Music inspired William Oliver’s lifelong passion for computers.
Growing up in the Finger Lakes area of New York, he was a strong keyboard player. “But I got into music school by voice,” says Oliver, “because it was a little easier. ”
But once in school, first at Fredonia New York State University then Rochester University, he almost shouted away from challenge. “I was studying audio recording technology, which led me to process digital signals,” Oliver explained. “And that took me to computers.” Twenty-five years later, he still holds on to them.
Oliver, a recent associate professor in MIT ‘s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is building a new class of computer – the quantum computer – with the potential to significantly improve the way we process information. and simulating complex systems. Quantum computing is still at an early stage, and Oliver aims to take the field out of the lab and into the real world. “Our mission is to build the basic technologies necessary to grow oceanic computing,” he says.
Coast to coast and back again
Oliver had his first stop at MIT as a master’s student in the Media Lab with consultant Tod Machover. Their interactive Brain Opera project was like Oliver’s love for both music and computing. Oliver set up consumer voices with “angelic arpeggiation of sequences and choruses.” The project was unveiled at the Haus der Musik museum in Vienna. “It was a fantastic masterpiece project. I really enjoyed it, ”said Oliver. “But the question was ‘OK, what do I do next?’ ”
Wanting a new challenge, Oliver chose to explore more basic research. “I found ocean mechanics to be very interesting and exciting,” says Oliver. So he traveled to Stanford University to earn a PhD studying quantum optics using free electricity. “I feel very fortunate to have been able to do these experiments, which are not used at all in practice, but that allowed me to think deeply about quantum mechanics,” he says.
Oliver ‘s time was lucky too. It was integrated into quantum mechanics just as the field of quantum computing was emerging. A classic computer, like the one you are using to read this story, stores information in binary pieces, each of which has a value of 0 or 1.. In contrast, a quantum computer stores information in qubits, each of which can be 0, 1, or any combination of 0 and 1 at the same time, thanks to a mechanical phenomenon called superposition. That means that quantum computers can process information much faster than classical computers, in some cases completing tasks in minutes where a classic computer would take thousands of years – at least in theory. When Oliver was completing his PhD, quantum computing was his childhood field, more of an idea than a fact. But Oliver seized the potential of oceanic computing, so he returned to MIT to help him grow.
An qubitary qubit
Ocean computers are very inconsistent. That’s partly because these superbit qubit states are fragile. In a process called decoherence, qubits can err and lose their quantum information from the slightest disturbance or lack of material. In 2003, Oliver took on the role of staff at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory to help solve problems such as decoherence. His goal, along with colleagues Terry Orlando, Leonya Levitov, and Seth Lloyd, was to invent reliable quantum computer systems that can be set up for manual use. “Ocean computing is moving from scientific curiosity to technical reality,” says Oliver. “We know it works to a small extent. And we are now trying to increase the size of the systems so that we can solve problems that are meaningful. ”
Even background levels of radiation can trigger a decline in millions alone. Recently Nature paper, Oliver and his colleagues, including physics professor Joe Formaggio, described this problem and suggested ways to shelter lumps from damaging radiation, such as protected by lead.
It is quick to emphasize the role of collaboration in solving these complex challenges. “The invention of these quantum systems into useful tools at a larger scale is required in almost every department of the Institute,” says Oliver. In his own research, he picks up qubits from electrical circuits in supercooled aluminum directly to a marrow warmer than absolute zero. At that temperature, the system loses electrical resistance and can be used as an anharmonic oscillator that stores quantum information. Engineering in such a complex system to process information reliably means “we need to bring in a lot of people with their own talents,” says Oliver.
“For example, material scientists have a lot to say about the materials and the defects on the surfaces,” he said. “Electrical engineers have something to say about making and controlling the qubits. Computer scientists and applied mathematicians will have something about the algorithms. Chemists and biologists know the hard problems to be solved. And so on. “When he first joined Lincoln Laboratory, Oliver says only two Lincoln employees focused on quantum technologies. That number now exceeds 100 .
In 2015, Oliver founded the Quantum Systems Engineering (EQuS) group to focus specifically on qubit superconducting technology. He is also a Lincoln Laboratory Fellow, director of the MIT Center for Quantum Engineering, and associate director of the electronic research laboratory.
Quantum future
Oliver sees a growing place for ocean computing. Already, Google has proven for a specific function, that a 53-qubit quantum computer can go far beyond even the largest supercomputer in the world, consisting of a rectangle of transistors. “It was like Kitty Hawk’s flight,” said Oliver. “He went off the ground.”
In the short term, Oliver believes that quantum and classical computers could work as partners. The classic machine would master through an algorithm, removing specific calculations to run the quantum computer before its qubits began. In the long run, Oliver argues that error correction codes could enable quantum computers to operate indefinitely, even though some individual components are still faulty. “And that’s where universal quantum computers will be,” says Oliver. “They will be able to run any quantum algorithm to a large extent.” This could enable much better simulations of complex systems in areas such as molecular biology, quantum chemistry and climate.
Oliver will continue to push quantum computing towards that reality. “Real achievements have been made,” he said. “At the same time, on the theoretical side, there are real problems that we could solve if a quantum computer were large enough. “While he is aiming to further his oceanic computing mission, Oliver has not lost his interest in music. Although, he says, he rarely sings these days: “Only in the shower. ”