John M. Martinis

Bio: John M. Martinis is an academic researcher from Google. The author has contributed to research in topics: Qubit & Quantum computer. The author has an hindex of 105, co-authored 415 publications receiving 44059 citations. Previous affiliations of John M. Martinis include National Institute of Standards and Technology & University of California, Berkeley.

Supplementary information for "Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processor"

Abstract: This is an updated version of supplementary information to accompany "Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processor", an article published in the October 24, 2019 issue of Nature. The main article is freely available at this https URL. Summary of changes since arXiv:1910.11333v1 (submitted 23 Oct 2019): added URL for qFlex source code; added Erratum section; added Figure S41 comparing statistical and total uncertainty for log and linear XEB; new References [1,65]; miscellaneous updates for clarity and style consistency; miscellaneous typographical and formatting corrections.

Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processor

Abstract: The promise of quantum computers is that certain computational tasks might be executed exponentially faster on a quantum processor than on a classical processor1. A fundamental challenge is to build a high-fidelity processor capable of running quantum algorithms in an exponentially large computational space. Here we report the use of a processor with programmable superconducting qubits2-7 to create quantum states on 53 qubits, corresponding to a computational state-space of dimension 253 (about 1016). Measurements from repeated experiments sample the resulting probability distribution, which we verify using classical simulations. Our Sycamore processor takes about 200 seconds to sample one instance of a quantum circuit a million times-our benchmarks currently indicate that the equivalent task for a state-of-the-art classical supercomputer would take approximately 10,000 years. This dramatic increase in speed compared to all known classical algorithms is an experimental realization of quantum supremacy8-14 for this specific computational task, heralding a much-anticipated computing paradigm.

Surface codes: Towards practical large-scale quantum computation

Abstract: This article provides an introduction to surface code quantum computing. We first estimate the size and speed of a surface code quantum computer. We then introduce the concept of the stabilizer, using two qubits, and extend this concept to stabilizers acting on a two-dimensional array of physical qubits, on which we implement the surface code. We next describe how logical qubits are formed in the surface code array and give numerical estimates of their fault tolerance. We outline how logical qubits are physically moved on the array, how qubit braid transformations are constructed, and how a braid between two logical qubits is equivalent to a controlled-not. We then describe the single-qubit Hadamard, Ŝ and T operators, completing the set of required gates for a universal quantum computer. We conclude by briefly discussing physical implementations of the surface code. We include a number of Appendices in which we provide supplementary information to the main text. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator

Abstract: Quantum mechanics provides a highly accurate description of a wide variety of physical systems. However, a demonstration that quantum mechanics applies equally to macroscopic mechanical systems has been a long-standing challenge, hindered by the difficulty of cooling a mechanical mode to its quantum ground state. The temperatures required are typically far below those attainable with standard cryogenic methods, so significant effort has been devoted to developing alternative cooling techniques. Once in the ground state, quantum-limited measurements must then be demonstrated. Here, using conventional cryogenic refrigeration, we show that we can cool a mechanical mode to its quantum ground state by using a microwave-frequency mechanical oscillator—a ‘quantum drum’—coupled to a quantum bit, which is used to measure the quantum state of the resonator. We further show that we can controllably create single quantum excitations (phonons) in the resonator, thus taking the first steps to complete quantum control of a mechanical system. The bizarre, often counter-intuitive predictions of quantum mechanics have been observed in atomic-scale optical and electrical systems, but efforts to demonstrate that quantum mechanics applies equally to a mechanical system, especially one large enough to be seen with the naked eye, have proved challenging. The difficulty is cooling a mechanical system to its quantum ground state, where all classical noise is eliminated. A team at the Department of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has overcome this obstacle. Using conventional cryogenic refrigeration, they cool a mechanical resonator with a very high oscillation frequency to one-fortieth of a degree above absolute zero. This resonator, called a 'quantum drum', is coupled to a superconducting quantum bit that acts as a quantum thermometer to detect whether there are any excitations left in the resonator. When it is confirmed there are none, it is further shown that a single quantum of excitation, a phonon, can be introduced in this system and exchanged between resonator and qubit many times, thereby taking the first steps towards complete quantum control of a mechanical system. Quantum mechanics provides an accurate description of a wide variety of physical systems but it is very challenging to prove that it also applies to macroscopic (classical) mechanical systems. This is because it has been impossible to cool a mechanical mode to its quantum ground state, in which all classical noise is eliminated. Recently, various mechanical devices have been cooled to a near-ground state, but this paper demonstrates the milestone result of a piezoelectric resonator with a mechanical mode cooled to its quantum ground state.

Superconducting quantum circuits at the surface code threshold for fault tolerance

Abstract: A quantum computer can solve hard problems, such as prime factoring, database searching and quantum simulation, at the cost of needing to protect fragile quantum states from error. Quantum error correction provides this protection by distributing a logical state among many physical quantum bits (qubits) by means of quantum entanglement. Superconductivity is a useful phenomenon in this regard, because it allows the construction of large quantum circuits and is compatible with microfabrication. For superconducting qubits, the surface code approach to quantum computing is a natural choice for error correction, because it uses only nearest-neighbour coupling and rapidly cycled entangling gates. The gate fidelity requirements are modest: the per-step fidelity threshold is only about 99 per cent. Here we demonstrate a universal set of logic gates in a superconducting multi-qubit processor, achieving an average single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.92 per cent and a two-qubit gate fidelity of up to 99.4 per cent. This places Josephson quantum computing at the fault-tolerance threshold for surface code error correction. Our quantum processor is a first step towards the surface code, using five qubits arranged in a linear array with nearest-neighbour coupling. As a further demonstration, we construct a five-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state using the complete circuit and full set of gates. The results demonstrate that Josephson quantum computing is a high-fidelity technology, with a clear path to scaling up to large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum circuits.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

Abstract: Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Reaction-rate theory: fifty years after Kramers

Abstract: The calculation of rate coefficients is a discipline of nonlinear science of importance to much of physics, chemistry, engineering, and biology. Fifty years after Kramers' seminal paper on thermally activated barrier crossing, the authors report, extend, and interpret much of our current understanding relating to theories of noise-activated escape, for which many of the notable contributions are originating from the communities both of physics and of physical chemistry. Theoretical as well as numerical approaches are discussed for single- and many-dimensional metastable systems (including fields) in gases and condensed phases. The role of many-dimensional transition-state theory is contrasted with Kramers' reaction-rate theory for moderate-to-strong friction; the authors emphasize the physical situation and the close connection between unimolecular rate theory and Kramers' work for weakly damped systems. The rate theory accounting for memory friction is presented, together with a unifying theoretical approach which covers the whole regime of weak-to-moderate-to-strong friction on the same basis (turnover theory). The peculiarities of noise-activated escape in a variety of physically different metastable potential configurations is elucidated in terms of the mean-first-passage-time technique. Moreover, the role and the complexity of escape in driven systems exhibiting possibly multiple, metastable stationary nonequilibrium states is identified. At lower temperatures, quantum tunneling effects start to dominate the rate mechanism. The early quantum approaches as well as the latest quantum versions of Kramers' theory are discussed, thereby providing a description of dissipative escape events at all temperatures. In addition, an attempt is made to discuss prominent experimental work as it relates to Kramers' reaction-rate theory and to indicate the most important areas for future research in theory and experiment.