Zapata Computing and KAUST Partner to Bring Quantum Computing to the Middle East for the Advancement of Computational Fluid Dynamics

[The SC]

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Zapata Computing and KAUST Partner to Bring Quantum Computing to the Middle East for the Advancement of Computational Fluid Dynamics

Using Zapata’s quantum workflows platform, Orquestra®, KAUST will explore how quantum computing can simulate and optimize the aerodynamic design process for vehicles
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March 23, 2021


BOSTON, March 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zapata Computing, Inc., the leading enterprise software company for NISQ-based quantum applications, today announced a new partnership with Middle East-based King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to be a licensed user of Zapata’s Orquestra®, the modular, workflow-based platform for applied quantum computing. KAUST is examining various lines of research to determine how quantum technologies could represent an advantage over classical compute tools in a variety of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) use cases for airplane and automobile aerodynamic design.


Currently, CFD computations are extremely time-consuming and expensive to run. The simulation process is inefficient, and a lot of time is wasted trying to model air flow around wings and engines more efficiently. Boosting work around those designs could allow manufacturers to build more energy-efficient airplanes and lead to lowered carbon emissions for air travel – therefore, having an enormous positive impact on the environment. Airplane transportation is overall responsible for 2% of greenhouse gas emissions. For airlines and plane manufacturers this could drive meaningful financial and environmental results – all supported by new quantum technology.


Home to the KAUST Research and Technology Park (KRTP) where R&D centers, corporates and start-ups choose to locate themselves, the university has a track record of collaborating with industry partners at national and international levels to transfer research-based technology into the market to achieve public benefit.


“We are delighted to be the catalyst for bringing quantum capabilities to CFD research in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to the Middle East,” said Kevin Cullen, vice president of Innovation and Economic Development at KAUST. “This partnership establishes Zapata as one of the first quantum computing companies active in the region and will enable KAUST researchers to explore the future of aerospace fluid dynamics. KAUST is a leader in the areas of data analysis and AI and we welcome the addition of Zapata’s Orquestra technology to our capabilities, in order to accelerate discovery and innovation in these fields.”


Zapata’s Orquestra platform improves data analytics performance, empowering companies and research organizations to build quantum-enabled workflows®, execute them across the full range of quantum and classical devices, and then collect and analyze resulting data. With Orquestra, organizations can leverage quantum capabilities to generate augmented data sets, speed up data analysis, and construct better data models for a range of applications. Importantly, it provides organizations with the most flexible, applied toolset in quantum computing so that its users can build quantum capabilities without getting locked in with a single vendor or architecture in the next several years.


“We are always looking to expand quantum computing use cases through Orquestra and our work with KAUST will give us a head start to explore new opportunities for more efficient CFD,” said Christopher Savoie, co-founder and CEO, Zapata. “The collaboration with KAUST will benefit the aerospace industry as a whole by using quantum to bring efficiency to what has historically been a slow and difficult process.”

About Zapata Computing

Zapata Computing, Inc. builds quantum-ready applications™ for enterprise deployment through our flagship product Orquestra® – the only workflow-based toolset for enterprise quantum computing. Zapata has pioneered a new quantum-classical development and deployment paradigm that focuses on a range of use cases, including ML, optimization and simulation. Orquestra integrates best-in-class classical and quantum technologies including Zapata's leading-edge algorithms, open-source libraries in Python and Julia, and more. Zapata partners closely with hardware providers across the quantum ecosystem such as Amazon, Google, Honeywell, IBM, IonQ, Microsoft and Rigetti. Investors include BASF Venture Capital, Honeywell Ventures, Itochu Corporation and Merck Global Health.

For more information visit www.ZapataComputing.com and www.Orquestra.io.

About KAUST

Established in 2009, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a graduate research university devoted to finding solutions for some of the world’s most pressing scientific and technological challenges in the areas of food, water, energy and the environment. With 19 research areas related to these themes and state of the art labs, KAUST has created a collaborative and interdisciplinary problem-solving environment, which has resulted in over 11,000 published papers to date.

