Distributed Quantum Computing and Applications

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial College London
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Abstract

Quantum mechanics has been known for weird nature it predicts: It allows several distinct states to exist simultaneously (quantum superposition) and super-strong correlations (quantum entanglement) between particles. Quantum computing (QC) makes use of this weird nature for faster and more accurate data processing and secure data protection than any conventional computers can offer. Five use cases for QC identified by the UK National Quantum Computing Centre are optimisation, quantum chemistry, fluid dynamics, machine learning and small molecule simulation.

The UK government has long recognised the future potential of QC, having established in 2014 a national network of Quantum Technology Hubs. Now, QC appears as one of three "foundational technologies" for the digital sector in the UK National Plan for Growth. International development in quantum technology is proceeding rapidly, with a recent, early academic demonstration of digital quantum advantage by the US technology monolith Google. Besides established companies, QC development has spawned many start-up companies worldwide with UK representations including Cambridge Quantum Computing, ORCA Quantum Computing, Oxford Ionics, Oxford Quantum Computing, Phasecraft, Quantum Motion, Rahko and Riverlane.

The increasing scale of QC raises several key technological challenges: (1) Isolated control and inter-system crosstalk, (2) Efficient classical monitoring and feedback, and (3) Efficient quantum access to large amounts of relevant problem data. Indeed, facing similar problems in conventional computing, researchers in information and communication technology (ICT) have been working on 'distributed computing', including cloud computing and optimal processing of distributed data. With ICT and QC researchers working together, this multi-disciplinary team will tackle the timely challenge of the design and efficient use of networked clusters of quantum devices for distributed quantum information processing (DQIP). While complementing the on-going efforts on scalable quantum computing, this project aims to develop a clear and feasible roadmap to practical DQIP and to introduce lynchpin design principles to enable cohesive efforts across each of the complex and strongly inter-related aspects of DQIP development. This project will therefore also contribute to showing significant quantum advantages as quantum systems grow toward the industrial scale, increasing certainty in the timeline and practical industrial evaluation of QC, laying a foundation for increased investment and growth in this area for the UK economy moving forward.

Specifically, this project will explore four key aspects of the design problem: (1) At the application layer, we set concrete structures and requirements for the algorithm and architecture; (2) At the algorithm layer, we define communication requirements in a hybrid environment of quantum and conventional processing nodes; (3) At the network layer, the required quantum processes will be optimised for the maximum connectivity; and (4) At the optical interconnect layer, the encoding and efficient transmission of quantum information in photonic systems will be studied. Our goal is to bridge the gap between QC and the established tools and methods in ICT, and to focus in on the strong network of inter-related constraints between these different aspects of the design problem to enable the development of practical DQIP. To achieve this goal, the project brings together an investigative team with strong track records for prior research in diverse and complementary fields, including computational finance and fluid dynamics, optimised networked systems and distributed computing, and quantum information and optics.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description ICT Parliamentary Forum for Quantum Computing
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
 
Description Royal Academy of Engineering Workshop on infrastructure for Quantum Computing
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
 
Description UK-Korea Quantum Technology Workshop
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
 
Description UK-Swiss Quantum Computing Workhop
Geographic Reach Europe 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
 
Description Can quantum algorithms revolutionise the simulation of turbulent flows?
Amount £201,822 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/X017249/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2023 
End 05/2024
 
Description High Performance Multiplexing for Scalable Networking
Amount £2,033,745 (GBP)
Organisation Innovate UK 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2024 
End 09/2025
 
Description "Quantum for Quants" Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr A. Jacquier organized the "Quantum for Quants" Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE in January 2024. The conference received a wide participation (over 200 participants) from academia, finance industry and quantum tech companies.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
URL https://www.adgmacademy.com/adgma-research-centre/quantum-computing-in-finance-conference/
 
Description DQC-App Annual Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The DQC Annual Conference was organized by the DQC-App project. The main objective of this two-days event was to engage partners and members in the wider research community and disseminate the project's research outcomes. The first day (May 3) of the Conference featured presentations from EPSRC, academia, business, and other quantum research institutions. The second day (May 4) featured talks by the DQC researchers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://dqc-app.org/events/DQCAnnualConf2023.html
 
