Xanadu Awarded DARPA Grant to Develop Novel Quantum Compiler for NISQ-Based Machines

(Finance.Yahoo) Xanadu has been awarded a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant. The grant will enable Xanadu to develop a unique general-purpose “circuit-cutting” compiler which can automatically break down a circuit into a multi-circuit hybrid model—leveraging both classical and quantum computing—which will be ideal for near-term quantum computers. This is Xanadu’s second grant from DARPA, after successfully completing an initial grant on quantum machine learning using PennyLane.
“With PennyLane, these complex hybrid models can be run for the user seamlessly on the quantum hardware or simulators of their choice.” said Nathan Killoran, who heads up Xanadu’s Quantum Software & Algorithms team. “Using these tools, we plan to run quantum algorithms which would natively require 100+ qubits using quantum hardware and simulators containing only 10-30 qubits.”
Xanadu will leverage the expertise of its in-house team of dedicated quantum programmers and scientists, whose work in quantum computing is globally recognized, to carry out the DARPA-funded research project over a twenty-four-month period. “If successful, this project will have a wide impact on the entire community working with present-day quantum computers,” said Christian Weedbrook, the company’s founder and CEO. “It will allow everyone to run larger-scale quantum computations than they currently can—without needing access to more powerful quantum processors.”