Digital-analogue quantum computing gets a boost with PASQAL's Qadence

This week quantum computing startup PASQAL announced the launch of Qadence, an open source Python library that streamlines the process of building and executing digital-analog quantum programs on interacting qubit systems. 

Digital analogue quantum computing (DAQC) aims to combine the precision of digital quantum computing with the continuous control and interactions of analogue quantum computing. In the expanding quantum computing landscape, there has been increased interest. 

The next generation PASQAL’s neutral atoms quantum computers will be capable of natively executing digital-analogue quantum algorithms.

Qadence accelerates the evolution of DAQC and quantum machine learning by offering a simplified interface, allowing developers to: 

• Easily construct analog and digital-analogue quantum algorithmsSeamlessly transition from simulations to real devices, such as PASQAL’s neutral atoms quantum computers
• Easily express complex interaction among qubits and readily incorporate them into efficient executions on simulator backends.
• Translate certain types of analogue or digital-analogue operations into numerically efficient simulations similar to digital quantum circuits.
• General and higher-order parameter shift rules for efficient differentiation of digital-analogue quantum programs

“Qadence fills a gap in the current quantum software ecosystem by providing a user-friendly interface for the increasingly popular digital-analogue quantum computing and accelerating the research in quantum machine learning leveraging this approach,” says Mario Dagrada, VP of Quantum Software at PASQAL.

PASQAL builds quantum computers from ordered neutral atoms in 2D and 3D arrays to bring a practical quantum advantage to its customers and address real-world problems. Its quantum computers control neutral atoms with optical tweezers, using laser light to manipulate quantum registers with up to a few hundred qubits.

Founded in 2019, the company spun out of Institut d’Optique, and its co-founders include Alain Aspect, who won a Nobel Prize for his work on quantum entanglement in 2022.

PASQAL has secured more than €140 million in financing to date.

Lead image: The Digital Artist.