With over 100 different nationalities living, working and studying on campus, KAUST has brought together the best minds and ideas from around the world with the goal of advancing science and technology through distinctive and collaborative research. KAUST is a catalyst for innovation, economic development and social prosperity in Saudi Arabia and the world. For additional information, visit: www.Kaust.edu.sa

http://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...ancement-of-Computational-Fluid-Dynamics.html

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Middle East countries accelerate quantum computing research

29 Mar 2019

Gulf countries must invest in quantum computing research to ensure they continue to to remain digital pioneers

Universities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have launched quantum computing research groups to cultivate homegrown knowledge of the tech that is set to transform the world.

Quantum computing, if practical, would mark a leap forward in computing capability far greater than that from the abacus to a modern day supercomputer.

A quantum computer would use quantum mechanics to process huge amounts of data through its ability to be in multiple states, and perform computations in powerful new ways not possible with today’s conventional computers.

According to Simone Vernacchia, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Middle East, there are many potential applications for quantum computing in key industries in the region.

“Quantum computing can boost AI [artificial intelligence] performance to an unprecedented level. It can optimise manufacturing plants, energy research, weather research, energy efficiency, investment, and facilitate near real-time automation of complex decision-making,” said Vernacchia.

According to Wes Schwalje, COO at Dubai-based research firm Tahseen Consulting, innovations in AI and machine learning will be of “particular interest” in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

“As a logistics and aviation hub, quantum computing can be used in routing, optimising manufacturing, and in developing advanced materials,” he said.

“Combining leadership in blockchain with quantum computing could solidify the global position of several of the cities in the region as financial hubs into the future.”

Early partnerships

While the global quantum computing ecosystem is still in its infancy, the UAE is reaching out to global tech giants to form early-stage partnerships. Big US IT companies such as IBM, Google and Microsoft are investing in research into quantum computing.

The UAE minister for artificial intelligence recently partnered with Canadian company D-Wave to house the region’s first quantum computer in the Museum of the Future in Dubai.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) in June 2018 announced plans to work with Microsoft to develop quantum-based products to address energy optimisation where classical computers have serious limitations, making it the first organisation outside of the US to participate in the Microsoft Quantum programme.

As part of the deal, Microsoft will work closely with Dewa to identify the challenges where quantum computing will have the greatest impact.

Dewa will be able to programme and test quantum algorithms, then apply those quantum solutions within the existing Microsoft Azure platform. This work will also provide Dewa with easier migration to using Microsoft’s quantum computer once it is available.

“Public-private partnerships are one avenue for GCC countries to start developing competitive quantum computing sectors,” said Schwalje. “We will likely see other government entities following Dewa shortly.”

He said Saudi Arabia will also “make a strong play” for early leadership in the quantum computing space given the historical leadership of entities such as King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Saudi Aramco’s experience with supercomputing systems.

“Quantum computing can significantly accelerate digital transformation,” said Schwalje. “Application of quantum computing in the GCC is still in its early phase, but it can be a big boost to innovation given the region’s leadership in big data, artificial intelligence, the internet of things [IoT] and cloud computing.”

Five application areas for quantum computing

1. Drug and materials discovery: Untangling the complexity of molecular and chemical interactions leading to the discovery of medicines and materials.
2. Supply chain and logistics: Finding the optimal path across global systems for ultra-efficient logistics and supply chains, such as optimising fleet operations for deliveries during the holiday season.
3. Financial services: Finding ways to model financial data and isolating key global risk factors to make better investments
4. Artificial intelligence: Making facets of AI, such as machine learning, much more powerful when datasets can be too big, such as searching images or video.
5. Cloud security: Making cloud computing more secure by using the laws of quantum physics to enhance private data safety.

The GCC countries will be some of the first countries to launch 5G. With this launch, they will open up their countries to innovations such as autonomous vehicles, IoT devices and industrial control systems.

GCC countries could also be leaders in commercialising security products based on quantum technologies, added Schwalje.

“Quantum computing will be much better than conventional computing in tackling future cyber security challenges through machine learning and quantum number generation,” he said.

