Quantum "Cubism"

Quantum, like art, blurs the lines

Just like an impressionistic painting, from Vincent van Gogh or Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Quantum theory appears to blur the lines and perspectives of what we thought to be true about our physical world. Artistic styles like impressionism and cubism challenge conventional naturalistic methods of painting, making us feel uneasy and even confused by what we see. But we can appreciate the artist's skill and we are inspired and moved by such forms of art and expression. (image: The Weeping Woman, 1937, Pablo Picasso)

If one views a Picasso cubist painting for the first time, and in isolation, it would be understandable to question the artist's skill and mental health [humor]. However, long before Picasso was influenced by the three-dimensional forms of post-impressionist Paul Cézanne, he had proven his great artistic skill and talent through his naturalistic paintings. He built on these foundational skills and is now best known for experimenting with different theories and techniques, including cubism. With cubism, Picasso used multiple or contrasting vantage points to create confusing, yet powerful images. His paintings of faces and figures represented multiple perspectives in the same dimension.

Quantum, like art, stirs up feelings

In a weird way, this is similar to Quantum superposition, which represents quantum bits (or qubits) as both 1 and 0 at the same time. Like a Picasso cubist painting, Quantum can have a confusing effect on our senses. It is weird and "spooky", and it causes an interpretational conundrum, similar to the effects of viewing a Picasso painting. And like a Picasso painting, one's interpretation becomes entangled with contradictory yet substantiated views. They are both good and bad at the same time, and both correct interpretations. As I said, it is weird.

"Physicist E. T. Jaynes, once suggested that quantum theory is "[a] peculiar mixture describing in part realities of Nature, in part incomplete human information about Nature—all scrambled up by Heisenberg and Bohr into an omelet that nobody has seen how to unscramble."

Like most people, I prefer not to feel uncomfortable or scrambled about nature, art, and science. I prefer the rich tones and realistic representations of the Dutch Masters (ex: Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen); but in a strange way, I am drawn to the contradictions and distortions of expressive modern art. In many ways, I find the works of Picasso to be disconcerting and twisted, yet I can't seem to look away. The distortions and conflicting use of perspective found in impressionism and cubism have an allure I can't explain or rationalize. I don't know why I am fascinated by these expressions of art; I just accept that I am. But this unexplainable fascination goes, in part, to explain my interest in quantum. I am drawn to various fields of art and science for many of the same reasons; and I acknowledge the entanglement of both on my psyche.

Quantum theories and concepts are a kindred spirit to art

Psyche is the Greek term for "soul" or "spirit". I have long understood and known that art is in my soul. But I have only recently discovered that quantum theories and concepts are a kindred spirit to art. And by association, quantum is also in my soul. I am drawn to the wackiness of quantum in the same way I am drawn to the distortions of a Picasso painting.

If one is drawn to the works of renowned painters, you can always gain fulfillment by visiting the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris, France. But where do you go to feed your interest and passion for quantum, short of earning a PhD in Quantum Physics?

Well, I have had the good fortune to work with leaders in the area of Quantum Information Theory and Quantum Computing. I recently had an opportunity to spend several days with some of the leading scientists and researchers in the area of Quantum Computing, while attending the IBM Q Ambassador training at the IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights. It was both a humbling and exhilarating experience; similar to what a budding artist must feel when walking through the Musée d'Orsay. You see, when talking to a PhD in theoretical quantum physics, you are reminded how few working brain cells you personally possess; but at the same time, you are inspired by the exciting advances and potential of this critically important technology and field.

Perhaps you share my enthusiasm for the field of Quantum Computing, and like me, you lack a PhD in Quantum Physics. But unlike me, you have not had the same opportunities to rub shoulders with leading researchers in the field, so it is fair for you to ask:

"How to I exercise my interest and passion for quantum? Where is my Musée d'Orsay for Quantum?"

