In the past weeks, we have witnessed exciting developments in the scientific arena, with the Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 and the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics both awarded to scientists working in the quantum realm. Furthermore, global leaders like Joseph Biden, president of the U.S.A., and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, have recently put quantum computing developments in the spotlight.
When I told one of my best friends who is a telecommunications engineer and not very familiar with quantum computing that the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and later the Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 were both awarded to scientists working in quantum information and quantum computing, she was astonished. Her commentary was: "It looks like things are getting serious".
And she is absolutely right. While quantum computing has received attention from the private and public sectors over the recent years, never in the past have we seen so much focus on it.
The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
What is it exactly? It was funded in 2012 by the Russian technology investor and science philanthropist, Yuri Milner, to award and recognize the impactful work of individuals with profound contributions to physics.
This year, this prize was awarded to four veterans of quantum computing: David Deutsch, Charles H. Bennett, Peter Shor, and Gilles Brassard.
While these names are well-known to any student who has taken at least one course in quantum information, let us describe to the non-quantum readers some of their most important contributions.
David Deutsch, an Israeli-British scientist, is commonly known for his famous Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, which can be summarized in the following way:
Suppose we have a function whose input is from the set {0,1} and its output is again from the set {0,1}. I.e. f: {0,1} => {0,1}.
If f(0) = f(1) we say that the function is constant, because no matter the value of the input, the output will be the same.
If f(0) is different from f(1), then we say that function f is balanced, and the output will be either 0 or 1, for different input values.
How many times do we need to measure the function f in order to determine if it is constant or balanced? In a classical computer, we have to measure it twice, for two different inputs, and compare the output values. In a quantum computer, on the other hand, 1 measurement is enough. For more details refer to this paper, but the main idea is that this algorithm shows the advantage of quantum computers versus classical computers in certain problems.
Peter Shor is most famous for Shor's algorithm, a quantum computing algorithm that finds the prime factors of an integer in polynomial time. If such an algorithm is implemented with success, it can break modern encryption mechanisms such as the RSA algorithm which keeps our online transactions secure because it is based on the fact that integers cannot be factorized in real time using classical computers.
Charles H. Benett is an IBM researcher. Together with Gilles Brassard, they discovered quantum teleportation, a technique for transferring information on a quantum state from a sender to a receiver who can be very far away. This kind of "information exchange" provides a complete secure information transmission, and it will be one of the crucial elements in the future quantum internet.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2022
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 was awarded to Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger.
Alain Aspect is a French physicist, affiliated with two elite higher education institutions in France: Université Paris-Saclay and École Polytechnique. He is also co-founder of the successful French quantum startup, Pasqal, which is recently expanding its activities in Canada. Alain Aspect was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics with the motivation "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science". John F. Clauser, a U.S. scientist from California affiliated with J.F. Clauser & Assoc., Walnut Creek, CA, USA, was awarded the same prize with the same motivation. The third scientist to share the prize awarded for his work on entanglement and Bell inequalities was the Austrian scientist Anton Zeilinger, affiliated with the University of Vienna.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, reacted on LinkedIn to the Nobel Prize in Physics awards, recalling her recent visit to the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, one of the most important research centers in the world in quantum sciences, and her meeting with Anton Zeilinger. It certainly feels motivating that European leaders are paying close attention to this important, game-changing emerging technology. Let us recall that in the past both the German ex-chancellor Angela Merkel and the French president Emmanuel Macron, have addressed the importance of developing quantum technologies in Europe, announcing investments of 2 billion EUR and 1.8 billion EUR, respectively.
U.S. President Biden's visit to the IBM facility
When it comes to global chip production, the U.S.A. produces just 10% of the world's chips. 30 years ago the panorama was very different when through the help of federal investment cutting the cost of chip manufacturing, America controlled 30% of the global chip production. However, with time, companies transferred jobs and manufacturing to other countries. During his visit to Poughkeepsie, in the IBM facility in New York, President Biden emphasized the necessity to produce chips in America, creating more jobs and avoiding dependency on other countries' policies, especially in extraordinary circumstances like the pandemic that we just left behind. He referred to IBM as one of those companies that are choosing America. The U.S. government will fund $52 billion to subsidize semiconductor chips manufacturing and research, through the Chips and Science bill.
President Biden in the IBM, NY facility. Image resource: timesunion.
IBM has an ambitious plan of investing $20 billion in semiconductors, mainframe technology, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, in New York's Hudson Valley region. Both the U.S. government and IBM, one of the global leaders in quantum computing agree in making Hudson Valley " the epicenter of the future of quantum computing, the most advanced and fastest computing ever, ever seen in the world" (cit. President Biden).
Then he summarizes the advantages of quantum computers and the need for Made in USA chips:
"Quantum computing has the potential to transform everything, from how we create new medicines to how we power artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
It’s a technology that is vital to our economy and equally important to our national security — our national security. And it’s a technology that’s made possible because of semiconductors — those tiny little computer chips — everyone in this room knows better than in any other room in the country — the size of a fingertip, that power our everyday lives — everything in our lives: smartphones, cars, washing machines, hospital equipment, the Internet, the electric grid, and so much more.
But here’s the deal: America invented these chips. America invented these chips. They powered NASA’s first Moon mission that President Kennedy inspired — here, in America."
It is inspiring, promising, and encouraging to see governments and organizations from all over the world putting quantum technologies in the spotlight. We hope that new legislation and investments will expand the talent pool in quantum computing and accelerate the production of better, scalable quantum hardware, and the invention of efficient quantum software.
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