Schrdingers Web offers a sneak peek at the quantum internet – Science News
Posted: October 3, 2020 at 5:59 am
Schrdingers Web Jonathan P. Dowling CRC Press, $40.95
When news broke last year that Googles quantum computer Sycamore had performed a calculation faster than the fastest supercomputers could (SN: 12/16/19), it was the first time many people had ever heard of a quantum computer.
Quantum computers, which harness the strange probabilities of quantum mechanics, may prove revolutionary. They have the potential to achieve an exponential speedup over their classical counterparts, at least when it comes to solving some problems. But for now, these computers are still in their infancy, useful for only a few applications, just as the first digital computers were in the 1940s. So isnt a book about the communications network that will link quantum computers the quantum internet more than a little ahead of itself?
Surprisingly, no. As theoretical physicist Jonathan Dowling makes clear in Schrdingers Web, early versions of the quantum internet are here already for example, quantum communication has been taking place between Beijing and Shanghai via fiber-optic cables since 2016 and more are coming fast. So now is the perfect time to read up.
Dowling, who helped found the U.S. governments quantum computing program in the 1990s, is the perfect guide. Armed with a seemingly endless supply of outrageous anecdotes, memorable analogies, puns and quips, he makes the thorny theoretical details of the quantum internet both entertaining and accessible.
Readers wanting to dive right in to details of the quantum internet will have to be patient. Photons are the particles that will power the quantum internet, so we had better be sure we know what the heck they are, Dowling writes. Accordingly, the first third of the book is a historical overview of light, from Newtons 17th century idea of light as corpuscles to experiments probing the quantum reality of photons, or particles of light, in the late 20th century. There are some small historical inaccuracies the section on the Danish physicist Hans Christian rsted repeats an apocryphal tale about his serendipitous discovery of the link between electricity and magnetism and the footnotes rely too much on Wikipedia. But Dowling accomplishes what he sets out to do: Help readers develop an understanding of the quantum nature of light.
Headlines and summaries of the latest Science News articles, delivered to your inbox
Like Dowlings 2013 book on quantum computers, Schrdingers Killer App, Schrdingers Web hammers home the nonintuitive truths at the heart of quantum mechanics. For example, key to the quantum internet is entanglement that spooky action at a distance in which particles are linked across time and space, and measuring the properties of one particle instantly reveals the others properties. Two photons, for instance, can be entangled so they always have the opposite polarization, or angle of oscillation.
In the future, a user in New York could entangle two photons and then send one along a fiber-optic cable to San Francisco, where it would be received by a quantum computer. Because these photons are entangled, measuring the New York photons polarization would instantly reveal the San Francisco photons polarization. This strange reality of entanglement is what the quantum internet exploits for neat features, such as unhackable security; any eavesdropper would mess up the delicate entanglement and be revealed. While his previous book contains more detailed explanations of quantum mechanics, Dowling still finds amusing new analogies, such as Fuzz Lightyear, a canine that runs along a superposition, or quantum combination, of two paths into neighbors yards. Fuzz helps explain physicist John Wheelers delayed-choice experiment, which illustrates the uncertainty, unreality and nonlocality of the quantum world. Fuzzs path is random, the dog doesnt exist on one path until we measure him, and measuring one path seems to instantly affect which yard Fuzz enters even if hes light-years away.
The complexities of the quantum web are saved for last, and even with Dowlings help, the details are not for the faint of heart. Readers will learn how to prepare Bell tests to check that a system of particles is entangled (SN: 8/28/15), navigate bureaucracy in the Department of Defense and send unhackable quantum communications with the dryly named BB84 and E91 protocols. Dowling also goes over some recent milestones in the development of a quantum internet, such as the 2017 quantum-secured videocall between scientists in China and Austria via satellite (SN: 9/29/17).
Just like the classical internet, we really wont figure out what the quantum internet is useful for until it is up and running, Dowling writes, so people can start playing around with it. Some of his prognostications seem improbable. Will people really have quantum computers on their phones and exchange entangled photons across the quantum internet?
Dowling died unexpectedly in June at age 65, before he could see this future come to fruition. Once when I interviewed him, he invoked Arthur C. Clarkes first law to justify why he thought another esteemed scientist was wrong. The first law is that if a distinguished, elderly scientist tells you something is possible, hes very likely right, he said. If he tells you something is impossible, hes very likely wrong.
Dowling died too soon to be considered elderly, but he was distinguished, and Schrdingers Web lays out a powerful case for the possibility of a quantum internet.
Buy Schrdingers Web from Amazon.com.Science Newsis a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Please see ourFAQfor more details.
