• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • 1
    CommentGo Back
Download
 
_______________________________________________________________________________Quantum Information ScienceAn Emerging Field of Interdisciplinary Research andEducation in Science and Engineering NSF WorkshopOctober 28-29, 1999Arlington, Virginia_______________________________________________________________________________National Science Foundation_______________________________________________________________________________Quantum Information ScienceAn Emerging Field of Interdisciplinary Research andEducation in Science and EngineeringReport of the NSF WorkshopOctober 28-29, 1999Arlington, VirginiaSteering Committee C. H. Bennett IBMD. P. DiVincenzoIBMN. Gershenfeld MITH. M. Gibbs University of Arizona H. J. KimbleCaltech J. Preskill CaltechU. V. Vazirani UC/BerkeleyD. J. WinelandNISTC. Yao Princeton UniversityAny opinions, findings,conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this reportare those of theparticipants, and do not necessarily represent the officialviews, opinions, orpolicy of the National Science Foundation._______________________________________________________________________________ContentsPrefaceExecutive SummaryIntroductionBirth of a new scienceCompressibility and capacity Quantum entanglement Quantum key distributionModels of quantum computation Quantum complexity classes Quantum searching andlower bounds Quantum communication complexity Quantum error-correcting codesFault-tolerant quantum computation Quantum information processing in AMO physicsNuclear magnetic resonance and quantum computationChallenges and opportunitiesNew quantum algorithms Quantum simulation Complexity theory Quantumcryptography Complexity-based cryptography Quantum error correction and faulttolerance Precision measurement and quantum control Many-party quantumentanglement The quantum -- classical boundary Quantum information andfundamental physics Quantum information processing with atoms and photonsQuantum information processing in condensed matter Toward scalable NMR quantumcomputationQuantum information, curiosity, and communityFostering the continuedsuccess of quantum information scienceThe role of NSFAgendaQuantum InformationScience Workshop Attendees_____________________________________________________________________________PREFACEQuantum Information Science (QIS) is an emerging field with the potentialtocause revolutionary advances in fields of science and engineering involvingcomputation, communication, precision measurement, and fundamental quantumscience.The roots of this field go back about twenty years, when pioneers suchas CharlesBennett, Paul Benioff, Richard Feynman, and others began thinkingabout theimplications of combining quantum mechanics with the classical Turingcomputingmachine.The field of QIS began an explosive growth in the early to mid 1990'sas aconsequence of several simultaneous stimuli: Peter Shor demonstrated that aquantum computer could factor very large numbers super-efficiently. Thesemiconductor industry realized that the improvement of computers according toMoores law would all too soon reach the quantum limit, requiring radicalchanges
�
 in technology. Developments in the physical sciences produced trappedatomic ions,advanced optical cavities, quantum dots, and many other advancesthat made itpossible to contemplate the construction of workable quantum logicdevices.Furthermore, the need for secure communications drove the investigations ofquantum communication schemes that would be tamper proof.In the course ofsupporting leading-edge research, several divisions at NSFhad been supporting QIS-related projects for some time. However, the growingexcitement and opportunitiesin QIS called for a careful examination of theNSF's role in this new field,particularly since QIS required fundamentalresearch in many areas of science andtechnology to reach its potential. Furthermore, QIS represents an importantscientific basis for other nationalprograms involving the quantum world, such asthe Nanoscience and TechnologyProgram. Strong investments in QIS by defenseagencies and by science agenciesaround the world also indicated the perceivedimportance of QIS.In this context, Robert Eisenstein, Ruzena Bajcsy, and
 
