NIST has been at the forefront of quantum computing research since the 1990s, making significant contributions to the field. Their work has focused on developing techniques to harness quantum mechanics for information processing tasks that are impossible for classical computers.
One of NIST’s earliest achievements was demonstrating the first deterministic multi-qubit logic gate using trapped ions in 1995. Since then, NIST mathematicians and statisticians have made fundamental contributions to the development of techniques for assessing the fidelity of quantum states and processes.
In 2004, NIST researchers demonstrated deterministic quantum teleportation of atomic qubits, and in 2005, they showed how quantum computations could be done with devices with an error rate as high as 3%, provided that one is willing to pay a larger price in error correction overhead.
NIST has also developed randomized benchmarking, a method for assessing the fidelity of gate operations while verifying the stability of a system for long computations. This technique has become an important tool for quantum experimentalists.
In 2014, NIST established the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS) in collaboration with the University of Maryland and the National Security Agency/Central Security Service. QuICS has quickly established itself as one of the premier research institutes focusing on quantum computer science.
The importance of fundamental research for NIST led to the creation of QuICS, where researchers work on understanding how quantum systems can be effectively used to store, transport and process information.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/mathematics-statistics/quantum-information-theory
Keywords: qubits, quantum, computations, fidelity, quantization
