An Ode to Virtual Conferences: IEEE QCE 2021

It is a truth universally acknowledged that over the past year and a half conferences are not what they once were. The chaotic dashing from room to room in search of interesting talks has been replaced by the online scrolling of abstracts. The awkward elevator conversations have been replaced with choppy introductions over zoom. The mad rush of getting ready and putting on one’s finest suit has been replaced with throwing on a blazer over sweatpants. And yet somehow, even though we wouldn't have dreamed it possible a year ago, the days of in-person conferences have returned. That doesn't mean, however, that we here at QM, or others around the world, are going to forgo online events just yet. One of the best things about virtual conferences is that they're a healing balm for our FOMO. Take this year's IEEE QCE 2021 for example. If you missed any of the sessions, you can view the recordings, in your own time with a warm cup of coffee or hot cocoa in hand.

For QCE 2021, we prepared a three-session workshop: Standardized Quantum Control with the Quantum Orchestration Platform (QOP): A Single Control System for All Qubit Platform. In this workshop series, we showcased how our integrated hardware and software platform for quantum control can handle five different processors based on five qubit technologies. We also shared how the Pulse Processor which is at the core of our hardware, allows for unprecedented flexibility in the applications that the system can run. In case you didn't have the chance to view it live, here's a short overview and the recordings.

Part 1: Why we need a standardized quantum control platform

In the first session of the workshop, we shared our thoughts on why we need a quantum control stack in order to accelerate the timeline towards practical quantum computers. Each QPU needs a different type of control, but at the end of the day, they all serve the same purpose: to store and process quantum information abstractly.

Watch it here:

Part 2: Breaking the barriers of experimental quantum error correction

In the second session of the workshop, we explored breaking the barriers of experimental quantum error correction with the QOP. We discussed the basic ingredients of quantum error correction in a nutshell, as well as the challenges that arise when implementing quantum error correction on real hardware.

In the second half of this session, we covered NISQ protocols. Currently, we are in the NISQ era, and NISQ devices require specific considerations due to having a limited number of qubits, coherent and incoherent errors, and limited connectivity. The quantum research community shows a lot of interest in Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs).

In the second part of this session you'll learn:

• Why the QOP is a good candidate for realizing VQAs

• How pulse control could enhance the abilities of NISQ hardware

Check it out:

Part 3: Use cases of real-time feedback in different QPUs

In the third session, we shared a use case of controlling silicon-based quantum dot qubits and real-time feedback protocols with the OPX that enabled the qubit fidelities achieved in this experiment.

In this session you'll see:

• A demonstration of how the QOP can be used to move atoms in tweezer traps and arrange the initial arrays for Rydberg QPUs

• The low latency feedback architecture of the QOP

• How that architecture enables the generation of gates that are immune to laser intensity fluctuations

Watch it now:

Last week we attended a physical conference (Q2B) for the first time in what feels like a century! It was great to meet you all IRL, and we have a lot of exciting physical conferences to come in 2022. Keep your eye out for us at the APS March Meeting - we'll have some really fun things there for you to check out and cool QM swag to bring back home.
But if you're not sure which physical conferences you'll be attending this year, don't let the FOMO creep in just yet! We'll still be sharing all of our conference sessions and workshop recordings with you, and we have more virtual webinars and events coming in 2022. We love meeting you in person, but the joy of running a webinar while rocking a business professional top with pajama bottoms is still too great to pass up! 😉