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As a physics Ph.D. student at Hebrew University<\/a> in Israel in the \u201990s, Daniel Lidar<\/a> met a fellow graduate student studying quantum computing, then in its infancy. After she told him about Shor\u2019s algorithm, a quantum algorithm that could hypothetically break classical cryptographic systems, a fascinated Lidar immediately shifted his academic focus. \u201cI haven\u2019t looked back since,\u201d said Lidar, holder of the Viterbi Professorship of Engineering and director of the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n For nearly 30 years, he has assiduously worked to help quantum computing reach its considerable potential, moving it from the realm of science fiction to practicality \u2014 most recently with the launch of a promising startup.<\/p>\n Lidar has co-edited the main reference book on quantum error correction. He has led research teams for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency<\/a> (DARPA) project to develop enhanced quantum optimization and two Defense Department-sponsored Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative<\/a> (MURI) awards to investigate quantum error correction and quantum control. Two years ago, Lidar and one of his graduate students experimentally demonstrated, using IBM quantum computers, the first quantum speedup over the most efficient classical computer algorithm possible, a major breakthrough.<\/p>\n Scientists believe quantum computing could one day hasten lifesaving drug discoveries and improve energy efficiency by running complex mathematical simulation models exponentially faster than traditional computers. Quantum might also increase battery storage for solar and solve tough optimization problems, among other advances.<\/p>\n Unlike traditional or classical computing, quantum computers \u2014 first envisioned by U.S. physicists Paul Benioff<\/a> and Richard Feynman<\/a>, and Russian mathematician Yuri Manin, in 1980 \u2014 use qubits that exist in superposition states, or many states simultaneously. That allows for much quicker computations than is possible classically, with the speedup gap growing as the problem size increases.<\/p>\n However, maintaining delicate quantum superposition states has proven incredibly challenging because of so-called \u201cdecoherence,\u201d which is caused by such factors as thermal fluctuations, quantum noise and stray electromagnetic radiation. Quantum computers \u201ccan solve nontrivial computational problems, but they\u2019re still very error-prone,\u201d Lidar said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of potential but few real-world applications at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n He aims to change that.<\/p>\n Daniel Lidar (Photo\/USC Viterbi)<\/p>\n Lidar, Izhar Medalsy<\/a>, a serial tech entrepreneur, and Harvard physics Professor Amir Yacoby<\/a> have co-founded Quantum Elements<\/a> to unlock the power of quantum computing. The trio has developed AI-enhanced software that improves calibration and suppresses and corrects errors associated with quantum computing, addressing the substantial tune-up and decoherence problems that have long plagued quantum.<\/p>\n \u201cI see Quantum Elements as the glue between quantum hardware and quantum applications, and that glue is necessary in order to realize the potential of quantum computing,\u201d Lidar said. \u201cWe aim to be like the piano tuners of quantum computers.\u201d<\/p>\n Medalsy, Quantum Elements CEO, said the company\u2019s initial customers include the makers of quantum machines, developers of quantum chips and users of quantum computers. At present, there are about 100 commercial quantum computers. They include the D-Wave Advantage<\/a>, equipped with more than 5,000 qubits (the world\u2019s largest specialized quantum computer), and hosted and operated at USC\u2019s Information Sciences Institute<\/a>; and IBM\u2019s growing fleet of general-purpose quantum computers with hundreds of qubits, operated from the USC-IBM Quantum Innovation Center<\/a> \u2014 both of which are under Lidar\u2019s direction. Universities and other organizations have about 1,000 quantum devices, mostly with less computing power.<\/p>\n The relatively small market notwithstanding, Medalsy believes Quantum Elements\u2019 software will dramatically grow the sector \u2014 and company sales \u2014 by \u201cdemocratizing this industry and making quantum computers extremely accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n Added Lidar: \u201cFueled by the synergy between academic discovery and commercial entrepreneurship, we\u2019re finally nearing the breakout moment for quantum computing that will be transformative, much like the recent dawn of the generative AI era.\u201d<\/p>\n Published on August 12th, 2025<\/p>\n Last updated on August 12th, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Photo\/Courtesy of LTX Studio) As a physics Ph.D. student at Hebrew University in Israel in the \u201990s, Daniel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[64,63,257,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-63571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-computing","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Lidar-Photo.jpeg\")
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