You've heard about quantum mechanics, and now it's time to get acquainted with quantum engineers. After tens of years in the laboratory, quantum science is gradually turning into technology that will affect your daily life. If these ambitious plans are destined to come true, by 2020 the most powerful quantum computer in the world, a safe quantum network for the whole country and numerous quantum industries can appear in the UK.
This mission was launched in 2013, when British Chancellor George Osorn announced the investment of 270 million pounds sterling in quantum technology. Currently, scientists gather in centers focused on specific areas - computing, communications, sensors and imaging tools - to create useful quantum devices in five years, starting in 2015.
Last month, the teams of these scientists held their first annual meeting of Quantum IK at Oxford University to discuss their five-year roadmap and potential obstacles that need to be overcome - not least the established view that quantum technology is too strange to be useful.
"When you talk to the general public about quantum physics, the first thing she thinks about is something terrifying in the field of philosophy," Peter Knight of Imperial College in London told the meeting. This needs to be changed. "Our main message is this: now it is an evolving technology."
Jan Wolmsley, head of the Center for Quantum Computing in Oxford, says that fundamental science has moved far enough to make this dream a reality. "At the moment, an engineering push is needed, which will bring it to the next level."
Unlike a conventional computer that works with binary bits, the "qubits" of a quantum computer can be 0 and 1 at the same time. This feature offers opportunities for massive speed increases when it comes to certain problems such as database searches or machine learning. But if the binary bits are based on reliable silicon transistors, there is no consensus on the creation of quantum machines yet.
Volumley and his colleagues are working on a system based on trapped ions, individual charged atoms, which are held in place by electromagnetic fields and irradiated by lasers that read and write information on them. It's called Q20: 20, because in two years, scientists are planning to create a 20-kilobit device that goes beyond the capabilities of modern quantum computers. By the end of the 5-year program, engineers are hoping to link 20 such systems to a 400-cubic-processor. "This is enough to perform a number of tasks that only supercomputers are capable of today," says Wohlmsley.
Chain of Qubits
Such a modular design uses the achievements of recent progress in the control of trapped ionic qubits in the laboratory, which showed that it is possible to successfully manage their fragile quantum state on the smallest scale. Now the Oxford Group and others have developed a way to combine these qubits into a network of larger processors. This means the output of once-laboratory experiments in the field of precise quantum equipment.
"What's available in the lab already has the right performance," says Wohlsley. "If we can show that one of these small-scale things works, there will be no obstacles to expand the scale, it will only be necessary to produce more components."
Since this computer is designed as a network, the qubit cells can potentially be scattered all over the country, creating a kind of quantum computer cloud that many people will have access to - although the original Q20: 20 will probably be tied to one lab, says Wohlmsley.
However, the British will not have to wait until 2020, because in the UK is already building a quantum network of another type, which will be available to the public in a couple of years. Tim Shpiller, head of the Center for Quantum Communications at the University of York, is building a quantum-key distribution network (QKD) based on fiber in Bristol and Cambridge, with the goal of linking two universities across London by the end of the five-year plan.
QKD involves converting photons to specific quantum states to generate and transmit a cryptographically secure key that can be used to encrypt data transmitted on an unquantized channel. Unlike existing cryptography, which relies on complex mathematical schemes and can be hacked using powerful computers, QKD is repelled by the laws of physics: any attempt to intercept a key will raise an alarm.
Similar networks already take place in the US and China, they are used by big business and government, but the UK networks will be available for start-ups and even for enthusiasts. "The idea is that when everything is ready, you can open it for use by people," says Spiller. "Bristol focuses on consumers who are open to new technologies," he says, while in Cambridge the network will be used by small, high-tech enterprises.
The current encryption methods are still not particularly threatening, but Spiller emphasizes that QKD will eventually provide exceptional security. "There are certain types of data, working with which, people are concerned about the long-term threat of interception and hacking in the future," he says. "If you keep someone's medical records or bank details, you do not want to be taken away after a certain time."
Quantum keys are disposable in nature, so you need to acquire them with a stable supply. John Rarity from the University of Bristol and his colleagues are working on a credit card-sized device that will allow people to get a batch of keys in network locations like ATMs and use them later to enter various services. "Users can access the keystore and share it with a trusted source such as a bank or mobile carrier," says Rarity. Do not have to remember passwords or PIN-codes - QKD will do everything for you.
Other British centers are developing quantum devices like a camera capable of seeing invisible gases, or supersensitive gravitational detectors that can search for underground pipes; it is possible that these technologies will be poorly distributed among people, but will find wide application in other areas. The goal is to make the UK a leader in the field of quantum technologies.
Other countries are also investing in quantum engineering. This is not unique to the UK, says Ronald Hanson of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. In July, the government of the Netherlands promised to allocate 135 million euros for the development of quantum technology for 10 years, and last month Intel announced a 50-million-dollar collaboration with Delft to explore how quantum processors can complement the next generation of high-tech traditional computers.
"The transition of quantum technology from the laboratory to the market is amazing to observe, given what we thought about their applications since the 1980s," says Rarity. "And only now it is really beginning to pay off."
The article is based on materials .
Comments
Post a Comment