Workshop on

Quantum Information Science and Emerging Technologies

View QISET presentations online



National Institute of Standards and Technology

Boulder, Colorado

28-30 April 2004

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is pleased to announce a workshop aimed at engaging industry in a continuing dialogue on emerging quantum information technologies. The workshop goals were to:

• provide an introduction and overview of quantum computing and quantum communications that is accessible to industrial research scientists and managers
• present state-of-the art developments in quantum information science and its applications
• review the perspective of NIST and other Federal agencies on future quantum information technology
• offer a forum for feedback from industry on NIST program directions and the future of investment in this field

Quantum information science and emerging technologies

Quantum mechanics and the theory of information are two of the great scientific revolutions of the past century, and each has spawned a number of new technologies: solid-state electronics, photonics, and the entire infrastructure of storage, processing, and transmission of information. Quantum information science is an emerging field that expresses the convergence of these two revolutions, in an exploration of the implications of the fundamental physical basis of information.

Quantum information science has blossomed since the mid 1990's, when the theoretical power of quantum algorithms was first demonstrated for a problem of great economic importance (prime factorization of integers). At the same time, the first demonstrations were made of laboratory devices that could perform elementary operations of quantum logic, and transmission of quantum information over kilometer-scale distances was attained. The scope of quantum information science has expanded rapidly, with major research initiatives being mounted in the U.S. by the National Science Foundation, DARPA, ARDA, and other agencies, and also in Europe and Japan. The first commercial products derived from quantum information science are coming to market.

Quantum information science and the NIST measurement and standards mission

NIST maintains one of the largest research efforts in quantum information science of any institution. This new discipline is of particular relevance to the NIST mission because of its facilitation of precision measurement beyond the standard quantum limit. Moreover, NIST is charged with developing the basic metrology that is key to future technologies. The recent emergence of quantum information technologies poses challenges to NIST to develop measurement and characterization capabilities for quantum devices such as single-photon sources and detectors, quantum cryptographic key distribution systems, and basic quantum memory and logic devices. NIST efforts on these problems are underway at both the Gaithersburg, MD and Boulder, CO campuses.

Scope of the Workshop on Quantum Information Science and Emerging Technologies

The Workshop on Quantum Information Science and Emerging Technologies (QISET) took place at the NIST Laboratories in Boulder, during 28-30 April, 2004. The program consisted of invited talks and panel discussions. Participation in panel discussions was open to all registrants, and brief presentations of issues of particular interest to industry were encouraged.

QISET Program Committee

David Wineland, NIST, Chair

J. Ignacio Cirac, Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics

David DiVincenzo, IBM

Artur Ekert, Cambridge University

Richard Hughes, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Bruce Kane, University of Maryland

John Martinis, NIST

Umesh Vazirani, University of California at Berkeley

Carl Williams, NIST

QISET Organizing Committee

Charles Clark, Chair    (301) 975-3709     charles.clark@nist.gov

Wendy Ortega McBride, Logistics    (303) 497-3693     wmcbride@boulder.nist.gov

Thomas O'Brian    (303) 497-4570     obrian@boulder.nist.gov

Carl Williams    (301) 975-3531     carl.williams@nist.gov

QISET program and online presentations

QISET 2004   -   Participants