QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

Quantum technologies can be roughly split into two main categories: either technologies that represent genuine applications of quantum effects (e.g., quantum metrology, entanglement assisted magnetometry and quantum imaging; quantum simulation, computation and communication; spintronics, etc.), or technologies instrumental in developing such devices (e.g., single- and entangled- photon/atom/ion sources and/or detectors; chips for ion and atom traps, etc.). Currently both of them are at an early pre-application stage, but possess a novelty and a richness that suggests an equal or even greater impact than the one of the transistor and the laser.

For instance, quantum metrology and sensors can be used to overcome the classical limits in various kinds of measurements for example in ultra-high-precision spectroscopy, or in procedures such as positioning systems, ranging and clock synchronization via the use of frequency-entangled pulses. Entanglement of atoms in clocks can be used to improve the precision of state-of-the-art atomic clocks, leading to the next generation of GPS. Nanometer sized rods and cantilevers can be used as sensors for the detection of extremely small forces and displacements. Quantum imaging allows increasing the optical sensitivity beyond the wavelength limit with applications in pattern recognition and segmentation in images, and optical data storage where it is now envisioned to store bits on areas much smaller than the square of the wavelength. Sub-micron biomedical imaging can be achieved using frequency entangled photon pairs. Quantum simulators could provide answers to problems that are fundamentally beyond classical computing capacities, such as the study of microscopic properties of materials permitting free variation of system parameters, an accurate description of chemical compounds and reactions, or even find out why free quarks are not found free in Nature. New quantum communication protocols will guarantee the absolute security of all kinds of commercial transactions including the ones performed through the future (quantum) Internet. Quantum computers will allow unprecedented computing power with which the simulation and understanding of complex systems and phenomena (such as protein folding, genome decoding and possibly the simulation of biological systems) might become feasible.

The time-scale varies with the first applications being ready in the short- to mid- term, and the most demanding ones (such as a fully fledged quantum computer) in the long-term (at least 20 years from now). Quantum technologies will thus clearly have important implications for the future European economic competitiveness in areas ranging from wholly new and innovative technologies to improvements in everyday concerns like, e.g., security and privacy of information, data protection, and could have a broader impact on further fields such as health care and energy efficiency. QUTE-F will strive for turning these promises into reality, strengthening at the same time the industrial dissemination of quantum technologies and thus helping in bootstrapping the market for their commercial exploitation.