Description DQC-App Courses & Seminars 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The DQC-App project has been organizing a Courses & Seminars series on Quantum Computing and Quantum Networking.
The purpose of these short courses and seminars is to understand others' work and promote interactions between project members and the wider research community and related industries.
Most specifically, the following courses and seminars have been organized so far:

Seminar: "Variational Quantum Algorithms for Computational Fluid Dynamics" - by Professor Dieter Jaksch (Universität Hamburg, Germany) - 20 November 2023
Seminar: "Quantum devices as a meeting point for thermodynamics and machine learning" - by Dr. Natalia Ares (University of Oxford, UK) - 14 March 2023
Online Course: "The Quantum Internet: Recent Advances and Challenges" - by Professor Don Towsley (University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA) - 5 July 2022
Online Course: "Introduction to Quantum Communications" - by Professor Lajos Hanzo (University of Southampton, UK) - 17 June 2022
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022,2023
URL https://dqc-app.org/courses.html
 
Description Half-Day Workshop: "Optimization by Quantum and Machine Learning" 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact DQC-app project organized a half-day workshop on "Optimization by Quantum and Machine Learning". The aim of this event was to bring together colleagues interested in optimisation by quantum and machine learning at Imperial College.
The event was open to colleagues beyond the DQC-App team to share their research in the areas. About 20 staff members and students attended.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://dqc-app.org/talks/workshop2023Jan.html
 
Description Interactions with companion projects 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On behalf of the DQC-App project, Kin Leung gave an overview presentation of DQC-App activities at the meeting of the EPSRC Empowering Practical Interfacing of Quantum Computing (EPIQC) Project on 16 Sept 2022. The PI's of both projects have agreed to hold joint project activities in the near future.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Invited Talk - MATHRISK International Conference on Numerical Methods in Finance, Italy 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof A. Jacquier gave an invited talk at the MATHRISK International Conference on Numerical Methods in Finance, Udine, Italy in June 2023
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://mathrisk2023.sciencesconf.org/
 
Description Mini Course - Quantum Computing for Finance - Research In Options Conference, Rio, Brazil 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr A. Jacquier gave an invited mini-course on Quantum Computing for Finance, at the Research in Options conference in Rio, Brazil in December 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Mini Course - Quantum Computing for Finance - University of Vienna, Austria 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Dr A. Jacquier gave an invited mini-course on Quantum Computing for Finance, at the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria in December 2023
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Quantum Computing Seminar Series 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact In November 2023, Prof Myungshik Kim's team ran a high level seminar series for undergrad students on quantum computing. Talks were given by:
1. Prof Michael Cuthbert, National Quantum Computing Centre, UK
2. Prof Jungsang Kim, Co-Founder, IonQ, USA
3. Dr Guillermo Garcia-Perez, Co-Founder, AlgorithmiQ, Finland

In Jan-Feb 2024, they ran quantum computing seminars on hardware and software quantum computing. Talks were given by:
1. Dr Conor Bradley, University of Chicago, USA
2. Prof Silvano De Franceschi, CEA Grenoble, France
3. Dr James Wotton, IBM Zurich, Switzerland.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023,2024
 
Description Workshop: "Bridging the gap between Quantum Computing and Quantitative Finance" 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The DQC-App project organized a two-days workshop on "Bridging the gap between Quantum Computing and Quantitative Finance" at Imperial College London, on 6 - 7 December 2022. The purpose of this workshop was to bring together experts from the two research communities and discuss how quantum computation can be applied to financial problems, providing an overview of current approaches and potential prospects. In the first day, mini courses on Quantum Computing for Quantitative Finance were given. Leading academic and industrial experts gave presentations in the second day. Apart from the DQC-App project, this workshop was also supported by the Imperial Quantum Engineering, Science and Technology (QuEST) Centre and a CTRF Workshop Support Grant from Imperial Maths Dept. About 25 academic and industrial colleagues attended, including from overseas.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://sites.google.com/view/imperial-qc-finance-workshop