Google Announces Public Alpha Version of 'Cirq' Open Source Framework for Quantum Computer NISQ

In recent years, the Google Quantum AI team has announced the public alpha version of the framework " Cirq " for the quantum gate model NISQ in order to widely utilize the evolutionary quantum computing.

Google AI Blog: Announcing Cirq: An Open Source Framework for NISQ Algorithms
https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/07/announcing-cirq-open-source-framework.html

In the world of quantum computing, the development of quantum algorithms has also grown similarly as hardware evolves. Unlike conventional computers that perform all calculations with "0" and "1", quantum computers that can perform calculations with "0" and "1" overlapping using " Quantum entanglement " can, in principle, It is said that the operation can be performed exponentially faster than the conventional computer.

However, the processor implemented with the quantum computer model called "Quantum Gate Model" has a lot of noise in the qubit, and medium size machines with about 50 to 100 qubits are mainstream. Such a gate model with a lot of noise and strong analog characteristics without error correction function is called "Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ)". Cirq is a Python framework that allows you to create, edit and execute this NISQ, and users can write algorithms for quantum processors.

The public alpha version of Cirq, which Google announced at the international workshop of "Quantum Software and Quantum Machine Learning (QSQM)" held for the first time in the world, is a "near-term" quantum He focused on computer problems and said that it helps researchers understand whether NISQ quantum computers can solve practically important computational problems. Cirq has a license for Apache 2 and can be changed or embedded in a commercial or open source package.

Users will be able to write quantum algorithms for specific quantum processors by installing Cirq. Cirq will give the user fine-tuning control of the quantum circuit, designating the gate operation using the native gate, placing an appropriate gate on the device, and scheduling these gate timings within the constraints of the quantum hardware. The data structure is optimized for writing and compiling these quantum circuits so that users can take full advantage of the NISQ architecture. Cirq supports running these algorithms locally on the simulator and is designed to be easily integrated with future quantum hardware or larger simulator via the cloud.

Google also announces the release of " OpenFermion-Cirq " which is an example of Cirq based applications. OpenFermion is a platform for developing quantum algorithms for chemical problems and OpenFermion-Cirq is an open source library that compiles quantum simulation algorithms to Cirq. Using this library it is possible to easily construct quantum variation algorithms to simulate the properties of molecules and complex materials.

In constructing Cirq, we are getting feedback on algorithm design in cooperation with each company of the initial tester. It seems that examples of utilization of Cirq found from the effort are as follows.

· Zapata Computing : Simulation of quantum auto encoder ( sample code and video tutorial )
· QC Ware : Implementation of QAOA (Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm) and its integration into AQUA platform ( sample code and video tutorial )
· Quantum Benchmark : Integration of True-Q software tools for evaluation and expansion of hardware functions ( video tutorial )
· Heisenberg Quantum Simulations : Simulation of Anderson impurity model · Cambridge Quantum Computing : Integration of company's proprietary quantum compiler 't | ket>' ( video tutorial )
· NASA : architecture compatible compiler based on time planning of QAOA and quantum computer simulator

Cirq is available from the following Github repository.

Cirq / tutorial.md at master · quantumlib / Cirq · GitHub
https://github.com/quantumlib/Cirq/blob/master/docs/tutorial.md