SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 — A UTSA researcher is part of a collaboration that has set a world record for innovation in quantum computing. The accomplishment comes from R. Tyler Sutherland, an assistant professor in the College of Sciences’ Department of Physics and Astronomy and the College of Engineering and Integrated Design’s Department of Electrical Engineering, who developed the theory behind the record-setting experiment.
Sutherland and his team set the world record for the most accurate entangling gate ever demonstrated without lasers.
According to Sutherland, an entangling gate takes two qubits (quantum bits) and creates an operation on the secondary qubit that is conditioned on the state of the first qubit.
“For example, if the state of qubit A is 0, an entangling gate doesn’t do anything to qubit B, but if the state of qubit A is 1, then the gate flips the state of qubit B from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0,” he said. “The name comes from the fact that this can generate a quantum mechanical property called ‘entanglement’ between the qubits.”
Sutherland adds that making the entangling gates in your quantum computer “laser-free” enables more cost-effective and easier to use quantum computers. He says the price of an integrated circuit that performs a laser-free gate is negligible compared to the tens of thousands of dollars it costs for a laser that does the same thing.
“Laser-free gate methods do not have the drawbacks of photon scattering, energy, cost and calibration that are typically associated with using lasers,” Sutherland explained. “This alternative gate method matches the accuracy of lasers by instead using microwaves, which are less expensive and easier to calibrate.”
This quantum computing accomplishment is detailed in a paper Sutherland co-authored titled, “High-fidelity laser-free universal control of trapped-ion qubits.” It was published in the scientific journal, Nature, on September 8.
Quantum computers have the potential to solve certain complex problems exponentially faster than classical supercomputers.
One of the most promising uses for quantum computers is to simulate quantum mechanical processes themselves, such as chemical reactions, which could exponentially reduce the experimental trial and error required to solve difficult problems. These computers are being explored in many industries including science, engineering, finance and logistics.
“Broadly speaking, the goal of my research is to increase human control over quantum mechanics,” Sutherland said. “Giving people power over a different part of nature hands them a new toolkit. What they will eventually build with it is uncertain.”
That uncertainty, says Sutherland, is what excites him most.
Sutherland’s research background includes quantum optics, which studies how quantum mechanical systems emit light. He earned his Ph.D. at Purdue University and went on to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for his postdoc, where he began working on experimental applications for quantum computers.
He became a tenure-track assistant professor at UTSA last August as part of the university’s Quantum Computation and Quantum Information Cluster Hiring Initiative.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Finalist candidates for the dean of the College of the Sciences will discuss their vision for the college.
Assembly Room, JPL 4.04.22, Main CampusIn this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to use AI to make your voice recordings sound professional, edit with easy text-based editing, and create high-quality recordings with royalty-free music, so you can focus on your story. You will also plan your own mini-podcast during the session.
Academic Innovation Center (MS 420)Meet representatives from 80+ law schools and learn about law school programs, admission requirements, financing, scholarship opportunities.
Denman Room (SU 2.01.28) and Galleria, Student UnionHave questions about making your OER accessible on UTSA Pressbooks? The OER Team and the Digital Accessibility Team are ready to answer them! Bring your questions about OER and accessibility and receive guidance from our two teams.
Virtual EventUpon completion of this workshop, attendees will be able to: explain the history of Creative Commons, summarize the role of copyright law in the creation of Creative Commons, differentiate between different CC icons, identify the different layers and elements of CC licenses and tools, and list factors to consider when choosing a license for your project.
Virtual EventJoin UTSA Librarians for this introductory workshop for early career faculty on how to build your online scholarly identity. We will discuss how to set up author profiles as well as find existing and emerging metrics for measuring research impact, including Impact Factor, Altmetrics, and beyond.
Virtual EventThis workshop explores the intersection of digital activism, data collection, and visualization techniques in the context of gender-based violence and feminist movements. Participants will learn how to harness the power of GraphCommons to create impactful visualizations that can amplify marginalized voices and reveal hidden patterns in complex social issues.
CEDISH Co-Lab 3.02.38, 3rd Floor, John Peace LibraryThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.