A blog about how quantum technologies can be used to benefit society and humanity.
Quantum technologies will soon be a reality. This blog is about how quantum technologies can be used to benefit society and humanity. It covers all aspects of quantum tech, from fundamental physics and computing, to communications and sensing.
Welcome to Quantum Technologies!
Quantum technologies are based on the principles of quantum mechanics, a theory that describes how particles behave and interact. Quantum mechanics has been around for nearly a century, but it is only in the last 20 years that we have been able to build machines that can exploit its exotic properties. These new technologies are now poised to revolutionise our lives by delivering huge benefits in areas like computing, sensing and communications. Here at Quantum Technologies we want to explain what these new technologies are and how they can be used to benefit society and humanity.
Who are we?
Quantum Technologies is run by a group of physicists at the University of Sussex who are working to develop the next generation of quantum technologies. It is supported by the EPSRC funded Networked Quantum Information Technologies (NQIT) HUB and the Sussex Centre for Quantum Technology (SCQT).
This blog aims to cover various news and discussions in the field of quantum technologies, and the broader implications of these technologies. The focus is on how to use quantum technologies to benefit society and humanity. We aim for this blog to be a place where people with different backgrounds can find information about the latest developments of relevance for them.
The blog will feature a mixture of general articles, interviews, technical posts and news summaries. Some posts will also be translated into Spanish, French, German and Russian. Some posts may even be done in video format.
The term “Quantum” is the Latin word for “how much”. Therefore, a quantum is the smallest possible unit of a physical entity involved in an interaction.
In order to understand Quantum Technology, one must first understand how we measure things. In classical information processing (i.e., using a standard computer), we use bits as the smallest unit of information that we can process. We can think of a bit as being either a 0 or 1, depending on whether a certain measurement device has registered the presence or absence of something. This could be anything from an electron to a photon, but it’s important to note that measurement is central to our ability to make sense of the world around us.
Quantum technology uses quantum bits (or qubits) as the smallest possible unit of information in place of classical bits. Qubits have some unique properties that allow them to do things that classical bits cannot. For example, you can use qubits to create quantum entanglement, which is when two particles are bound together such that knowing one thing about one particle automatically tells you something else about another particle even if they’re far apart from each other in space and time!