What is JAQAL
Quantum Computing is a buzzword but it got really hyped when Google announced its quantum computer last year. The Google quantum computer is good and all but is focused more on developing processors for a quantum computer.
The ion-based qubits are more stable and easier to scale than chip-based qubits. Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed (QSCOUT) developed an assembly language for ion-based quantum computers. The ion trap QSCOUT set up uses ytterbium-171 ions held in 3D with appropriate electromagnetic fields. The trap was launched with 3 qubits but will be subsequently updated to 10 qubits in 2021 itself.
The Sandia National Laboratories is an open-source quantum computer project which aims to bridge the gap between quantum software and hardware. The Lab aims to leverage its quantum computing project QSCOUT to run the programs written by researchers from around the world.
As mentioned earlier, QSCOUT contains levitating ions in a vacuum chamber. The UV rays lasers are used to execute the algorithms and change the state of the qubits. The algorithms are written in the quantum assembly language developed by the Lab. They call the language, Just Another Quantum Computing Language(JAQAL).
Although bigger quantum computers are already available by IBM and Google, QSCOUT offers a unique opportunity when it comes to understanding the internal working of quantum computers. The superconducting gates in the quantum computing circuits are fast but they are also very unstable and lose coherence in less than a second.
The ion-trapping technology built by IonQ helps QSCOUT maintain its computational coherence. The ion-trapping qubits are more stable than gate-based quantum circuits. But the real advantage of which JAQAL offers is not the performance but the finer details at which it can help the quantum computing enthusiasts play with it. What QSCOUT offers is a breadboard while the larger companies are offering printed circuits. So, you have a greater say when it comes to plugging and playing with the instruction set architecture. It even allows you to build your own architecture.
As the practical knowledge in the quantum computing field is still on the basic level, it is very important to give this freedom to their users. The target users of this language are computer scientists around the world who want to experiment with quantum computing in a controlled environment. Most of the commercial systems optimize your programs to maximize their performance, which does not leave much to be done from an end-user perspective. The commercial systems available today are affected by external noise and need a very controlled environment so a need for this language is felt more.
Jaqal currently supports some basic instructions like rotating the ions from their current state, initializing them with a beginner state or entangling them too, and finally reading the end state.
The great feature about using this language is that it helps us to do partial measurements. Partial measurements mean that we can measure the results of calculations in the intermediate steps and adjust our calculations accordingly. This was not possible with commercial gate-based systems and can now be done with JAQAL.
Also, users can also write their own custom functions to perform calculations using qubits. They predict that the practical programs will be more of an intermix between the classical and quantum world. Thus, they have devised a python package. The python package provides a JAQAL emulator and also includes commands which help JAQAL code to be included as a part of a larger codebase.
This is only the beginning of quantum computing architecture. Building a full-fledged quantum computer for our homes will require us to focus on developing different parts of it. It feels happy and satisfying that such innovations come forth from different parts of the world.
In the next article, I will let you know of the first operating system for a quantum computer. So, stay tuned, and do not forget to leave an appreciation comment below. Your comments keep me motivated to bring forth such content.
