Canada-UK Quantum Technologies call: Making noisy quantum processors practical: from theory to applications

量子计算机利用量子力学系统的奇异特性来解决当前（经典）计算技术无法解决的计算问题。量子计算机优于经典计算机的最著名的任务是分解大数，这可以用来破解加密。量子计算机也天生擅长模拟量子系统，这是一个众所周知的困难的计算问题，在材料科学和药物设计中有应用。量子计算机的潜力吸引了包括b谷歌、IBM和亚马逊在内的科技巨头，以及各国政府和风险投资家的投资。量子技术已经成熟，研究人员现在可以很好地控制量子计算机的基本组成部分：量子比特（量子位）。不幸的是，最先进的量子处理器仍然会因脆弱的量子比特与环境的不必要相互作用而产生错误。在我们的项目中，我们正在开发量子算法的健壮实现，可以在当今容易出错的量子处理器上成功运行。我们的项目联合了工业界和学术界的专家，他们在量子计算方面拥有丰富的经验。该行业与两家量子软件初创企业合作：位于伦敦（英国）的Phasecraft和位于基奇纳（加拿大）的quantum Benchmark。PhaseCraft在为近期量子计算硬件设计抗错误算法方面拥有世界领先的专业知识。Quantum Benchmark是软件工具的领先提供商，用于描述不同量子处理器中发生的错误，从而深入了解不同量子处理器的功能和局限性。学术合作伙伴是滑铁卢大学、伦敦大学学院和圆周理论物理研究所。这三个都是领先的量子计算研究中心，在量子纠错和容错量子计算领域尤其有实力。总之，我们的工作将加速量子优势在工业相关问题上的展示，如量子系统的模拟。

Quantum computers harness the strange features of quantum mechanical systems in order to solve computational problems that cannot be solved using current (classical) computing technology. The most well-known task where quantum computers outperform classical computers is factoring large numbers, which can be used for breaking encryption. Quantum computers also naturally excel at simulating quantum systems, a notoriously difficult computational problem that has applications in materials science and drug design. The potential of quantum computers has attracted investments from technology giants including Google, IBM and Amazon, as well as from national governments and venture capitalists. Quantum technology has matured to the point where researchers now have excellent control over the elementary building blocks of a quantum computer: quantum bits (qubits). Unfortunately, state-of-the-art quantum processors still suffer from errors caused by unwanted interaction of the fragile qubits with their environment. In our project, we are developing robust implementations of quantum algorithms that can run successfully on today's error-prone quantum processors. Our project unites experts in industry and academia with extensive experience in quantum computing. The industrial partners two quantum software start-ups: Phasecraft, based in London (UK) and Quantum Benchmark, based in Kitchener (Canada). PhaseCraft has world-leading expertise in designing error-resilient algorithms for near-term quantum computing hardware. Quantum Benchmark is the leading provider of software tools for characterizing the errors that occur in different quantum processors, delivering a deep understanding of the capabilities and limitations of different quantum processors. The academic partners are the University of Waterloo, University College London, and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. All three are leading quantum computing research centres, with particular strength in the fields of quantum error correction and fault-tolerant quantum computing. Together, our work will hasten the demonstration of quantum advantage for industrially relevant problems such as the simulation of quantum systems.