See the rest here:
Schrdingers Web offers a sneak peek at the quantum internet - Science News
- Beam me up: long-distance quantum teleportation has happened for the first time ever - SYFY WIRE - December 26th, 2020
- Quanta's Year in Math and Computer Science (2020) - Quanta Magazine - December 26th, 2020
- What the Hell Is Quantum Chess? | IE - Interesting Engineering - December 26th, 2020
- The Interview Issue: Eisgruber is trying to reshape the meaning of a Princeton education even as his school, and higher ed as a whole, grapples with... - December 26th, 2020
- Satoshis Bitcoin Fortune Will Be Easiest Batch for Quantum Computers to Hack, Says Andreas Antonopoulos - The Daily Hodl - December 26th, 2020
- Europe Is on Its Way To Quantum Leadership, IQM Raises 39 M in Series A Funding - Embedded Computing Design - November 30th, 2020
- How Scientists Have Learned To Work With the Quantum World - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence - November 30th, 2020
- Archer Materials makes strong progress in shifting focus to Advanced Materials Business and technology - Proactive Investors USA & Canada - November 30th, 2020
- 01 Communique to Present at the Benzinga Global Small Cap Conference on December 8 - IT News Online - November 30th, 2020
- What is Quantum Computing, and How does it Help Us? - Analytics Insight - October 11th, 2020
- 4 Reasons Why Now Is the Best Time to Start With Quantum Computing - Medium - October 11th, 2020
- Race for quantum supremacy gathers momentum with several companies joining bandwagon, says GlobalData - Quantaneo, the Quantum Computing Source - October 11th, 2020
- Quantum computing: Photon startup lights up the future of computers and cryptography - ZDNet - October 8th, 2020
- Canadian quantum computing firms partner to spread the technology - IT World Canada - October 8th, 2020
- Google's Billion Dollar News, Commercial Quantum Computers And More In This Week's Top News - Analytics India Magazine - October 8th, 2020
- SC20 Invited Speakers Tackle Challenges for the Earth, Its Inhabitants, and Our Security Using 'More Than HPC' - HPCwire - October 8th, 2020
- A new claimant for "most powerful quantum computer" - Axios - October 3rd, 2020
- ESAs -Week: Digital Twin Earth, Quantum Computing and AI Take Center Stage - SciTechDaily - October 3rd, 2020
- Global QC Market Projected to Grow to More Than $800 million by 2024 - HPCwire - October 3rd, 2020
- Berkeley Lab Technologies Honored With 7 R&D 100 Awards - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - October 3rd, 2020
- oneAPI Academic Center of Excellence Established at the Heidelberg University Computing Center (URZ) - HPCwire - October 3rd, 2020
- Baidu offers quantum computing from the cloud - VentureBeat - September 26th, 2020
- IBM Partners With HBCUs to Diversify Quantum Computing Workforce - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education - September 26th, 2020
- IBM, Alphabet and well-funded startups in the race for quantum supremacy - IT Brief Australia - September 26th, 2020
- IBM plans to build a 1121 qubit system. What does this technology mean? - The Hindu - September 26th, 2020
- Inaugural OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference Featured Talks on Emerging Technologies - Novus Light Technologies Today - September 26th, 2020
- Could Quantum Computing Progress Be Halted by Background Radiation? - Singularity Hub - September 1st, 2020
- Fermilab to lead $115 million National Quantum Information Science Research Center to build revolutionary quantum computer with Rigetti Computing,... - September 1st, 2020
- The future of artificial intelligence and quantum computing - Military & Aerospace Electronics - September 1st, 2020
- Researchers Found Another Impediment for Quantum Computers to Overcome - Dual Dove - September 1st, 2020
- Quantum Cryptography Market Research Analysis Including Growth Factors, Types And Application By Regions From 2024 - Kentucky Journal 24 - September 1st, 2020
- Q-NEXT collaboration awarded National Quantum Initiative funding - University of Wisconsin-Madison - September 1st, 2020
- This Equation Calculates The Chances We Live In A Computer Simulation - Discover Magazine - September 1st, 2020
- I confess, I'm scared of the next generation of supercomputers - TechRadar - September 1st, 2020
- Honeywell Wants To Show What Quantum Computing Can Do For The World - Forbes - August 14th, 2020
- Quantum Computing for the Next Generation of Computer Scientists and Researchers - Campus Technology - August 14th, 2020
- Quantum mechanics is immune to the butterfly effect - The Economist - August 14th, 2020
