AWS Quantum Computing Overview

© 2017, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Nick Brandaleone, Senior Solutions Architect
nbrand@amazon.com
September, 2019
Quantum Computing

Quantum Computers are real

IBM Q – System One
World first general-purpose
Commercial Quantum computer
20 qubits
Shipping in early 2019
Cloud-only

Google – 72 qubit quantum computer
IBM – 50 qubit quantum computer
Intel – 49 qubit quantum computer
Microsoft – working on software. Hardware under
development [Topological Qubits]
IonQ – ion trap Quantum processors
Rigetti – working on both software/hardware
…

Cool fact
Most Quantum computers
must be kept at 15 millikelvins
in order to achieve a superconducting
state.
This is colder than outer space

Why do I care?
Quantum computers in theory can solve
certain types of problems effectively
Impossible for normal computers,
but are not good at some tasks normal
computers do well

Noun
qubit (plural qubits)
A quantum bit
the unit of quantum information described by
a superposition of two states; a quantum bit in
a quantum computer capable of being in a state
of superposition

Quantum weirdness
Superposition is essentially the ability of a quantum system to be in multiple states
at the same time — that is, something can be “here” and “there,” or “up” and “down”
simultaneously. For us, it will be a qubit that is 0 and 1 at once.
Entanglement is an extremely strong correlation that exists between
quantum particles — so strong, in fact, that two or more quantum particles can
be inextricably linked in perfect unison, even if separated by great distances.
The particles remain perfectly correlated even if separated by great distances,
which Einstein called “spooky action at a distance”.

Don’t worry – just accept it
" I think I can safely say that nobody
understands quantum mechanics."
- Richard Feynman
During a 1981 conference co-hosted by MIT and IBM, Nobel Prize winner
Richard Feynman challenges a group of computer scientists to develop a new
breed of computers based on quantum physics

Superposition

Ultimate Parallel Computer?
A quantum computer simply returns a single randomly-selected
correct result, while a parallel computer can directly return all
valid results
However, a quantum computer can deliver the result in almost
zero time, and the number of qubits is proportional to Log(N)
Quantum supremacy – When a quantum computer can
surpass traditional computers. Estimated at 100 qubits.
Google claims to be within months to 5 years of goal.

Accuracy of Quantum Computers
Quantum measurements are probabilistic
in nature.
Each run of quantum program is typically
run 102 – 103 times. The answer is the result
with the greatest probability

How to program a quantum
computer?
Choose a simulator or an actual quantum computer
- IBM offers free access to a batch operated
Quantum computer, with 5 or 16-qubits
- Google, Microsoft, IBM, Rigetti offers SDK
for quantum computer simulations

Programming is low level
The circuit is the program
1) A programmer designs a circuit using quantum logic gates
• Put qubits into superposition state
• Put qubits into entanglement state
2) Read value of qubits at end of execution
3) Run the program 100-1000 times, and select answer
Fortunately, some algorithms have been converted
into quantum versions already

IBM example
Grover’s search algorithm [11]
QASM – Quantum Assembly Language
QISKit – Quantum Information Science Kit [Python API]

Quantum Logic Gates

Google SDK

import cirq
# define the length of the grid.
length = 3
# define qubits on the grid.
qubits = [cirq.GridQubit(i, j) for i in range(length) for j in
range(length)]
print(qubits)
# prints
# [GridQubit(0, 0), GridQubit(0, 1),… #…GridQubit(2, 1), GridQubit(2,
2)]

circuit = cirq.Circuit()
circuit.append(cirq.H.on(q) for q in qubits
if (q.row + q.col) % 2 == 0)
circuit.append(cirq.X(q) for q in qubits
if (q.row + q.col) % 2 == 1)
print(circuit)
# prints
# (0, 0): ───H───────
# (0, 1): ───────X───
# …
# (2, 1): ───────X───
# (2, 2): ───H───────

Microsoft SDK – Q#
$ dotnet new console -lang Q# --output Bell
$ cd Bell
$ code . # To open in Visual Studio Code.
Q#, a new language, is used to create the Quantum circuit
C# is used to drive the simulator

Threat to Encryption?

No
For example, factorizing a 2,000-bit number in one day,
a task believed to be intractable using classical computers,
would take 10^4 to 10^8 qubits, even if individual quantum
operations failed just once in every 10,000 operations.
We have yet to assemble digital quantum processors
with hundreds of qubits.

What are they good for?

What are they really good for?
Computational Chemistry
Supercomputers today still cannot accurately
model what happens to even the smallest
molecules
Quantum computers can
Interest: Biopharmaceutical companies

In a real sense, quantum computers do not
compute at all, but simply carry on according
to the laws of physics. The extent to which
quantum computing can revolutionize
computation depends on our finding ways to
restate computational problems in equivalent
quantum systems.

In Summary
• Quantum computers are real
• Programming is difficult and low-level. Similar to old fashioned analog
computers. New concepts and logic-gates must be utilized to create
quantum circuits. The circuit is the program
• There are very few actual Quantum Algorithms
• Near term applications are most likely chemistry, optimization and AI
• Quantum hardware and software is becoming available now, making
“real-world” deployment inevitable within the next 5 years

Thank you!

AWS Quantum Computing Overview

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