Fair question. Keep in mind, just like the creative arts, the field of Quantum Computing welcomes all creative, open, and restless minds, that never accept the status quo or conventional wisdom. When Picasso was creating original cubist paintings, it was important for him to suspend standard approaches and to experiment with whacky constructions of form, texture, and materials. In the same way, I suppose what makes a good quantum theorist, is the ability and courage to challenge normal conventions. And this may be why that contributions to the field of quantum computing may come from some of the most provocative thinkers. In general, the field of Quantum Computing draws from experts across various scientific and engineering disciplines; mathematicians, quantum theorists, physicists, material scientists, quantum experimentalists, chemists, electrical engineers, data scientists, developers, designers, community builders, and many more. You see, there are many avenues into the field and many ways to exercise your passion. And you can start now.

You can start now with quantum

Simply put, the study and advancement of quantum requires many disciplines, coming together to co-create and to transition the field of Quantum Information Theory from exploring the fundamental science of quantum information to "quantum ready". About this transformational journey, the experts now believe we have reached the quantum ready phase, pointing to the availability IBM Q - a quantum computer available to the public. In fact, in 2016, IBM showed that it’s possible to build a quantum computer and make it available for free via the cloud. Anyone can access and begin experimenting with real quantum computers via the IBM Q Experience. Since the launch of the IBM Q Experience, others have followed. Quantum “experiences” or simulations can be delivered by the likes of Google Research, D-Wave Systems, Rigetti, Microsoft Quantum Computing, and the University of Bristol’s Quantum in the Cloud.

In addition, leading Fortune 500 companies, startups, academic institutions, and national research labs have the opportunity to join networks, like IBM Q Network. The IBM Q Network is a worldwide community working with IBM to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications for business and science. Members of the IBM Q Network have access to quantum computers with more qubits than are available in the IBM Q Experience.

So now that the field has entered the Quantum Ready phase, how should you engage so as not to be left behind?

Well, a good place to start is by accessing one of the free, cloud-based systems, like IBM Q Experience and become active in the community. Next, you will want to start playing around with the development environment. For example, IBM offers a robust and comprehensive development environment called Qiskit (https://github.com/Qiskit/).

Qiskit is pretty cool: made up of earth, water, fire and air elements!

Qiskit began as software for writing experiments on IBM Q quantum computers but has evolved into much more. It is now comprised of four elements, each of which forms a pillar of quantum computing software:

Qiskit Terra

Terra, the ‘earth’ element, is the foundation on which the rest of the software lies. Terra provides a bedrock for composing quantum programs at the level of circuits and pulses, to optimize them for the constraints of a particular device, and to manage the execution of batches of experiments on remote-access devices.

Qiskit Aqua

Aqua, the ‘water’ element, is the element of life. To make quantum computing live up to its expectations, we need to find real-world applications. Aqua is where algorithms for NISQ computers are built. These algorithms can be used to build applications for quantum computing. Aqua is accessible to domain experts in chemistry, optimization or AI, who want to explore the benefits of using quantum computers as accelerators for specific computational tasks, without needing to worry about how to translate the problem into the language of quantum machines.

Qiskit Ignis

Ignis, the ‘fire’ element, is dedicated to fighting noise and errors and to forging a new path. This includes better characterization of errors, improving gates, and computing in the presence of noise. Ignis is meant for those who want to design quantum error correction codes, or who wish to study ways to characterize errors through methods such as tomography, or even to find a better way for using gates by exploring dynamical decoupling and optimal control. We take for granted the “error correction” techniques used for our classical computers, but the field of “Quantum” offers exciting opportunities to re-invent such techniques.

Qiskit Aer

Aer, the ‘air’ element, permeates all Qiskit elements. To really speed up development of quantum computers we need better simulators, emulators and debuggers. Here you will find already built high-quality, high-performance simulators. Aer will help us understand the limits of classical processors by demonstrating to what extent they can mimic quantum computation.

Get involved in the open source community (and become known like Picasso!)

There are many different ways to engage with the quantum community, depending on your interests and skills. You can contribute in many areas, including implementing quantum algorithms, maintaining vertical applications (chemistry, optimization, machine learning, finance), making performance improvements, and improving core infrastructure. Some very quick but valuable contributions include improving documentation and writing blog posts about getting started with tools like Qiskit. These will help the community and build your reputation.

