Albert Einstein famously said, “if you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” Two weeks ago, I faced the daunting challenge of explaining quantum physics, the second quantum technologies revolution and OneQuantum’s purpose – to an “infinite ‘why?’ machine”, a curious 13-year-old in plain language!
It was a special occasion. My wife was seeing her childhood friend for the first time in over 3-years (due to the pandemic). Also noteworthy was that I oversaw my first asado (barbecue), which is a serious business in Argentina, and everyone present is an expert commentator!
It was under those watchful eyes that speculated on my distribution of charcoal under the grill that the teenager was prompted to ask me about quantum physics. The heat was literally on!
I’m fortunate that I’ve never lost my sense of wonder about the universe. As a physicist, the more I learned the more intriguing the universe became. Here was a young person who was naturally curious but had never really thought about nature or his place in it. I’m happy to say our resulting conversation shifted his perspective!
He discovered that nature is in motion, that nothing is really still – from our galaxy and solar system, the orbit of the earth, the passing seasons, the complex processes and interactions that make up life, all the way down to the behaviour of atoms and subatomic particles. Of course you can use lasers and dilution fridges to cool atoms down to fractions of a degree above absolute zero. We spoke about that too :)
Once you cross that barrier where quantum mechanical effects dominate, then nature shows surprising and baffling properties demonstrated in wave-particle duality, entanglement and tunnelling experiments.
The fact we can harness these properties and make use of them in new and astonishing quantum technologies (computers, sensors, clocks, encryption, communication and imaging) is incredible!
More importantly, the young man understood that he was growing up in the quantum age. What kind of a world will he grow up into? What legacy will his generation leave for those to come? Will it be better than today? These were my questions for him to think about.
When I was asked about OneQuantum, I simply replied: “we’re preparing the way for you and others around the world.”
I found out some days later that when the teenager was asked about his highlight of the trip, his reply was the conversation with me – rare praise indeed!
Rupesh Srivastava
CEO, OneQuantum | Linkedin
Events
Keep up-to-date with events and summits from our global network as well as other events we’re participating in.
May 17-19, 2022 – The Economist Impact: Commercialising Quantum
OneQuantum are excited to participate at this prestigious event organised by The Economist in London. UK. There’s still time to register for in-person or virtual tickets!
18 May – André König, President of OneQuantum will be moderating a panel on “Exploring the appetite for collaboration on quantum for the greater good—early outcomes and the opportunity at stake”
18 May – John Barnes, President of OneQuantum UK will be on a panel discussing “How do you build a quantum workforce? What is a good way to ascertain what knowledge level and number of experts is required?”
June 15-16, 2022 – The Quantum Computing Summit: Discover the quantum advantage
OneQuantum are proud to partner with The Quantum Computing Summit. The first event will be in London with John Barnes of OneQuantum UK invited as speaker. OneQuantum will also be hosting a special roundtable at the event to discuss the quantum workforce. Stay tuned for more details!
News
Some exciting developments across the global quantum technologies ecosystem!
QC Ware Applies Quantum Computing Principles at Itaú Unibanco
Can quantum computing help with customer retention? That’s the aim of this project!
PASQAL – First Neutral Atoms Quantum Computer available on the cloud
PASQAL Cloud Services is online and in private beta. CA CIB and CINECA are the first 2 customers using the service.
Harvard and QuEra Collaborators Observe Quantum Speed-Up in Optimization Problems
A collaboration between Harvard University with scientists at QuEra Computing, MIT, University of Innsbruck and other institutions has demonstrated a breakthrough application of neutral-atom quantum processors to solve problems of practical use.
Quantum leap: Biden administration commits to ensuring US leadership in emerging tech
US Government sets out plan for post-quantum encryption.
Planet-sized telescopes could be possible using quantum technique
Huge networks of interconnected telescopes may run into image-sharpening problems that classical physics can't handle. Accounting for the quantum properties of starlight could allow astronomers to get past these constraints
API3 to Bring Quantum Random Numbers to Blockchain
API3 QRNG, based on the Australian National University (ANU) Quantum Numbers API, “is now live, allowing Web3 entities to access absolutely random (unpredictable) number generation that is highly secure and free to use.”
Physicists Pin Down How Quantum Uncertainty Sharpens Measurements
Throwing out data seems to make measurements of distances and angles more precise. The reason why has been traced to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
IBM Unveils Expanded Quantum Roadmap; Talks Up ‘Quantum-Centric Supercomputer’
IBM details expansion of its Quantum Roadmap that calls for developing a new 1386-qubit processor – Kookaburra – built from modularly scaled chips, and delivering a 4,158-qubit POC system built using three connected Kookaburra processors by 2025.
Tencent Granted Patent for Superconducting Quantum Chip
A patent entitled “Frequency Control Signal Processing Method of Qubit, Superconducting Quantum Chip” applied for by Tencent in October 2020 has been officially granted.
Sydney quantum computing startup splits into two companies
One focuses on qubit fabrication technology and the other on building single atom qubits in silicon.