“While quantum computing does pose security risks for the GCC if it falls behind, there are a handful of efforts to develop post-quantum cryptography and technologies like quantum key distribution and quantum random generators.”

PwC’s Vernacchia said the Gulf region should invest in quantum computing research to “protect itself”.

“If the Gulf fails to invest in this] disruptive technology it will potentially undermine the competitiveness of local companies in the region. In a world in which major companies and government are having almost real-time insights based on artificial intelligence, the region would risk being left behind,” he said.

Schwalje also stressed the importance of ongoing and considerable investment into quantum computing to help facilitate innovation breakthroughs in the region. “Falling behind in the quantum age will put countries in the slow lane of innovation,” he said.

He added the Gulf region should emulate the National Quantum Initiative Act in the US, which has already allocated $1.3bn to train quantum engineers to build a quantum computing workforce. “A viable quantum computing industry will only be possible in the GCC with a very significant investment in training future quantum engineers,” he said.

Gulf nations that take swift action have a good chance of exploiting quantum computing to their advantage, said PwC’s Vernacchia.


https://www.computerweekly.com/news...untries-accelerate-quantum-computing-research

 

[The SC]

What is quantum computing?

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Quantum computing is essentially harnessing and exploiting the amazing laws of quantum mechanics to process information. A traditional computer uses long strings of “bits,” which encode either a zero or a one. A quantum computer, on the other hand, uses quantum bits, or qubits. What's the difference? Well a qubit is a quantum system that encodes the zero and the one into two distinguishable quantum states. But, because qubits behave quantumly, we can capitalize on the phenomena of "superposition" and "entanglement."

Superposition and entanglement? Pardon?

It’s OK to be a bit baffled by these concepts, since we don’t experience them in our day-to-day lives. It’s only when you look at the tiniest quantum particles – atoms, electrons, photons and the like – that you see intriguing things like superposition and entanglement.
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” at the same time.
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 are so intrinsically connected, they can be said to “dance” in instantaneous, perfect unison, even when placed at opposite ends of the universe. This seemingly impossible connection inspired Einstein to describe entanglement as “spooky action at a distance.”


Why do these quantum effects matter?

First of all, they’re fascinating. Even better, they’ll be extremely useful to the future of computing and communications technology.
Think of it this way: whereas a classical computer works with ones and zeros, a quantum computer will have the advantage of using ones, zeros and “superpositions” of ones and zeros. Certain difficult tasks that have long been thought impossible (or “intractable”) for classical computers will be achieved quickly and efficiently by a quantum computer.

What can a quantum computer do that a classical computer can’t?

Factoring large numbers, for starters. Multiplying two large numbers is easy for any computer. But calculating the factors of a very large (say, 500-digit) number, on the other hand, is considered impossible for any classical computer. In 1994, a mathematician from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Peter Shor, who was working at AT&T at the time, unveiled that if a fully working quantum computer was available, it could factor large numbers easily.

But I don’t want to factor very large numbers…

Nobody wants to factor very large numbers! That’s because it’s so difficult – even for the best computers in the world today. In fact, the difficulty of factoring big numbers is the basis for much of our present day cryptography. It’s based on math problems that are too tough to solve. RSA encryption, the method used to encrypt your credit card number when you’re shopping online, relies completely on the factoring problem. The website you want to purchase from gives you a large "public" key (which anyone can access) to encode your credit card information.
This key actually is the product of two very large prime numbers, known only to the seller. The only way anyone could intercept your information is to know those two prime numbers that multiply to create the key. Since factoring is very hard, no eavesdropper will be able to access your credit card number and your bank account is safe. Unless, that is, somebody has built a quantum computer and is running Peter Shor's algorithm!

Wait… so a quantum computer will be able to hack into my private data? That’s not good.

