Quantum Tensor DBMS and Quantum Gantt Charts: Towards Exponentially Faster Earth Data Engineering

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors are proposing a new Quantum Array (Tensor) DBMS to harness the benefits of quantum computing in facilitating the processing of big earth data. This would be an improvement to the conventional Array (Tensor) DBMSs, where some limitations have been noted.

In this sense, they are attempting to extend the applications of quantum computing in earth data processing by synergising quantum computing, quantum memory, and Array (Tensor) DBMSs to speedup earth data engineering. This is an interesting research with potentials to improve scientific endeavours in earth sciences, especially in earth observation, where petabytes of satellite data are being produced daily globally.

This research is timely as it addressed a key issue in quantum computing regarding the designing of a  holistic architecture for Quantum Array (Tensor) DBMS and its future applications in Earth sciences.

However, the authors need to note that this is early stage and a lot could still change in quantum computing that could drastically affect their proposed DBMS design. A lot of the work is hinged on the fact that quantum computing speedup is exponentially greater than conventional machines, hence, DBMS based on quantum computing will have “exponential speedups”.

Hence, they should make this caveat that what they have presented is just a starting point.

Quantum computing also faces its own limitations that could affect the expected performance of Quantum Array (Tensor) DBMS.

In addition, it would be difficult to actually ascertain the expected exponential speedups of Quantum Array DBMS over the Array Tensor DBMS, as this are still at a conceptual levels without having been tested in a real quantum hardware.

General Comments

“However, efforts related to database management systems are yet scarce 96 and include schema matching [112], machine learning [105,113], searching [114,115], query 97 optimization [116–118], and transaction scheduling [119].”

I do not think this statement is entirely correct as it did not take into consideration, existing distributed NoSQL databases such as Apache Cassandra, MongoDB that have widely been used across industries for processing big data.

The introductory section can be made more concise. There are a couple of repetition of the core concepts/arguments the authors are trying to put forward regarding Quantum memory and 105 quantum computing

 

Line 7: We also propose a new type of charts: QGantt (Quantum 7 Gantt) Charts.

This should be revised as: We also propose a new type of charts: Quantum Gantt (QGantt) Charts. Full meaning before acronym in the first instance.

Line 111: a holistic & insightful architecture – replace & with and

Line 129: “If [quantum theory] is correct, it signifies the end of physics as a science” —Albert Einstein, Nobel laureate [120]

Authors should consider making the quote from Einstein a footnote or incorporated into the text.  Currently the quote is hanging out there on its own like a journalistic material in a book or newspaper.

Also, in other sections where similar quotes were used e.g.  Line 1033

Authors should also correct some typos and grammatical errors such as in Line 153: They meet there beautiful theory, help to energize myriads of Earth science. “there” should be “their”.

Some words were also, unnecessarily italicised.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The authors are proposing a new Quantum Array (Tensor) DBMS to harness the benefits of quantum computing in facilitating the processing of big earth data. This would be an improvement to the conventional Array (Tensor) DBMSs, where some limitations have been noted.

In this sense, they are attempting to extend the applications of quantum computing in earth data processing by synergising quantum computing, quantum memory, and Array (Tensor) DBMSs to speedup earth data engineering. This is an interesting research with potentials to improve scientific endeavours in earth sciences, especially in earth observation, where petabytes of satellite data are being produced daily globally.

This research is timely as it addressed a key issue in quantum computing regarding the designing of a  holistic architecture for Quantum Array (Tensor) DBMS and its future applications in Earth sciences.

However, the authors need to note that this is early stage and a lot could still change in quantum computing that could drastically affect their proposed DBMS design. A lot of the work is hinged on the fact that quantum computing speedup is exponentially greater than conventional machines, hence, DBMS based on quantum computing will have “exponential speedups”.

Hence, they should make this caveat that what they have presented is just a starting point.

Quantum computing also faces its own limitations that could affect the expected performance of Quantum Array (Tensor) DBMS.

In addition, it would be difficult to actually ascertain the expected exponential speedups of Quantum Array DBMS over the Array Tensor DBMS, as this are still at a conceptual levels without having been tested in a real quantum hardware.

General Comments

“However, efforts related to database management systems are yet scarce 96 and include schema matching [112], machine learning [105,113], searching [114,115], query 97 optimization [116–118], and transaction scheduling [119].”

I do not think this statement is entirely correct as it did not take into consideration, existing distributed NoSQL databases such as Apache Cassandra, MongoDB that have widely been used across industries for processing big data.

The introductory section can be made more concise. There are a couple of repetition of the core concepts/arguments the authors are trying to put forward regarding Quantum memory and 105 quantum computing

 

Line 7: We also propose a new type of charts: QGantt (Quantum 7 Gantt) Charts.

This should be revised as: We also propose a new type of charts: Quantum Gantt (QGantt) Charts. Full meaning before acronym in the first instance.

Line 111: a holistic & insightful architecture – replace & with and

Line 129: “If [quantum theory] is correct, it signifies the end of physics as a science” —Albert Einstein, Nobel laureate [120]

Authors should consider making the quote from Einstein a footnote or incorporated into the text.  Currently the quote is hanging out there on its own like a journalistic material in a book or newspaper.

Also, in other sections where similar quotes were used e.g.  Line 1033

Authors should also correct some typos and grammatical errors such as in Line 153: They meet there beautiful theory, help to energize myriads of Earth science. “there” should be “their”.

Some words were also, unnecessarily italicised.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper proposed a new type of quantum array (tensor) database management system (quantum array (tensor) DBMS), utilizing quantum computing and quantum memory technologies, achieving exponential performance improvements in multiple key challenges. The author designed a new type of quantum Gantt charts (QGantt charts), which can visually display the parallel execution of multiple data operations in terms of time and data dependencies, which is very helpful for debugging and educational purposes. The application prospects of quantum computing and quantum memory in Earth data engineering was systematically analyzed, and the corresponding R&D roadmap was proposed. Based on the above contributions, I suggest the following modifications before its publication.

(1) The paper should further explore the visualization effect and practical application value of quantum Gantt charts, as well as how to integrate them with traditional Gantt charts.

(2) In Equation (25), the author mentioned the use of a standard addition quantum oracle Oh, but did not explain its implementation in detail. I suggest that the author further elaborate on the specific implementation details of this quantum oracle, as well as its impact on algorithm performance.

(3) How can we effectively execute array (tensor) operations based on dimensions and values, typically completed in a single query?

(4) The author has proposed numerous quantum algorithms to optimize array (tensor) operations, yet there is a lack of complexity analysis and practical performance evaluation for these algorithms.

(5) The paper should discuss how to integrate quantum computing and quantum memory with other key technologies in Earth data engineering (such as quantum communication [1,2], machine learning, distributed quantum computing [3], etc.) to achieve a more comprehensive solution. For example, the author may pay more attention to the privacy issues of quantum computing and quantum memory in Earth data engineering, and propose corresponding countermeasures. Quantum communication [1-2] for securing data transmitting?

 

[1] D Pan, Z Lin, J Wu, et al. Experimental free-space quantum secure direct communication and its security analysis. Photonics Research, 2020, 8(9): 1522-1531.

[2] Y B Sheng, and L Zhou. Distributed secure quantum machine learning. Science Bulletin, 2017, 62(14): 1025-1029.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf