Germany is catching up fast in the field of quantum technology.
The Federal Ministry of Research now has more than a hundred ongoing projects dedicated to this topic on its website.
The main research areas range from the development of novel quantum materials and quantum sensors, to methods for tap-proof quantum communication, to the construction of powerful quantum computers.
Because there is no functioning quantum computer "Made in Germany" to date, but one would like to give universities, research institutes and industry the opportunity to gain experience with this type of computer, support has been obtained from computer manufacturers.
Manfred Lindinger
Editor in the department "Nature and Science".
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After the first commercial quantum computer in Europe, the IBM system "Q Systems One", went into operation in Stuttgart under the umbrella of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft last year, the Jülich research center has now followed suit. A quantum computer from the Canadian company D-Wave was officially handed over there today and in the presence of Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel (innovation, research, culture, education and youth) and the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst (CDU) started with media impact.
During one of her first appearances on Monday, the newly elected Federal Research Minister spoke of a quantum leap. "Quantum computers offer enormous opportunities for our future and for Germany as a research location." They have the potential to change our everyday lives for the better - for example with a view to the optimal use of our power grid, the optimization of investment strategies on the financial market or the design of more effective medicines.
Like the IBM computer "IBM Q Systems One", the quantum computer from D-Wave (Advantage) should be available to researchers at institutes, but also to developers in industry.
It will therefore be part of the existing infrastructure for quantum computing (JUNIQ) in Jülich, via which scientists from all over Europe have access to "Advantage", but also to the supercomputers on site and can carry out the corresponding calculations.
It is hoped that this will result in special synergy effects.
Two billion euros from the former federal government
Expectations are high. Because Advantage, like every quantum computer, uses the rules of quantum physics for its calculations, it should be able to process many tasks faster than a classic computer (see box). However, Advantage, which has over 5000 superconducting quantum bits, far more than the computers from IBM or Google, is not a quantum computer in the strict sense. To do this, the quantum physical computing units would have to be interconnected to form logical gates. In Advantage, as many qubits as possible are in a kind of collective superposition and strive towards the state of lowest energy during an ongoing calculation. If this is achieved, the result is available. Researchers therefore refer to the D-Wave system as a quantum annealer rather than a quantum computer.