too many gates or computational time, and it scales well with the system size. 

This algorithm is designed with Quantinuum’s world-leading hardware in mind, as it requires all-to-all connectivity. Combined with our industry-leading gate fidelities, this new approach is opening the door to many fascinating applications in chemistry, physics, and beyond.

For a quantum computer to be useful, it must be universal, have lots of qubits, and be able to detect and correct errors. The error correction step must be done so well that in the final calculations, you only see an error in less than one in a billion (or maybe even one in a trillion) tries. Correcting errors on a quantum computer is quite tricky, and most current error correcting schemes are quite expensive for quantum computers to run.

We’ve teamed up with researchers at the University of Colorado to make error correction a little easier – bringing the era of quantum ‘fault tolerance’ closer to reality. Current approaches to error correction involve encoding the quantum information of one qubit into several entangled qubits (called a “logical” qubit). Most of the encoding schemes (called a “code”) in use today are relatively inefficient – they can only make one logical qubit out of a set of physical qubits. As we mentioned earlier, we want lots of error corrected qubits in our machines, so this is highly suboptimal – a “low encoding rate” means that you need many, many more physical qubits to realize a machine with lots of error corrected logical qubits.

Ideally, our computers will have “high-rate” codes (meaning that you get more logical qubits per physical qubit), and researchers have identified promising schemes known as “non-local qLDPC codes”. This type of code has been discussed theoretically for years, but until now had never been realized in practice. In a new paper on the arXiv, the joint team has implemented a high rate non-local qLDPC code on our H2 quantum processor, with impressive results. 

The team used the code to create 4 error protected (logical) qubits, then entangled them in a “GHZ state” with better fidelity than doing the same operation on physical qubits – meaning that the error protection code improved fidelity in a difficult entangling operation. The team chose to encode a GHZ state because it is widely used as a system-level benchmark, and its better-than-physical logical preparation marks a highly mature system.

It is worth noting that this remarkable accomplishment was achieved with a very small team, half of whom do not have specialized knowledge about the underlying physics of our processors. Our hardware and software stack are now so mature that advances can be achieved by “quantum programmers” who don’t need advanced quantum hardware knowledge, and who can run their programs on a commercial machine between commercial jobs. This places us bounds ahead of the competition in terms of accessibility and reliability.

This paper marks the first time anyone has entangled 4 logical qubits with better fidelity than the physical analog. This work is in strong synergy with our recent announcement in partnership with Microsoft, where we demonstrated logical fidelities better than physical fidelities on entangled bell pairs and demonstrated multiple rounds of error correction. These results with two different codes underscore how we are moving into the era of fault-tolerance ahead of the competition.

The code used in this paper is significantly more optimized for architectures capable of moving the qubits around, like ours. In practice, this means that we are capable of “non-local” gates and reconfigurability. A big advantage in particular is that some of the critical operations amount to a simple relabeling of the individual qubits, which is virtually error-free.

The biggest advantage, however, is in this code’s very high encoding rate. Unlike many codes in use today, this code offers a very high rate of logical qubits per physical qubit – in fact, the number of logical qubits is proportional to the number of physical qubits, which will allow our machines to scale much more quickly than more traditional codes that have a hard limit on the number of logical qubits one can get in each code block. This is yet another proof point that our machines will scale effectively and quickly.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that have recently permeated our lives have a serious problem: they are built in a way that makes them very hard - and sometimes impossible - to understand or interpret. Luckily, our team is tackling this problem, and we’ve just published a new paper that covers the issue in detail.

It turns out that the lack of explainability in machine learning (ML) models, such as ChatGPT or Claude, comes from the way that the systems are built. Their underlying architecture (a neural network) lacks coherent structure. While neural networks can be trained to effectively solve certain tasks, the way they do it is largely (or, from a practical standpoint, almost wholly) inaccessible. This absence of interpretability in modern ML is increasingly a major concern in sensitive areas where accountability is required, such as in finance and the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. The “interpretability problem in AI” is therefore a topic of grave worry for large swathes of the corporate and enterprise sector, regulators, lawmakers, and the general public. 

These concerns have given birth to the field of eXplainable AI, or XAI, which attempts to solve the interpretability problem through so-called ‘post-hoc’ techniques (where one takes a trained AI model and aims to give explanations for either its overall behavior or individual outputs). This approach, while still evolving, has its own issues due to the approximate nature and fundamental limitations of post-hoc techniques.  

The second approach to the interpretability problem is to employ new ML models that are, by design, inherently interpretable from the start. Such an interpretable AI model comes with explicit structure which is meaningful to us “from the outside”. Realizing this in the tech we use every day means completely redesigning how machines learn - creating a new paradigm in AI. As Sean Tull, one of the authors of the paper, stated: “In the best case, such intrinsically interpretable models would no longer even require XAI methods, serving instead as their own explanation, and one of a deeper kind.”

At Quantinuum, we’re continuing work to develop new paradigms in AI while also working to sharpen theoretical and foundational tools that allow us all to assess the interpretability of a given model. In our recent paper, we present a new theoretical framework for both defining AI models and analyzing their interpretability. With this framework, we show how advantageous it is for an AI model to have explicit and meaningful compositional structure.

The idea of composition is explored in a rigorous way using a mathematical approach called “category theory”, which is a language that describes processes and their composition. The category theory approach to interpretability can be accomplished via a graphical calculus which was also developed in part by Quantinuum scientists, and which is finding use cases in everything from gravity to quantum computing. 

A fundamental problem in the field of XAI has been that many terms have not been rigorously defined, making it difficult to study - let alone discuss - interpretability in AI. Our paper presents the first known theoretical framework for assessing the compositional interpretability of AI models. With our team’s work, we now have a precise and mathematically defined definition of interpretability that allows us to have these critical conversations.    

After developing the framework, our team used it to analyze the full spectrum of ML approaches. We started with Transformers (the “T” in ChatGPT), which are not interpretable – pointing to a serious issue in some of the world’s most widely used ML tools. This is in contrast with (sparse) linear models and decision trees, which we found are indeed inherently interpretable, as they are usually described.  

Our team was also able to make precise how other ML models were what they call 'compositionally interpretable'. These include models already studied by our own scientists including DisCo NLP models, causal models, and conceptual space models.    

Many of the models discussed in this paper are classical, but more broadly the use of category theory and string diagrams makes these tools very well suited to analyzing quantum models for machine learning. In addition to helping the broader field accurately assess the interpretability of various ML models, the seminal work in this paper will help us to develop systems that are interpretable by design. 

This work is part of our broader AI strategy, which includes using AI to improve quantum computing, using quantum computers to improve AI, and – in this case - using the tools of category theory and compositionality to help us better understand AI.