Leiden University Researchers Honoured At Nationaal Groeifonds Quantum Technology Programme

Using regular computers for predicting and reducing the influence of noise in quantum computers – Tim Coopmans
Noise in quantum computers is the main hurdle for them to outperform their regular (classical) counterparts. The researchers first propose to develop a novel method for simulating noisy quantum computers on classical computers. Next, they will use the new method for better predicting and reducing the influence of noise on the performance of near-term quantum computers.

Quantum revolution will be automatized – Onur Danaci
Noisy small-scale quantum computers are here, and fault-tolerant ones on the horizon. However, the current effort is limited to table-top experiments in university labs overflowing into prototype hardware; not an industrial, automated effort. The calibration and control problem is fundamental tenet of quantum advantage. Yet, tune-up of even the basic building blocks take hours of experts, and needs to be done repeatedly. Inspired by the success in AI-driven experiments in other fields, MAZeLTof-Q promises to deliver not only automation of the calibration for fresh out of assembly-line quantum hardware, but also performance-levels ushering fault-tolerance era.

Experimental quantum position verification – Wolfgang Löffler
The geographic location often is an excellent credential, for instance, for the computer in the building of a bank. Unfortunately, secure verification of a position using triangulation has been proven to be impossible with classical communication. The goal of this proposal is to firstly demonstrate experimentally “quantum position verification”, which can be secure. By using qubits, the quantum mechanical no-cloning theorem guarantees that attackers cannot compromise the protocol by intercepting and copying the information. After a lab demonstrator and a field test, the researchers hope to be able to implement quantum position verification in the Dutch quantum network.