2023-05-16

The 52nd Academic Frontier Forum: Research Professor Heng Fan Talks About "Quantum Computing Cloud and Quantum Simulation"

The School of Electronics organized the 52nd Academic Frontier Forum titled “Quantum Computing Cloud and Quantum Simulation” on 12th May 2023 featuring Research Professor Heng Fan from the Laboratory of Solid-state Quantum Information and Quantum Computing of Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, hosted by Professor Xuzong Chen. More than 50 faculty members and students attended the lecture and exchanged views with the speaker.

During the lecture, Research Professor Fan briefly introduced the three main directions of Quantum Tech, namely Quantum Computing, Quantum Teleportation, and Quantum Precision Measurement. He pointed out that quantum computing is one of the long-term international focal points and an important component of the next-generation information industry. Fan reviewed the development of major corporations in quantum computing, mentioned that Google, IMB, Microsoft, Intel, D-Wave Systems Inc., and many start-up venture capital companies have invested in the R&D of quantum computing and related quantum technologies. Additionally, quantum computing has huge potential values in AI, machine learning, biopharmaceuticals, and other aspects. In describing the development background of quantum computing and quantum teleportation, he emphasized the key scientific issues involved are preparation of device, construction of measuring and controlling platform, and operation of quantum computing.

Research Professor Fan took the audience through the domestic and international situation of quantum computing cloud platform. He talked about the IBM Quantum has more than 450,000 users, and the software development kit, called Qiskit, was downloaded over 1.5 million times, etc. He explained this indicates IBM is forming an ecological mastery in quantum computing cloud platform area, which demonstrates the importance of the Quafu Quantum Computing Cloud Platform developed by Fan’s research group. Fan introduced the structure, user interface, performance parameters and operation status of Quafu in detail. In the presentation, he mentioned that the Quafu able to convert any quantum line into an executable quantum line through quantum compilation and optimization before transmitting it to the quantum measurement and control system for execution.

Subsequently, Fan gave a brief review of cloud platform’s software, hardware, and ecological development. Then talked about his ongoing research work includes the cloud platform will strengthen the applications of fast auto-calibration and automatic control software.

Finally, Heng Fan exhibited his research group’s progress in quantum simulation. He referred to Hawking radiation in superconducting quantum simulation and superconducting quantum simulation of curved spacetime, quantum walk and GHZ state preparation, implementation of quantum adversarial generation network, simulation of 30-qubit quantum Hall effect, 41-qubit simulation of Houshida butterfly, and other scientific frontiers, and gave an outlook on the long-term value of quantum computing cloud platform.

After the talk, Fan interacted with the audiences on the topics such as the advances in great integer factorization problem, limitations of SQUID, coherence time of qubit, and gave in-depth and general answers one by one. Professor Xuzong Chen issued a school’s commemorative plaque to Research Professor Heng Fan.