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Taiwan connects its first home-grown quantum computer to the internet

(2024/01/24)


Taiwanese research institute Academia Sinica has connected a home-brew quantum computer to the internet.

A January 19 [1]announcement of the connection reveals that the machine has five qubits and is available as a test bed for the university's project collaborators, with other researchers able to use it as a development platform for their own efforts using the machine's ultra-low temperature CMOS and parametric amplifiers. Collaborators include the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, so this machine's success may assist US quantum development efforts.

The machine has already had an upgrade from three to five qubits, the announcement states, adding that cubit logic gate fidelity was measured at 99.9 percent – which suggests the computer is nicely stable.

[2]

Details of the machine's operating environment are absent in the University's statement, which focused on its strategic significance as a sign of progress in the drive to develop the island's quantum capabilities.

[3]JPMorgan latest to pile into quantum upstart with $5B valuation

[4]Quantum computing eggheads throw some other qubits at the wall to see what sticks

[5]Quantum computing next (very) cold war? US House reps want to blow billions to outrun China

[6]It's not just spin – boffins give quantum computing a room-temp makeover

Taiwan has, of course, famously come to lead the world in semiconductor manufacturing. Framers of the island's aggressive industry policy will not have missed the likelihood that the rise of quantum systems may make its silicon prowess less relevant.

Indeed, local media yesterday [7]reported that Taiwan's Semiconductor Research Institute has gone shopping for a five-qubit machine from Finland's IQM – manufacturer of a machine called the [8]Spark which matches that spec.

[9]

The Spark is billed as "An affordably priced 5-qubit superconducting quantum computer, professionally designed and calibrated as a turnkey solution." That makes it sound a little more mature and easy to deploy than Academia Sinica's effort which, as illustrated below, has a few rough edges. ®

[10]

Academica Sinica Quantum Computer – Click to enlarge

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[1] https://www.sinica.edu.tw/News_Content/55/2256

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZbCZehmsAApIVysfyA@z5AAAAYU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/16/jpmorgan_quantum_banking/

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/11/riken_ion_qubits_quantinuum/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/07/us_lawmakers_quantum/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/16/novel_quantum_approaches/

[7] https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20240122PD226/taiwan-quantum-computer-finland-iqm.html

[8] https://meetiqm.com/products/iqm-spark/

[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZbCZehmsAApIVysfyA@z5AAAAYU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[10] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/01/24/supplied_academica_sinica_quantum_computer_small.jpg

[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/



Brief History Of Linux (#14)
Military Intelligence: Not an oxymoron in 1969

It was the Department Of Defense that commissioned the ARPANET in 1969, a
rare example of the US military breaking away from its official motto,
"The Leading Edge Of Yesterday's Technology(tm)".

In the years leading up to 1969, packet switching technology had evolved
enough to make the ARPANET possible. Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc.
received the ARPA contract in 1968 for packet switching "Interface Message
Processors". US Senator Edward Kennedy, always on the ball, sent a
telegram to BBN praising them for their non-denominational "Interfaith"
Message Processors, an act unsurpassed by elected representatives until Al
Gore invented the Internet years later.

While ARPANET started with only four nodes in 1969, it evolved rapidly.
Email was first used in 1971; by 1975 the first mailing list, MsgGroup,
was created by Steve Walker when he sent a "First post!" messages to it.
In 1979 all productive use of ARPANET ceased when USENET and the first MUD
were created. In 1983, when the network surpassed 1,000 hosts, a study
showed that 90.4% of all traffic was devoted to email and USENET flame wars.