Quantum mechanics describes how nature behaves at its most fundamental level. Understanding its unusual properties - such as superposition and entanglement - has been an important topic of research since the theory's development early last century.
Quantum information science has emerged over the last two decades to consider whether this behaviour could be useful.
It addresses the question: What additional power or functionality can be achieved in encoding, transmitting and processing information by using uniquely quantum mechanical behaviour?
Anticipated future quantum technologies include:
Photons make excellent quantum bits or qubits (two level quantum systems) since they are well isolated from the environment and their quantum mechanical state can be easily manipulated.
Professor Jeremy O'Brien, Director of CQP, discusses our research in this video.