Becoming Quantum Ready will open doors to boundless opportunities

Remember, a quantum computer is made possible, only from the combined genius of a family of researchers, engineers, developers, designers and community builders united by the challenge of harnessing nature.

Exciting roles certainly abound in the field of quantum computing:

● Superconducting Qubit Researchers; Quantum Control Researchers; Quantum Error Correction Researchers; Quantum Computer Architects; Quantum Complexity Theorists; Quantum Algorithms Researchers; Quantum Cryogenic Engineers; Quantum Microwave Engineers; Quantum FPGA Engineers; Quantum Software Developers; Quantum Community Builders; Quantum User Experience Designers

Learn more about these new age roles:

Superconducting Qubit Researchers study the fundamental element: the qubit. Superconducting qubit processor improvement is primarily driven by physicists with expertise in condensed matter physics working in close collaboration with quantum engineers.

Quantum Control Researchers study the problem of making high fidelity quantum gates. With superconducting qubits, one typically uses carefully shaped microwave pulses. A researcher in this area needs an understanding of optimal control, Hamiltonian modeling, dynamical decoupling and microwave hardware expertise.

Quantum Error Correction Researchers study codes and protocols for reliable information storage, processing, and transmission of quantum information. One of the central problems is to devise efficient methods for computing in the presence of realistic rates of control errors, decoherence, and other noise and imperfections.

Quantum Computer Architects help design the software stack that enables near-term explorations and scientific experiments with quantum computers. They define the abstraction layers for the different pieces of software and design an overall system for efficiency and scalability.

Quantum Complexity Theorists study the fundamental strengths and limitations of quantum computing as a model of computation. Complexity theorists are interested in precise classes of problems that can be solved efficiently, and classes of problems that are unlikely to ever have efficient solutions.

Quantum Algorithms Researchers explore computational problems that can be solved more efficiently by harnessing quantum effects such as quantum randomness and entanglement. They develop basic subroutines for quantum programs and identify new application areas for quantum computers.

Quantum Cryogenic Engineers study and develop the tools for keeping the systems cold. The infrastructure for a quantum computing system is very different from traditional mainframes and other classical computation hardware. In the case of superconducting qubits, this includes low-temperature (~15mK) physics know-how for cryogenic dilution refrigerator operation.

Quantum Microwave Engineers develop the packaging and microwave hygiene that makes high fidelity operation of these devices possible.

Quantum FPGA Engineers develop the tools for running more complex experiments. As these experiments get bigger, we have to move processing near the device.

Quantum Software Developers are needed to build some of the more critical parts of this quantum revolution, from the user interfaces, open source SDKs, cloud services, and APIs, down to the systems software. The developers will apply all aspects of classical computer engineering in a fast-paced DevOps environment to optimize and connect the classical and quantum worlds.

Quantum Community Builders work to make sure that the technology meets the needs of the people/users/community. Creating authentic and vibrant communities around quantum technology has to become a way of life. Community builders are the glue that help connect researchers and theorists with students, developers, practitioners, experimentalists, and enthusiasts. The IBM Q Experience and the IBM Q Network is open and accessible to all, to better facilitate the build out of the Community.

Quantum User Experience Designers bridge between the quantum community, technical requirements, data driven user research, and conceptual ideas by creating experiences that bring value to the people they serve. They start with a hypothesis and then by working with the users (students, researchers, professors, industry clients) determine how to design the experience and make sure a product is built for its users.

You see, there are lots of entry points and ways to participate in this exciting quantum movement.

Join the community and become an active contributor or simply add your voice to the chorus of quantum enthusiasts by sharing your comments below.

You have a blank canvas and you are empowered to start creating and experimenting, on your journey to becoming the next Quantum Cubist.

Good luck

Eric Tencate Schnatterly

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here and Twitter too. Reach out anytime.

The postings and opinions on this site are my own, and my views are shaped by my life experiences, successes, failures, and input from folks like you.