Quantum

The world, say many experts, is on the verge of a second quantum revolution. Energy quantization gave us modern electronics via the transistor and the laser, but humans’ burgeoning ability to manipulate individual atoms and electrons could potentially transform industries ranging from communications and energy to medicine and defense. The most …

The world, say many experts, is on the verge of a second quantum revolution. Energy quantization gave us modern electronics via the transistor and the laser, but humans’ burgeoning ability to manipulate individual atoms and electrons could potentially transform industries ranging from communications and energy to medicine and defense. The most …

The first quantum revolution brought about semiconductor electronics, the laser and finally the internet. The coming, second quantum revolution promises spy-proof communication, extremely precise quantum sensors and quantum computers for previously unsolvable computing tasks.   Quantum secure communication relies on sharing of entangled states between parties. Over short distances (less …

With the age of quantum computing drawing ever-closer, traditional encryption methods are at risk. While brute force attacks can take months to break through security, quantum attacks can use more advanced techniques to break standard public key cryptography in a much shorter timeframe.   Quantum cryptography is an emerging technology …

Zero-point energy is the energy that remains when all other energy is removed from a system. Zero-point energy  is the lowest energy that a given quantum mechanical system can have (i.e., the ground state of the system). In quantum field theory, it refers to the energy of the vacuum (i.e., …

Traditionally, quantum science has been a domain of fundamental research explored mostly by physicists. At the current state of the art the basic properties of the systems considered for realizing quantum hardware are understood at a great level of detail. Now, it becomes increasingly more important to develop quantum systems which …

Quantum bits, or qubits, are the basic building blocks of quantum computers, just as bits are that of modern computers. Researchers around the world have been exploring a range of different physical systems to act as qubits, including trapping and isolating ions by using electromagnetic fields, photons trapped in microwave …

The world, say many experts, is on the verge of a second quantum revolution. The most talked-about of such technologies is the quantum computer, a device in theory so powerful that it could crack the codes underlying internet security in just a few minutes. But full-scale quantum computers are still …

Measurement connects the world of quantum phenomena to the world of classical events. It has both a passive role—in observing quantum systems—and an active one, in preparing quantum states and controlling them. In quantum physics, a measurement is the testing or manipulation of a physical system in order to yield …