14 innovations from Bar-Ilan University, available for licensing, co-investment, or spin-out through BIRAD.
Adi Makmal
Variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) is a recent family of quantum algorithms, applicable for a large set of theoretical and industrial optimization problems, form computational chemistry, through combinaotrial problems to machine learning tasks. All these problems are classically intractable and the hope is that quantum computers through VQAs could offer better or more efficient solutions. However, despite significant research efforts, their performance often falls short. Pulse optimization strategies for VQAs operate directly at the pulse level instead of following the traditional gate optimization process. This approach provides more adaptability and the potential for quicker execution. In the invention presented here, we further develop a freestyle pulse optimization method which doesn't set specific limitations on the pulse form beyond those that are set by the hardware itself. Rather, the pulse is broken down into a sequence of constant-amplitude pulses, with each one being fine-tuned individually. In comparison to previous literature, our scheme stands out in that in addition to each qubit having its own distinct freestyle pulse channel, which is optimized individually, we also account for a dedicated channel for every qubit pair, as natively designed in several super conducting qubit platforms, thereby ensuring optimal flexibility and expressiveness.
Peer Avraham
The discovery describes an innovative source of broad-band, highly-coherent quantum light and high-efficiency photon-pair generation with low pump power. Additionally, a novel method for self-measurement of the quantum coherence is described - the source itself can be used to measure its own performance. The source is based on a nonlinear crystal with polished and coated end facets to create a monolithic broad-band Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO). Its advantages over common sources of nonlinear crystals in single-pass include: 1. A monolithic OPO provides ideal coherence quality due to minimizing internal losses to a minimum. 2. The required pump power for a given photon flux is low. The threshold for lasing in such a source can be low (less than 5 watts, sometimes down to hundreds of milliwatts, depending on design). 3. Integral dispersion compensation in the crystal mirrors ensures a maximal bandwidth of tens of nanometers and above, generating many pairs of squeezed photons and allowing for a very high flux of entangled photons - up to terahertz pairs per second, which is a significant advantage for quantum communication applications in wavelength-division multiplexing. 4. Mode spacing convenient for telecom (around 10 GHz) in the telecommunication range (1550 nanometers) allows for the construction of separate channels, which is crucial for communication applications. 5. The monolithic design of the OPO ensures passive stability, which facilitates the feedback loop for stabilizing the pump laser to the resonator frequency. Moreover, the concentric design of the resonator ensures stability and resistance to spatial misalignments. Furthermore, the discovery includes a method for self-measurement of the generated coherence using parametric homodyne detection within the crystal itself. Specifically, by operating the monolithic source in a ring resonator configuration, the source can be used in one direction (with the clock) to generate quantum light, and in the opposite direction for measurement, enabling wide-bandwidth homodyne-based measurement, as described in the accompanying documents. Together, the source and measurement method provide a foundation for various applications of quantum technology, such as secure quantum communication (QKD) and wide-bandwidth quantum sensing.
Adi Makmal
We developed a new quantum algorithm, termed QEMC, that is specifically designed for finding heuristic solutions for the MaxCut problem, a well-studied NP-hard combinatorial problem, with very few qubits. Our method uses a novel information encoding scheme that requires $log{N}$ qubits to address $N$-node graphs, an exponential reduction compared to QAOA. This significant qubit reduction results in shallower quantum circuits, which are more resistant to noise.
Strelniker Yakov
It is shown that when approaching the percolation threshold of a superconductor-insulator metamaterial, the critical temperature Tc can be significantly increased up to near-room temperature. This is due to the appearance of a negative permittivity near criticality. This yields electrons to experience attraction instead of repulsion, which leads the formation of Cooper electron pairs and, consequently, to superconductivity. The negative permittivity is found theoretically in the metal-dielectric superconducting metamaterial using the symmetric self-consistent effective medium approximation (SEMA) together with the Drude model of metal conductivity in the quasistatic limit. This negative permittivity value is substituted into the formula for the critical temperature, derived by the well accepted Ginzburg-Kirzhnits-Pashitskii theory which describes superconductivity in terms of permittivity where the concept of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) has been employed. All analytical evaluations are exact within the framework of SEMA. We also provide a qualitative physical explanation for this theoretical prediction.
Kalisky Beena
The present invention relates to methods and systems for locally inducing superconductivity in a solid-state material by applying a mechanical stimulus. In particular, superconductivity is activated in selected regions of a material that is non-superconducting or weakly superconducting in its initial state, through direct physical contact (stress) applied in a controlled manner. The induced superconducting state is spatially confined to the contacted regions and can be patterned with high spatial resolution, enabling the “writing” of superconducting structures such as lines, points, or arbitrary geometries. The strength and extent of the induced superconductivity depend on parameters, including the magnitude and duration of the applied mechanical stress. In this work, the method is demonstrated in trigonal PtBi2, where localized mechanical contact results in the emergence of type-II superconductivity accompanied by vortex formation. This opens the way for similar capabilities in other material systems.
Amikam Levy
The invention provides a method for designing and implementing frequency-domain filter functions in quantum systems through dynamically invariant control fields. Unlike traditional dynamical decoupling methods, which derive spectral properties post hoc from time-domain sequences, this method analytically constructs time-dependent Hamiltonians that realize arbitrary spectral responses, including multi-band and phase-sensitive profiles. The approach utilizes the formalism of dynamical invariants to ensure exact state evolution and robustness to drive-amplitude errors. Experimental implementation on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond demonstrates enhanced coherence preservation and signal selectivity beyond conventional control protocols.
Stern Michael
See details in attached document.
