The first algorithm on an Italian public quantum computer at University of Napoli “Federico II”

The public quantum computer is now a reality at the Federico II University and is open to the community. The first Italian public solid-state quantum computer was built in the laboratories of the Department of Physics ‘E. Pancini’ and in recent weeks the first hybrid classical/quantum algorithm was successfully executed. The computer currently uses a 5-bit quantum processor (qubit) in superconducting cooled in a dilution cryostat at temperatures close to absolute zero (10 milliKelvin). This first experiment is based on a grounded expertise at Federico II in superconducting quantum electronics and macroscopic quantum phenomena and was possible thanks to the collaboration with the Quantware industry that built the processor.

The group led by Professors Francesco Tafuri and Giovanni Piero Pepe designed and assembled the experimental set-up, integrated the quantum processor and developed the measurement protocols with fundamental contributions from researchers Davide Massarotti, Halima Giovanna Ahmad, Domenico Montemurro and PhD student Pasquale Mastrovito, among others. The algorithm, based on artificial intelligence methodologies, was designed and implemented by Professor Giovanni Acampora and researcher Autilia Vitiello, also thanks to the contribution of PhD students Roberto Schiattarella and Angela Chiatto, and minimizes the effect of “quantum noise”, making the calculation more reliable and usable in real operational contexts. The algorithm was successfully tested on the UNINA quantum computer, validating the preliminary results obtained on an IBM quantum simulator.