Quantum Computing 2.0: the Next Generation

Professor Peter Drummond

Centre for Quantum and Optical Science, Swinburne University of Technology

The search for new quantum computers designed to outperform classical computers is driven by the end of Moore's law and the quantum advantages obtainable. A new generation of application-specific quantum computers has shown great promise in providing this quantum leap. One is already commercially available, and now undergoing trials at Google and NASA. This talk will discuss three novel designs being investigated at SUT, with experiments planned at Swinburne and elsewhere.
The largest quantum computer in the world is the Stanford/Tokyo Ising machine. But can it really outperform classical computers at NP-hard optimization? We discuss the physics of this novel device, and how it is theoretically modelled. An alternative hardware model is the XY machine, which uses a different type of photonic interaction, and with experiments at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Preliminary theory at SUT of a novel parametric XY machine will be given.
It is important to have quantum computers that provide both computational advantages and verifiable results. Boson sampling photonic networks are promising examples, with experiments in Oxford, Vienna, Rome and Queensland. These solve NP hard problems, which are more challenging still. We have developed both a quantum simulation of a boson sampling quantum computer, and analytic results. This gives signatures that verify the computational output.
Finally, the emulation of the quantum decay of a relativistic scalar field from a metastable state (“false vacuum decay”) is a fundamental idea in quantum field theory and cosmology. We propose that this can be simulated using an ultra-cold spinor Bose gas. This will demonstrate that an exponentially complex, high energy theoretical model can be solved on a table-top quantum computer. Movies of our simulations of the planned SUT laboratory demonstration will be given.

Back to 2016 programme