Wiring Up Quantum Systems

August 15, 2024 Jeremiah Hendren

Wiring Up Quantum Systems

Schoelkopf, R. J., and S. M. Girvin
Nature 451, no. 7179 (2008): 664-669
https://doi.org/10.1038/451664a

In the past two decades, scientists and engineers in a variety of disciplines have been excited by the idea of quantum information processing1, in which a computation is carried out by controlling a complex collection of quantum objects. This idea seeks to combine two of the greatest advances in science and technology of the twentieth century. The first breakthrough is the development of quantum mechanics, with its sometimes strange and counterintuitive rules that hold sway in the domain of atoms and single particles. The second is the technological revolution that followed the invention of the integrated circuit and the advent of powerful digital computers, which gave rise to the current information age. Surprisingly, the seemingly bizarre quantum-mechanical ideas of superposition and entanglement are expected to lead to a kind of natural parallel processing during computations. The unlikely marriage of these two revolutions could lead to incredible advances in computational power, at least for certain special problems.

Schoelkopf & Girvin

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