A five-qubit, full-range, superconducting quantum computer has been launched at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. “IQM Spark” is the first device of this type operating in Poland, and its purchase is associated with the launch of a new course of study at the university.
The “IQM Spark” unit is located in the building of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology's Wrocław Networking and Supercomputing Center. It was named “Odra 5”.
The university's rector, Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, emphasized that this is the first computer in Poland and in this part of Central and Eastern Europe operating in this technology. “I hope that after many years it will turn out that this is the beginning of a new era in terms of the development of computer science,” said Wójs.
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“Odra 5” is based on low-temperature superconducting qubit technology and operates at a temperature of 10 mK (millikelvins), or minus 273.14 degrees Celsius.
Prof. Wojciech Bożejko, head of the Department of Control Systems and Mechatronics at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, told PAP that the processor of this computer is kept at a temperature lower than in space. “This is truly cryogenic technology, very sophisticated,” the scientist said.
He explained that the difference between traditional computers and quantum computers is that quantum computers operate on qubits, i.e. objects that are both zeros and ones at the same time.
“All calculations are performed on entities that do not decide, one might say, to be zero or one until the end of these calculations. And this gives incredible possibilities, because in a classical computer there is simply a state of low or high voltage, i.e. 0 or 1, or magnetization – this can be implemented in different ways. However, this is always determined, i.e. it is 0 or 1. And here (in a quantum computer – PAP) it is 0 and 1 at the same time,” he explained.
He added that the computing power of a computer that has five qubits is twice that of a computer that has four qubits.
“Imagine what happens when a computer has a thousand qubits; these are completely unimaginable powers. If, for example, we use such a computer for simulation, the possibilities become virtually limitless,” the professor said.
He added that with a thousand qubits, a computer could generate “significantly more states than there is of everything in the universe.” “It’s mind-boggling, so to speak. These are things that are beyond common sense, that you could have more of something than there are of all the elementary particles in the universe,” he said.
The five-qubit computer cost PLN 4 million. Prof. Bożejko pointed out that this was a low price because – as he said – IBM sells quantum computers for up to USD 200 million.
At the Wrocław university, a quantum computer will be used to research and develop technologies related to programming such units. “By using this computer for research and education, we are preparing for work on larger quantum computers. The whole fun starts at about 150 qubits. This is the scale at which we are able to demonstrate so-called quantum supremacy. This is the Holy Grail of quantum computing: to show that a quantum computer did something faster than any other machine,” the scientist said.
He added that the Wrocław University of Science and Technology is planning to create a quantum computing major, which will educate computer scientists to work with quantum technologies. “It should be remembered that modern computer science education is based 100% on classical machines. And these – one could even say – single-processor machines. This is classical computer science, which has changed little since the 1970s,” he said.
Prof. Bożejko explained that entering quantum computing requires a much broader range of knowledge of mathematical foundations. “These are operations on matrices, more algebra; elements of higher mathematics are necessary to even begin to understand how it works,” he said, emphasizing that specialists need to be educated to program quantum computers, because these computers simply did not exist before.
“This is very specific knowledge and not easily accessible,” the scientist added. (PAP)
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