Quantum technology is an emerging field of physics and engineering, which relies on the principles of quantum physics. It is about creating practical applications – such as quantum computing, quantum sensors, quantum cryptography, quantum simulation, quantum metrology or quantum imaging – based on properties of quantum mechanics, especially quantum entanglement, quantum superposition and quantum tunnelling.
Over the past 20 years, quantum technologies have made great strides: they have evolved from laboratory experiments to a multi-disciplinary field of research and development in science and engineering. In particular, the last five years have seen a tremendous acceleration driven by advances in quantum computing and the potential it can offer in the acceleration of complex computing problems.
Today, quantum technology is organised into three main domains of R&D and applications:
- CC1: Hybrid Quantum Computing Infrastructures, Algorithms and Applications: Quantum effects, such as superposition and entanglement, are used to speed up certain classes of computational problems beyond the limits achievable with classical systems based on logical bits. The range of issues that can potentially be accelerated goes from optimisation or simulation to sophisticated machine and deep-learning applications.
- CC2: CERN Technologies as Quantum Platforms Demonstrator: The high sensitivity of coherent quantum systems is used to design new classes of sensors. Detectors ranging from instruments measuring local nanoscale information to devices relying on planetary-scale coherence can significantly improve precision and enable new measurement protocols.
- CC3: Quantum Networks and Communication Hub for Research: Single or entangled photons and their quantum states are used to implement provably secure communication protocols across fibre-optic networks or quantum memory devices able to store quantum states.
Besides these main domains of R&D, cross-cutting areas are emerging that bring together elements of more than one domain, potentially supporting a wide range of scientific and technological applications. For example, quantum software and algorithms – or a combination of quantum sensors, network software and communication protocols – can be brought together to create potentially precise, large-scale detector systems.