Fridman Mordechai
The present invention relates to optical and quantum sensing systems that utilize synthetic temporal gauge fields to perform ultrafast and noise-resilient measurements. More specifically, the invention describes an interferometric sensing architecture in which an external signal is converted into a gauge-invariant temporal phase, analogous to a temporal Aharonov–Bohm (AB) effect, and is subsequently measured through interferometric or correlation-based detection. In the disclosed system, correlated optical modes are generated using a parametric process, such as four-wave mixing or parametric amplification, forming a temporal interferometric structure. The optical modes propagate through a dispersive or time-lens-based section, in which a time-dependent modulation is applied. This modulation produces a synthetic temporal gauge potential that induces a relative phase shift between the correlated modes. The accumulated phase depends on the temporal profile of the modulation and constitutes a gauge-invariant quantity analogous to the Aharonov–Bohm phase in conventional electromagnetic systems. After the gauge-induced phase is acquired, the optical modes are recombined in a second parametric or interferometric stage. The output signal depends on the accumulated gauge phase and is detected using intensity, interferometric, or correlation-based measurements. Because the sensed quantity is a gauge-invariant phase, the system exhibits reduced sensitivity to local perturbations, amplitude noise, and certain environmental fluctuations, thereby enabling more robust and accurate measurements. The invention enables sensing of a wide variety of external signals, including but not limited to: ultrafast phase or delay variations, time-dependent electrical or optical modulation signals, radio-frequency or microwave waveforms, dynamic optical path variations. The sensing mechanism is fundamentally different from conventional phase or amplitude modulation techniques, as the measured signal is encoded in a synthetic gauge phase rather than in a local field interaction. This approach allows ultrafast operation, compatibility with both classical and quantum optical regimes, and the possibility of enhanced sensitivity through parametric or correlation-based readout. The disclosed architecture may be implemented using temporal SU(1,1) interferometers, time-lens systems, dispersive optical elements, electro-optic modulators, or other time-dependent phase modulation devices. The system can operate with classical optical fields, single photons, or entangled photon pairs, and may be configured for various sensing, metrology, and signal-processing applications.
Strelniker Yakov
We predicted that the negative permittivity can be used for attraction of like charged particles instead of repulsion. This can lead to creation of electron-electron pairs similar to Cooper pairs (with possibilities to reach superconductivity at room temperature). This phenomenon can be used also for nucleus-nucleus pairing with possibilities of low energy nuclear fusion. Negative values of permittivity we propose to achieve due to the localized surface plasmon resonances in metamaterials. These resonance frequencies can be varied over a wide range by application of static magnetic or electric fields.
Adi Makmal
Graph analysis constitutes a foundational framework across modern data science, infrastructure engineering, and computational modeling, serving as the core mathematical architecture for mapping complex relational dependencies in real-world systems The present invention introduces a novel, scalable quantum computational framework and algorithmic process designed to generate exponentially large, non-trivial mathematical graphs that are directly mapped into highly compact quantum physical operators. This is in contrast to conventional techniques that yield complex, unmanageable operator expressions requiring an exponential number of terms relative to the number of system qubits. The process operates by first constructing a highly symmetric, spectrally-solvable structural backbone known as a 'Skeleton Laplacian Hamiltonian' utilizing a restricted Pauli operator subset (consisting purely of tensor products of Identity and Pauli-X operators, excluding the all-identity string). This structural backbone maps an unweighted d-regular skeleton graph using an extremely sparse allocation of only (d + 1) Pauli string terms, thereby completely decoupling the physical description length from the overall network size. To bypass structural and spectral triviality while retaining strict logarithmic scaling, the invention establishes a localized embedding process. Small graphs are encoded through a standard basis element outer-product structure and directly injected as localized structural modifications into specified coordinates of the global Skeleton backbone. This mechanism disrupts the macro-level structural symmetries of the skeleton network in a controlled manner, successfully creating complex and highly scalable graph architectures. Consequently, the complete global graph matrix Laplacian operator is accurately expressed on real physical quantum hardware utilizing a strictly constrained allocation of only q = log(n) qubits and an efficient polylogarithmic O(polylog(n)) number of physical Pauli string operators. This method unlocks the ability to analyze exponentially large graphs on quantum hardware of exponentially large graphs using quantum algorithms, extending the reach of quantum algorithms into scale where classical tools are no longer applicable, with applications in optimization processes and large scale data analysis.
Cohen Eliahu
Systems and methods are described for quantum information retrieval. An example system may include a quantum cloning unit, a photon number splitting (PNS) unit, and a weak measurement unit to enhance the accuracy and reliability of quantum state estimations without introducing substantial decoherence. The quantum cloning unit may be used to generate approximate clones of a qubit. If the qubit is a multi-photon state qubit, then the photon number splitting (PNS) unit may be used to intercept the multi-photon state qubit and reflect a single photon from the multi-photon state qubit, which may then be subjected to quantum cloning. These qubits and qubit clones may then be subjected to weak measurements, which provides detailed analysis with minimal disturbance to quantum properties such as superposition and entanglement.
Peer Avraham
A simple technique to generate cluster quantum states of light which are universal resources for quantum computing is disclosed. The technique uses two components. First, a broadband source of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled states, a.k.a. two-mode-squeezed states, generated in an optical frequency comb from a monochromatic pump field. Second, a phase modulator (typically by electro-optic effect) operating at frequencies multiple of the comb mode spacing. Using only these two components, cluster quantum states can be generated that have one-, two-, three-, or higher-dimensional graphs. The unprecedented compactness of this technique paves the way to implementing quantum computing on chip using quantum nanophotonics.