- Major quantum computational breakthrough is shaking up physics and maths - The Conversation UK - August 14th, 2020
- IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE20) Transitions to All-Virtual Event - PRNewswire - August 14th, 2020
- 6 new degrees approved, including graduate degrees in biostatistics and quantum information science: News at IU - IU Newsroom - August 14th, 2020
- The race to building a fully functional quantum stack - TechCrunch - August 14th, 2020
- Toshiba Exits PC Business 35 Years of IBM Compatible PCs - Electropages - August 14th, 2020
- IBM Z mainframes revived by Red Hat, AI and security - TechTarget - August 14th, 2020
- Quantum computing will (eventually) help us discover vaccines in days - VentureBeat - May 17th, 2020
- Quantum computing analytics: Put this on your IT roadmap - TechRepublic - May 17th, 2020
- Video: The Future of Quantum Computing with IBM - insideHPC - May 17th, 2020
- Registration Open for Inaugural IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering - HPCwire - May 17th, 2020
- Light, fantastic: the path ahead for faster, smaller computer processors - News - The University of Sydney - May 17th, 2020
- VTT to acquire Finland's first quantum computer seeking to bolster Finland's and Europe's competitiveness - Quantaneo, the Quantum Computing Source - May 12th, 2020
- IonQ CEO Peter Chapman on how quantum computing will change the future of AI - VentureBeat - May 12th, 2020
- David Graves to Head New Research at PPPL for Plasma Applications in Industry and Quantum Information Science - HPCwire - May 12th, 2020
- Recent Research Answers the Future of Quantum Machine Learning on COVID-19 - Analytics Insight - May 12th, 2020
- Kerry Emanuel, David Sabatini, and Peter Shor receive BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge awards - MIT News - May 12th, 2020
- Between God and Science in the Surreal Silicon Valley of Devs - The Nation - May 12th, 2020
- Online course trains students in the bizarre world of quantum computing - Livescience.com - May 2nd, 2020
- Devs: Here's the real science behind the quantum computing TV show - New Scientist News - May 2nd, 2020
- New Princeton study takes superconductivity to the edge - Princeton University - May 2nd, 2020
- Quantum computer chips demonstrated at the highest temperatures ever - New Scientist News - April 16th, 2020
- Calling On AI And Quantum Computing To Fight The Coronavirus - Forbes - April 16th, 2020
- COVID-19: Quantum computing could someday find cures for coronaviruses and other diseases - TechRepublic - April 16th, 2020
- Alex Garland on 'Devs,' free will and quantum computing - Engadget - April 16th, 2020
- Making Sense of the Science and Philosophy of Devs - The Ringer - April 16th, 2020
- D-Wave makes its quantum computers free to anyone working on the coronavirus crisis - VentureBeat - April 2nd, 2020
- We're Getting Closer to the Quantum Internet, But What Is It? - HowStuffWorks - April 2nd, 2020
- Q-CTRL to Host Live Demos of 'Quantum Control' Tools - Quantaneo, the Quantum Computing Source - April 2nd, 2020
- Disrupt The Datacenter With Orchestration - The Next Platform - April 2nd, 2020
- Quantum Computing: Will It Actually Produce Jobs? - Dice Insights - March 19th, 2020
- Quantum computing is right around the corner, but cooling is a problem. What are the options? - Diginomica - March 19th, 2020
- Quantum Computing for Everyone - The Startup - Medium - March 19th, 2020
- Work from home: Improve your security with MFA - We Live Security - March 19th, 2020
- Career navigation Be at the core or be at the edge - The Financial Express BD - March 19th, 2020
- TensorFlow gets its quantum of solace, lid lifted on 'all-seeing crime-detecting' AI upstart, and more - The Register - March 17th, 2020
- What Is Quantum Computing, And How Can It Unlock Value For Businesses? - Computer Business Review - January 27th, 2020
- The End Of The Digital Revolution Is Coming: Here's What's Next - Innovation Excellence - January 27th, 2020
- Delta Partners with IBM to Explore Quantum Computing - Database Trends and Applications - January 27th, 2020
- Quantum networking projected to be $5.5 billion market in 2025 - TechRepublic - January 27th, 2020
- University of Sheffield launches Quantum centre to develop the technologies of tomorrow - Quantaneo, the Quantum Computing Source - January 27th, 2020
- 5G, AI and Quantum Computing: Who Knows Where It Will All Lead? - Planet Vending - January 27th, 2020
- CES 2020: IBM and Daimler teaming up for a quantum leap in battery tech - CNET - January 12th, 2020
- Google and IBM square off in Schrodingers catfight over quantum supremacy - The Register - January 12th, 2020