Don't worry - classical cryptography is not completely jeopardized. Researchers are studying new kinds of encryption algorithms that will be secure against even quantum computers. Alternatively, we can use quantum mechanics itself to develop new tools for information security.
Let’s look at a common cryptographic protocol called the one-time pad: Say party A and party B (let's call them Alice and Bob) share a long string of random zeros and ones — the secret key. As long as they only use this key once and they are the only ones who know this key, they can transmit a secret message such that no eavesdropper (we’ll call her Eve) will be able to decipher the message. The main difficulty with the one-time pad is the actual distribution of the secret key. In the past, governments sent people to exchange books full of random data to be used as keys. That, of course, is impractical and imperfect. This is where quantum mechanics comes in very handy once again: Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) allows for the distribution of completely random keys at a distance.

How can quantum mechanics create these ultra-secret keys?

Quantum key distribution relies on another interesting property of quantum mechanics: any attempt to observe or measure a quantum system will disturb it.
Photons have a unique measurable property called polarization (which should sound familiar to any connoisseur of sunglasses).
Since the polarization of each individual photon is random, there’s no way of knowing the unique properties of each photon in advance. But here is where entanglement becomes interesting: if Alice and Bob measure the polarization of the entangled photons they receive, their results will be the same (remember, “entangled” means the particles are highly correlated with each other, even at great distances). Depending on the polarization of each photon, Alice and Bob ascribe either a “one” or a “zero” to each photon they receive. Therefore, if Alice gets a string like 010110, Bob also gets a 010110. Unless, that is, an eavesdropper has been attempting to spy on the signal. This will disturb the system, and Alice and Bob will instantly notice that their keys don’t match.
Alice and Bob keep receiving photons until their keys are long and identical enough and, presto, they’ve got ultra-secure keys for encrypting communications.

So harnessing the quantum world can break and make codes. Anything else?

Plenty. For example, quantum computers will be able to efficiently simulate quantum systems, which is what famous physicist Richard Feynman proposed in 1982, effectively kick-starting the field. Simulation of quantum systems has been said to be a "holy grail" of quantum computing: it will allow us to study, in remarkable detail, the interactions between atoms and molecules. This could help us design new drugs and new materials, such as superconductors that work at room temperature. Quantum computers also have advantages in many optimization and search problems. Researchers are constantly working on new quantum algorithms and applications. But the true potential of quantum computers likely hasn’t even been imagined yet. The inventors of the laser surely didn’t envision supermarket checkout scanners, CD players and eye surgery. Similarly, the future uses of quantum computers are bound only by imagination.

Sounds great! Where can I get a quantum computer?

Not so fast. While quantum computers have been theoretically demonstrated to have incredible potential, and scientists are working at IQC and around the world to realize that potential, there is much work to be done before quantum computers hit the market.

What is required to build a quantum computer?

Simply put: we need qubits that behave the way we want them to. These qubits could be made of photons, atoms, electrons, molecules or perhaps something else. Scientists at IQC are researching a wide range of them as potential bases for quantum computers. But qubits are notoriously tricky to manipulate, since any disturbance causes them to fall out of their quantum state (or “decohere”). Decoherence is the Achilles heel of quantum computing, but it is not insurmountable. The field of quantum error correction examines how to stave off decoherence and combat other errors. Every day, researchers at IQC and around the world are discovering new ways to make qubits cooperate.

So when will there be a real quantum computer?

It depends on your definition. There are prototype quantum computers already, but not of sufficient power to outperform classical computers. While practical quantum technologies are already emerging — including highly effective sensors, actuators and other devices — a true quantum computer that outperforms a classical computer is still years away. Theorists are continually figuring out better ways to overcome decoherence, while experimentalists are gaining more and more control over the quantum world through various technologies and instruments. The pioneering work being done today is paving the way for the coming quantum era.

So quantum technology is still years away?

No, quantum technologies are already in use! QKD is already commercially available, and will greatly benefit from new research (scientists at IQC are currently pursuing quantum encryption through free space via satellite). Although a fully functioning quantum computer is a longer-term goal, many fundamental and practical discoveries have been made in the name of quantum computing. Quantum sensors and actuators will allow scientists to navigate the nano-scale world with remarkable precision and sensitivity. Such tools will be invaluable to the development of true quantum information processors. The quantum revolution is already under way, and the possibilities that lie ahead are limitless.


https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/quantum-computing-101