Institute for Quantum Information

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

Quantum information science (QIS) is devoted to understanding how the fundamental laws of quantum physics might be harnessed to dramatically improve the acquisition, transmission, and processing of information. The potential scientific and technological payoff from QIS is vast, but many deep and fundamental problems must be solved before that potential can be fulfilled. These advances will require contributions from scientists trained in a variety of subjects who are bold enough to disregard the traditional boundaries between disciplines and to pool their efforts in building an important new field. With this need in mind, the Institute for Quantum Information (IQI) was founded at Caltech in September 2000, supported by a five-year $5M Information Technology Research (ITR) award from NSF. Since September 2005, the IQI has been supported by a three-year award sponsored jointly by the Physics at the Information Frontier program (PIF) in MPS/PHY, the Emerging Models and Technologies for Computation Cluster (EMT) in CISE/CCF, and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA). The IQI, led by a multidisciplinary team of five Caltech professors, is devoted to building the theoretical foundations of quantum information science across a broad front encompassing quantum algorithms, quantum cryptography, quantum information theory, fault-tolerant quantum information processiThe research accomplishments of the IQI have clear intellectual merit. Since September 2000, IQI participants have produced 282 publications covering all aspects of theoretical QIS; of these 86 were generated since the onset of our current award in September 2005. Some noteworthy achievements during the past two years are: (1) Progress in quantum algorithms, such as the discovery of an exponential speedup for finding hidden nonlinear structures. (2) Insights into quantum communication, such as a proof of the quantum channel capacity theorem based on decoupling of the environment. (3) Studies of quantum entanglement, such as a characterization of the monogamy of nonlocal correlations. (4) Tools for fault-tolerant quantum computation, such as a scheme for protecting against highly biased noise. (5) Proposals for quantum hardware, such as a protected qubit based on a superconducting current mirror. (6) Connections between quantum information theory and quantum many-body theory, such as new proposals for experiments that probe the non-abelian statistics of quantum Hall quasiparticles. The broader impact of the IQI also has many facets. With the end of scalability of conventional siliconbased information technology on the horizon, it is vitally important to explore aggressively new paradigms for information technology. IQI contributions are broadening the nation's technical base, ensuring US leadership in the future development of quantum science and technology. The IQI has attracted and trained top postdoctoral scholars, 16 of whom have moved on to faculty positions (or the equivalent) elsewhere, thus significantly strengthening the world effort in QIS. The IQI has also trained many Ph.D. students who are still working in the field, and we have sponsored a variety of undergraduate research projects. A particularly important aspect of the IQI?s broader impact is a vibrant visitor program. Since 2000, we have sponsored 120 visits by senior and postdoctoral scholars, and 70 visits by graduate students from other institutions. The visitor program fuels intellectual excitement,facilitates collaborations and exchanges of scientific ideas, and performs a highly valued service for the international QIS community. The IQI can best ensure its continued success by nurturing its distinctive qualities: a focus on interdisciplinary research, an emphasis on fostering the career development of world-class postdoctoral talent, and devotion to an active visitor program. At the same time, in response to new scientific opportunities, the mission of the IQI will evolve in important ways over the next several years. Two increasingly prominent themes will be the exciting interface of QIS with condensed matter physics, and the daunting challenge of closing the considerable gap between the theory and experimental practice of QIS and physical implementations of quantum computing. Basic advances in all of these areas are needed to bring revolutionary quantum technologies closer to realization.