Entropy Quantum Computing Overview

In quantum information processing, loss and noise are usually detrimental and must be minimized. While this challenge is technically solvable through error correction, the overheads are very large, for example under reasonable assumptions about noise, one error corrected “logical” qubit would require many physical qubits to create. Error correction is only even possible if error rates are already very low (theoretically up to around 3%, but requiring less than 1% error rates to be practical). Protecting from noise translates to exceeding challenges in quantum system manufacture and operations, and has been the bottleneck preventing the scaling up of the qubit number and connectivity. 

With entropy quantum computing, we flip the coin around. Instead of trying to avoid loss and noise, we harness them to build quantum machines whose capacity and speed could outmatch existing computing modalities. 

This fundamentally new quantum computing approach is called Entropy Quantum Computing (EQC). It roots deeply in the intriguing principles of quantum mechanics. First, loss or decoherence of a quantum state occurs through its coupling to an entropy source with many degrees of freedom. The apparent diminishing of quantum characteristics as a result is just a statistically averaged manifestation of many possible outcomes of such coupling. Secondly, vacuum is never quiet, although it does not appear to contain any energy or particles. There are, in fact, enormous amounts of random fluctuations occurring at all times in each of the vacuum mode. These fluctuations are not just abstract mathematics, they can lead to real observable physical forces on small metal plates. These fluctuations are a fundamental part of quantum physics, if we “squeeze” and reduce the fluctuations in one place, uncertainty and therefore fluctuations fundamentally must increase somewhere else.

EQC is conceived and developed with those intriguing quantum principles. Rather than trying to create and manipulate pristine qubits isolated from the environment, the EQC paradigm is based on using loss and decoherence, and turning entropy into super-power fuels for its computing engine. In sharp contrast to many existing quantum platforms, there is no need for cryogenic or isolated housing, and the implementation can use integrated photonics, leading to SWAP-C friendly devices, just like regular PC’s.

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For a detailed explanation, read our paper Entropy Computing: A Paradigm for Optimization in an Open Quantum System. A list of publications related to entropy quantum computing can be found here.