Mark Ritter

IBM

"The Qubit Challenge"

Dr. Mark Ritter is Chair of the Physical Sciences Council which supports basic physical science research in IBM’s Zurich, Yorktown, and Almaden labs. The IBM Quantum Experience was launched by a group he led in May of 2016, allowing users to access and program a five-qubit quantum processor from the cloud. He has been an active advocate of quantum science funding in the U.S.A. He is a member of the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee and served on the first governing board of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C. Dr. Ritter was the recipient of the 1982 American Physical Society Apker Award for his work on the optical and magnetic properties of solids. Dr. Ritter received M.S.,M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Physics from Yale University in 1987.

“The Qubit Challenge”

Quantum computing has been theoretically shown to give a huge leap in computational capability for certain hard problems. The scientific challenge is to discover physical systems-- qubits-- that allow us to preserve and control quantum states with sufficient fidelity to realize these computational gains. In this lecture I will describe single and two-qubit gates—all that is necessary to create universal quantum logic circuits—and basic algorithms which exploit superposition and entanglement of quantum information. I will then give an overview of some of the key qubit technologies which have been developed, including how the qubits are controlled, entangled and measured. I will give my own assessment of the challenges for each type of qubit and discuss briefly some of the scientific challenges that must be surmounted in order to realize the promised computational benefit.