10th ETSI/IQC Quantum Safe Cryptography Conference

Date/Time: 14-May - 16-May
Venue: Catapult Rochester

ETSI and the Institute for Quantum Computing are pleased to announce the 10th ETSI/IQC Quantum Safe Cryptography Conference, taking place in Singapore on 14-16 May 2024. The event will be hosted by CQT.

We increasingly rely on cyber technologies, and hence are ever more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. As progress toward a cryptographically relevant quantum computer advances, these attack vectors grow and the imperative to prepare for a transition to quantum secure technologies continues to increase. In response, standardization efforts are accelerating; the initial NIST PQC standards are due in 2024, and ETSI working groups are active in evaluating these and how they will fit into existing protocols, applications and public-key infrastructures. Hence solutions are starting to become commercially available, best practices are being developed and shared, and the ability to transition in a secure and cost-effective way continues to increase. This is a continually evolving and complex journey and much remains to be understood and navigated.

This event was designed for members of the business, government, and research communities with a stake in cryptographic standardization to facilitate the knowledge exchange and collaboration required to transition cyber infrastructures and business practices to make them safe in an era with quantum computers. It aims to showcase both the most recent developments from industry and government and cutting-edge potential solutions coming out of the most recent research.

Website: https://www.etsi.org/events/2284-10th-etsi-iqc-quantum-safe-cryptography-event

CQT Colloquium by Daniel Lidar, University of Southern California

Title: Demonstration of algorithmic quantum speedup
Date/Time: 16-May, 04:00PM
Venue: CQT Level 3 Seminar Room

Abstract:Despite the development of increasingly capable quantum computers, an experimental demonstration of an algorithmic quantum speedup employing today's non-fault-tolerant devices has remained elusive. In this talk, I will report on three very recent demonstrations of such a speedup, focusing on how solution times scale with problem size. Two of the demonstrations use IBM’s superconducting quantum computers and involve modified versions of foundational black-box quantum algorithms. In contrast with recent quantum supremacy demonstrations, these quantum speedups do not rely on complexity-theoretic conjectures. The third demonstration uses a D-Wave quantum annealer and involves approximate optimization in the context of spin glass problems. In all cases, our work incorporates tailored quantum error suppression methods, which we found to be necessary in order for the quantum speedup to appear. References: - B. Pokharel and D.A. Lidar, “Demonstration of algorithmic quantum speedup”. Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 210602 (2023) - P. Singkanipa, V. Kasatkin, Z. Zhou, G. Quiroz, D.A. Lidar, “Demonstration of algorithmic quantum speedup for an Abelian hidden subgroup problem”. arXiv:2401.07934 - H. Munoz Bauza and D. A. Lidar, “Scaling advantage in approximate optimization with quantum annealing”. arXiv:2401.07184

QCamp

Date/Time: 10-Jun - 14-Jun
Venue: CQT Level 3 Seminar Room S15-03-15

QCamp is a one-week summer school for curious pre-university students who wish to explore and understand the physical laws that govern the world's smallest scales: quantum physics. The scope of QCamp is to provide vivid demonstrations of these laws, offer career advice, as well as to help students build a technical foundation for independent exploration of this world. QCamp is organised by the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at the National University of Singapore.

Website: https://qcamp.quantumlah.org/

1-day flash QCamp

Date/Time: 19-Jun - 19-Jun
Venue: LT 34

Since CQT’s five-day QCamp for pre-university students is typically oversubscribed, this year we are pleased to offer a separate one-day flash QCamp. The camp is for curious and inquisitive minds to get a taster in quantum technologies. It will feature talks, demos and career advice.

Website: https://qcamp.quantumlah.org/

CQT PhD Thesis Defense by Adam Florentin Thierry

Title: Vacuum Rabi Splitting In A Compact Near-Concentric Cavity
Date/Time: 07-May, 04:30PM
Venue: CQT Level 3 Conference Room, S15-03-17

Abstract:The exploration of strong atom--light interaction is crucial as a building block for engineering quantum computing nodes. Such nodes can be realised with atoms, which require mediators to enhance their interaction with incoming photons, due to their small cross-section. Optical cavities, tools governed by cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity-QED), fulfil this mediator role by confining the photons in a small mode volume. While a small mode volume can be implemented in conventional high-finesse optical cavities, less-explored configurations, such as near-concentric cavities, also exhibit this feature. Near-concentric cavities provide a unique balance of a small mode volume and significant optical access for atom manipulation, while only requiring low finesse to operate. However, it is sensitive to misalignment when operating close to the concentric regime.

We present a near-concentric optical cavity system to address this longitudinal and transverse stability close to the concentric regime. The cavity system features a compact cage-like tensegrity mirror support structure, with a cavity length of 11mm. We demonstrate the low residual cavity length variation of the structure at a close critical distance from the concentric regime, while allowing control of all necessary degrees of freedom. With this stability, we observe the vacuum Rabi splitting in the presence of ten trapped atoms. This measurement showcases the ability of our atom�cavity system to reach the strong coupling regime.

This near-concentric cavity geometry provides a viable alternative to near-planar cavity geometries for cavity-QED experiments. One notable advantage is its high optical access to the centre of the cavity mode, beneficial for atomic state preparation in quantum information processing schemes. Leveraging the mechanical stability and strong interaction capabilities of the developed near-concentric cavity opens up new possibilities for implementing quantum logic gates with low-finesse resonators.

CQT PhD QE II Presentation by Chua Rui Ming

Title: Passive State Preparation for Measurement Device Independent Quantum Key Distribution
Date/Time: 08-May, 02:00PM
Venue: CQT Level 3 Conference Room, S15-03-17

Abstract:My qualifying exam will be structured in accordance with the nature of my PhD as a collaborative effort between CQT and the United Arab Emirate�s Technology Innovation Institute�s Quantum Research Center. In the first half of my talk, I will touch upon my work in Dr James A. Grieve�s quantum communications group, culminating in our recent demonstration of quantum secured communications with our firewall-integrated entanglement QKD system. In the second half of my talk, I will present the flagship project for my PhD which focuses on incorporating passive state preparation into Measurement Device Independent QKD. Not only will this implementation address some of the existing weaknesses of MDI QKD, it will also bring advantages to the certification process of QKD devices in our progress towards a quantum secured world.

CQT Colloquium by Zhang Qiang, University of Science and Technology of China

Title: Optics Interference and quantum information processing
Date/Time: 13-May, 04:00PM
Venue: CQT Level 3 Seminar Room, S15-03-15

Abstract:Interference contains the only mystery of quantum mechanics. Meanwhile optical interference is a key technology enabling quantum information tasks. Here, I shall briefly review the quantum interference technology. And then I shall focus on recent quantum key distribution and quantum imaging experiments based on the quantum interference technology. In the end of the talk, I shall provide a perspective on quantum network.