Eugene Wong, AssistantDirectors for the NSF Directorates of Mathematical andPhysical Sciences,Computer and Information Science and Engineering, andEngineering, respectively,formed the QIS Working Group to organize a workshop tofurther explore NSFsrole in this field. The Working Group then recruited the QIS
�
 SteeringCommittee, consisting of leaders of the QIS community. The SteeringCommitteethen organized the QIS workshop, which took place in Arlington Virginia,October28-29, 1999. It was attended by approximately 100 scientists and engineersfromall related disciplines. The workshop itself was an extremely stimulatingevent, due in part to the presence of a large fraction of the internationalleadersin the field. As one person put it: you could raise almost any questionin QIS,and the pioneer on that point would be there to address it.The workshopcomprised oral sessions, breakout sessions, and an evening townmeeting, whichincluded further contributions and much discussion. The agendaand a list ofattendees are appended. After the meeting the Steering Committee,listed on thefirst page of the workshop report, assembled an overview of thefield, and madeseveral recommendations regarding the role of NSF in meeting theneeds of thefield. Logistics for the workshop itself were handled very capablyby DeniseHenry. The report was reformatted for NSF systems by RamonaWinkelbauer, whilepublishing services were provided by Kelly DuBose and the NSFPublishing andInformation Dissemination Service. The report is now beingdistributed widelythroughout the QIS community and among federal agencies. TheQIS Working Group isoptimistic that the NSF will be responsive to therecommendations of this report.Note that the report does not contain references to the literature. Thiswasa deliberate decision to make the report as generally accessible aspossible,without the normal scholarly detail and bibliographic information. There are anumber of web sites that contain both historical and currentresearch informationon the field of QIS. Those listed below will link withothers:http://www.QUBIT.ORG/http://www.euroquantum.org/http://theory.caltech.edu/~preskill/ph229/Finally, we would like to expressour deep gratitude to the SteeringCommittee for their service in organizing andwriting the report on the NSF QISworkshop. The meeting was an exceptionallystimulating experience for those inattendance, and the report is as wise as it iscompelling. We believe that thiswill be a significant event in the field of QIS.NSF Quantum Information Science Working Group:Joseph L. Dehmer, Physics Division,MPSMichael J. Foster, Division of Experimental and Integrative Activities, CISELawrence S. Goldberg, Division of Electrical and Communications Systems, ENGJohnW. Lightbody, Jr., Physics Division, MPSArthur Sanderson, Division of Electricaland Communications Systems, ENGHollis H. Wickman, Division of Materials Research,MPS_______________________________________________________________________________Executive SummaryQuantum information science (QIS) is a new field of science andtechnology,combining and drawing on the disciplines of physical science,mathematics,computer science, and engineering. Its aim is to understand howcertainfundamental laws of physics discovered earlier in this century can beharnessedto dramatically improve the acquisition, transmission, and processing ofinformation. The exciting scientific opportunities offered by QIS are attractingthe interest of a growing community of scientists and technologists, and arepromoting unprecedented interactions across traditional disciplinary boundaries.Advances in QIS will become increasingly critical to our nationalcompetitivenessin information technology during the coming century.The information technologyrevolution of the past several decades has beendriven by steady advances in theminiaturization of electronic circuitry onsilicon chips, allowing performance todouble roughly every 18 months ("Moore'slaw"). But in fewer than 20 years, thisshrinkage will reach atomic dimensions,necessitating a new paradigm if progress isto continue at anything like therate we have become used to. Accordingly,considerable thought and long-rangeplanning are already being devoted to thechallenges of designing andfabricating devices at the atomic scale and gettingthem to work reliably, afield broadly known as nanotechnology.However, it haslong been known that atoms and other tiny objects obey lawsof quantum physics that
 
in many respects defy common sense. For example,observing an atom disturbs itsmotion, while not observing it causes it tospread out and behave as if it were inseveral different places at the sametime. Until about five years ago, such quantumeffects have mostly been seen asa nuisance, causing small devices to be lessreliable and more error-prone thantheir larger cousins.What is new, and whatmakes QIS a single coherent field despite spanningseveral traditional disciplines,is the realization that quantum effects are notjust a nuisance, but in fact can beexploited to perform important and otherwiseimpossible information-processingtasks. Already quantum effects have been usedto create unbreakable codes, and aquantum computer, if one can be built in thefuture, could easilyperform some computations that would take longer than theage of the universe ontoday's supercomputers. The way in which quantum effectsspeed up computation isnot a simple quantitative improvement, like solving ahard problem more quickly byusing a faster processor or many processors workingin parallel. Rather it is aqualitative improvement, like the improvement onegets from calculating withdecimal instead of Roman numerals. For the firsttime, the physical form ofinformation has a qualitative rather than merely aquantitative bearing on howefficiently the information can be processed, andthe things that can be done withit.For this reason, even aside from its technological implications, QIS is anintellectually exciting field, with far-reaching implications for the basicmathematical and physical sciences, both theoretical and experimental. It isalready providing a wholly new language for describing how Nature works, and newways of thinking about a wide variety of scientific and technical questions. Aswith any revolutionary scientific insight, the long-term implications cannot beclearly anticipated, but we are confident that they will be profound. We alsoexpect that the emergence of QIS will have an extensive eventual impact on howscience is taught at the college and secondary level, and will bring a deeperunderstanding of quantum physics to a broad segment of the lay public.While thepotential economic impact of QIS is enormous, so are the problemsthat must beovercome before new quantum technologies can come to fruition.These problems arebroad and deep, encompassing theory, experiment, andengineering. It is importantto build the foundations of QIS that will providethe tools to solve these problemsand enable progress toward more specifictechnical goals.The development of QISfaces special problems because of its long timehorizon and its intrinsicallyinterdisciplinary nature. Researchers in the fieldwork at the margins of thetraditional disciplines, and therefore sometimes findit difficult to attainfunding or to advance their careers. The very beststudents are attracted by theexcitement generated by QIS, but are uncertain howto pursue that interest within aconventional academic department. Mostworrisome, the excellent young scientistswho receive advanced degrees doing QISresearch are often forced to leave the fieldbecause of a lack of stable fundingto support their work, despite the manifestrelevance of QIS to the long-termeconomic health of the nation.The NationalScience Foundation can and should play the leading role inaddressing theseproblems and in fostering the continued success of quantuminformation science. Wetherefore recommend that:o NSF establish and maintain a stable long-term multi-disciplinary initiative supporting QIS research, suitably coordinated acrossthe existing NSF divisions.o The majority of the funding in this programsupport individual investigators or small groups pursuing curiosity-driven,peer-reviewed research that will contribute to the development of thefoundations of QIS.o Limited funding for national-scale efforts be considered,especially if it will support necessary technical infrastructure or promoteinterdisciplinary contact and collaboration.o Attention be directed towardnurturing the careers of young scientists engaged in QIS research._______________________________________________________________________________IntroductionQuantum physics, information theory, and computer science are amongthe crowningintellectual achievements of the past century. Now, as the twenty-first centurydawns, a new synthesis of these themes is underway. The emergingdiscipline ofquantum information science (QIS) is providing profound new insights
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
02 / 10 / 2011This doucment made it onto the Rising List!
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...