Ptak Associates Tech Blog: Quantum Computing - act now for tomorrow’s advantage

By Rich Ptak

We’ve been spending more time with quantum computing (QC) vendors lately. Partially because we find QC to be fascinating and intellectually challenging and partially and somewhat more importantly, because we’ve concluded that the time for enterprises to start educating some employees on and about quantum computing is now.

The number of enterprises, institutions and individuals involved in quantum computing has increased dramatically over the last year. Enterprises that delay team development and education will be seriously handicapped when QC becomes a commercial reality. We discuss Rigetti Computing [1] one of two firms currently providing public access to real quantum computers.

There exists a global competition to capitalize on the potential power of quantum computing. This includes major efforts in Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, and UK. (China is arguably furthest along with its $11Billion budget for a new QC research center.) In December 2018, the US Congress and President Trump authorized some $1.2B for coordinating quantum research and development efforts. This is in addition to a Department of Energy $218 Million project budget.

Yes, we know that the actual day of a fully commercialized quantum computer lies in the somewhat hazy future. And, yes it remains important to maintain focus on today’s rapidly evolving, global competition and the technical challenges and benefits to be realized with proper application of AI, blockchain, etc.

All that said, you really need to start preparing for that ‘hazy day in the future’. Because, visible progress is being made from theory toward practical application. The fact is solution providers and developers face a significant learning curve to acquire the quantum computing understanding they need to effectively leverage quantum computer systems for commercial applications. Quantum computing systems require a radical change in thinking from current DevOps in order to effectively apply quantum systems in a useful way.

What’s going on

For now, we think Rigetti provides sufficiently significant differentiation to make them interesting and a particularly attractive partner for an introduction to quantum computing.

Figure 1 Rigetti Quantum Cloud Service model

Rigetti Computing stands out from most of the quantum computing field for a number of reasons. Here are a few that caught our attention:

1. Pragmatic, action-oriented focus – organized and dedicated to deliver pragmatic, productive entrepreneur- and user-oriented systems, services and solutions. Experimentation and knowledge advancement shared with and through the network of research and engineering partners with marketability the goal.

2. Engineering and research & development operate in parallel – Closer interaction allows them to more rapidly engineer and integrate research advances into the production process. Thus engineering (pragmatic, production oriented) and development (leading-edge in knowledge and access) complement and support each other. This operational model allows Rigetti to more efficiently develop and distribute custom circuits and production-oriented tools; the intent is to advance not only the knowledge and understanding of quantum computing, but to increase and facilitate access to quantum computing on its the path to full commercialization and problem resolution.

3. Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services – will help users as they develop and run their models and algorithms on Rigetti’s quantum-classical hybrid computers. They currently have 2-16 qubit computers, will increase to 32 qubits later this year and plan 128 qubits within 18 months.

4. Training and mentorship program – targeted to aid early career engineers and technicians with internship get quantum computing experience via their Junior Quantum Engineer (JQE) program.

5. Rigetti Quantum Advantage Prize – of $1M for developing an algorithm that when run on Rigetti’s QCS platform, will either reach a faster solution time, improve the quality of the solution or at a lower cost compared to the best classical algorithm.

Figure 2 Rigetti Full Stack capability

Rigetti’s success is seen in the demonstrable evolution of full-stack systems, strong support services and a growing library of shared apps for solution development. Figure 2. Their In-house foundry facilitates rapid (4-6 week) turn-around (design-to-delivery) of customized integrated circuit boards.

Rigetti is one of only two vendors providing widespread direct public access to their quantum systems. Their unique access model gives users exclusive real-time access to Rigetti’s quantum-classical system. Rigetti users schedule sessions on quantum-classical systems. Users load their experiments/apps onto classical computers co-located with the quantum system; then have dedicated, uninterrupted access to the quantum processor during their scheduled session. Notable also because the job is not queued nor submitted remotely; but run as a dedicated real-time job. This allows more experiments or iterations of experiments to be run. Local access also eliminates remote access induced delays. Rigetti support service teams are available to work with customers if they desire.

One more observation, we found Rigetti documentation and writing to be clear and concise. Of course, there are deeply detailed, highly technical articles which communicate experimental details with great precision. Most of which is distinctly unhelpful during the very early part of an introduction to aspiring developers or engineers interested in learning about quantum computing. Rigetti staff understand the necessity for clear, concise communication and they deliver just that. Kudos to them.

Recommendations

Significant effort and investments in quantum computing are currently underway worldwide. All manner of institutions, aerospace, energy, even retailers have organized teams at work. Through networks, partnerships and cooperative arrangements, these teams are working to develop applications usable in chemistry (modeling), financial (risk analysis), medicine, artificial intelligence(AI)/machine learning (ML) as they work to optimize existing and develop quantum unique algorithms.

Finally, the reality of global competition increases the importance of technological leadership in quantum computing. Those who lag in quantum knowledge and expertise will find themselves at a significant competitive disadvantage. Multiple efforts are underway to accelerate the maturation of application development tools beyond esoteric physics and quantum mechanics for use by a wider audience.

It is critical to act today to facilitate the growth of a larger, dispersed base of quantum knowledgeable and quantum-literate staff. Some will be early adopters while others will actually pioneer the earliest at commercialization of a quantum advantage. Those that put off acquiring any knowledge in this area, will find themselves at a serious competitive disadvantage when full quantum commercialization arrives.

[1] Find more info on Rigetti here: https://www.rigetti.com/

[2] Find more info here: https://www.research.ibm.com/ibm-q/

[3] Find more info here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/quantum

[4] Find more info here: https://www.dwavesys.com/quantum-computing

[5] Find more info here: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/introducing-qc2-the-quantum-compute-cloud/

[6] Our comments on: IBM: https://ptakassociates.blogspot.com/2018/03/speeding-advancement-of-quantum.html