Quantum computing has captured the public’s attention due to its incredible theoretical applications, but the intensely complicated underlying physics make it difficult for even computing experts in other fields to understand. Computing researchers in other disciplines, however, have valuable knowledge to aid in the development of quantum computers. “To increase momentum in quantum system progress, we must lower the barrier to entry”, says Kaitlin N. Smith, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University. “Scientists shouldn’t be required to have an expert-level understanding of quantum mechanics to contribute their skill set to quantum computing”. Though quantum computers operate very differently from classical computers, some of the approaches used in classical […]

In 2018, CCC recognized the need for more dialogues between quantum computing experts and experts in other fields of computer science, such as compiler design, design automation, computer architecture, and programming languages. In May of 2018, the CCC held a workshop with the goal of bridging the gap between quantum computing and classical computing, and released a report in November. This report identified a number of research challenges facing the community that demand increased attention, such as   Practical quantum computing algorithms that can be deployed on intermediate-scale hardware to continue motivating investments in quantum computing research. Research on scalability and modular design of quantum systems as they are able […]

Computer scientists have been attempting to harness the power of quantum computing for over two decades. Traditional computers perform calculations sequentially, one at a time. In contrast, quantum computers leverage the unique properties of sub-atomic particles, such as existing in multiple places simultaneously and demonstrating instantaneous connections across vast distances to successfully transfer quantum information between computer chips at unprecedented speeds and accuracy. So far, institutions such as Google, IBM and Microsoft have only been able to achieve simple quantum machines. A new breakthrough development in quantum, led by Professor Winfried Hensinger of Sussex University and highlighted in a recent BBC article, promises to move the needle closer to harnessing […]

Khari Douglas will be covering the 8th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) on the CCC blog all week. Stay tuned and check out the HLF blog for more coverage of the event.  On the opening day of the 8th Heidelberg Laureate Forum, Scott Aaronson, winner of the 2020 ACM Prize in Computing, discussed the recent advancements in quantum computing and the impact that “quantum supremacy” could have on the future of computing. Aaronson described quantum mechanics as the operating system of the universe, through which everything in nature runs as an application program. As Aaronson explained, the state of any isolated physical system can be shown as a unit vector of complex numbers […]

Drs. Travis Humble (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and Himanshu Thapliyal (University of Kentucky) have released a call for papers to participate in the upcoming 2nd International Workshop on Quantum Computing: Circuits Systems Automation and Applications (QC-CSAA). The workshop is taking place July 7-9, 2021 in Tampa, Florida in conjunction with the ISVLSI 2021.  The 2021 ISVLSI Symposium “explores emerging trends and novel ideas and concepts covering a broad range of topics in the area of VLSI: from VLSI circuits, systems and design methods, to system level design issues, to bringing VLSI design to new areas and technologies such as nano- and molecular devices, security, artificial intelligence, and Internet-of-Things, etc. Future […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) recently released the Thermodynamic Computing workshop report, the output of the CCC’s January 2019 visioning workshop of the same name. The workshop was organized by Tom Conte (Georgia Tech), Erik DeBenedictis (former Sandia National Laboratories), Natesh Ganesh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Todd Hylton (UC San Diego), Susanne Still (University of Hawaii), John Paul Strachan (Hewlett Packard Lab HPE), R. Stanley Williams (Texas A&M). It brought together physical theorists, electrical and computer engineers, electronic/ionic device researchers, and theoretical biologists to explore a novel idea: computing as an open thermodynamic system. The report begins by explaining the need for thermodynamic computers: with the end of Moore’s Law and Dennard […]