A scholarship grant of more than $300,000 has been awarded to a project undertaken by researchers from Deakin University and tech company Cisco.
The Distributed Quantum Computing: Algorithms and Software project is looking into the future of quantum computing – a field of study that looks into the potential future of computer technology.
The funding comes through the CSIRO’s $3.6 million Next Generation Quantum Graduates Program and was one of four projects to receive funding from the National Scientific Research Agency, which supports 16 PhD scholarships for projects across 11 Australian universities.
A brave new world of quantum computing
As they look toward a future where algorithms go beyond the 1s and 0s of classical computing to incorporate scientific theories of quantum physics and bring computing potential to a new level, researchers believe they have quantum computers that could solve complex problems far beyond the capabilities of traditional computers.
Quantum computing takes advantage of the principles of quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that deals with the behaviour of energy and matter at the smallest scale – including the scale of subatomic particles and atoms.
Professor Jinho Choi from the School of IT at Deakin University told EducationDaily the project is “aimed to develop key ideas towards quantum Internet with distributed algorithms that utilise the power of networked multiple quantum computers”.
“A number of research groups also work towards this direction.”
Led by three Deakin School of IT researchers – Professor Seng Loke, Professor Jinho Choi and Dr Jihong Park – working alongside Dr Stephen DiAdamo from Cisco Quantum Lab, this area of research could lead to advancements in an eventual ‘quantum internet’.
Quantum computing requires deeper understanding
Professor Loke says the field of quantum computing requires a new understanding of how computers talk to each other.
“Recently, quantum computing has made significant progress, with advancements in building computers with multiple qubits. At the same time, there’s active research in quantum networking, paving the way for a large-scale quantum internet that connects multiple quantum computers,” he says.
“Similar to how classical distributed computing works, this progress opens up the possibility of leveraging qubits from multiple quantum computers for larger-scale quantum computing, known as Distributed Quantum Computing (DQC).”
Call for PhD candidates
Although he says DQC is still in its early stages, their research program – in collaboration with Cisco researchers – focuses on developing algorithms and software for DQC, to work on the next generation of networking based on quantum engineering.
With an aim to place Australia at the forefront of evolving quantum technologies, Professor Loke says “we’re looking forward to working with talented PhD candidates on this work”.
He says candidates for the PhD scholarships will need to have a strong background in math and computing.
“DQC holds incredible promise for various applications, including quantum machine learning, large-scale optimisation and quantum protocols.”
