Centre for Quantum Computation
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The Centre for Quantum Computation (CQC) is an alliance of
quantum information Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both t ...
research groups at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
. It was founded by
Artur Ekert Artur Konrad Ekert FRS (born 19 September 1961) is a Polish professor of quantum physics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, professorial fellow in quantum physics and cryptography at Merton College, Oxford, Lee Kong Chian C ...
in 1998. Until recently, the CQC also included research groups at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, but now the Cambridge groups operate as an independent entity called the Cambridge Centre for Quantum Information and Foundations (CQIF).


Research

The CQC conducts theoretical and experimental research into quantum computing,
quantum cryptography Quantum cryptography is the science of exploiting quantum mechanical properties to perform cryptographic tasks. The best known example of quantum cryptography is quantum key distribution which offers an information-theoretically secure solution ...
and other forms of
quantum information processing Quantum information science is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to understand the analysis, processing, and transmission of information using quantum mechanics principles. It combines the study of Information science with quantum effects in p ...
, into the implications of the
quantum theory Quantum theory may refer to: Science *Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics *Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics * Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes: ** Quantum electrodynamics ** Quantum ...
of information for
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
itself, and into foundational and conceptual questions in
quantum theory Quantum theory may refer to: Science *Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics *Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics * Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes: ** Quantum electrodynamics ** Quantum ...
and
quantum information theory Quantum information is the information of the quantum state, state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information re ...
.


Groups

Initially the CQC was based at the
Clarendon Laboratory The Clarendon Laboratory, located on Parks Road within the Science Area in Oxford, England (not to be confused with the Clarendon Building, also in Oxford), is part of the Department of Physics at Oxford University. It houses the atomic and ...
, but it has now grown to span several departments at the University of Oxford:


Physics

* Atom-photon physics, group led by Axel Kuhn. *
Ion trap An ion trap is a combination of electric and/or magnetic fields used to capture charged particles — known as ions — often in a system isolated from an external environment. Atomic and molecular ion traps have a number of applications in phy ...
ping, group led by
Andrew Steane Andrew Martin Steane is Professor of physics at the University of Oxford. He is also a fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He was a student at St Edmund Hall, Oxford where he obtained his MA and DPhil. His major works to date are on error correc ...
and David Lucas. *
Nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...
, group led by
Jonathan A. Jones Jonathan A. Jones (born 1967) is a professor in atomic and laser physics at the University of Oxford, and a fellow and tutor in physics at Brasenose College, Oxford. Education Jones studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 1985 to 198 ...
. * Quantum spin dynamics, group led by Arzhang Ardavan and John Morton (group spans physics and materials). *
Quantum theory Quantum theory may refer to: Science *Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics *Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics * Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes: ** Quantum electrodynamics ** Quantum ...
, group led by Dieter Jaksch. * Ultracold quantum matter, group led by Christopher Foot. * Ultrafast quantum optics, group led by Ian Walmsley.


Materials

* Photonic nanomaterials, group led by Jason Smith. * Quantum and nanotechnology theory, group led by Simon Benjamin. * Quantum spin dynamics, group led by John Morton and Arzhang Ardavan (group spans physics and materials).


Computer Science

* Quantum Group, led by
Samson Abramsky Samson Abramsky (born 12 March 1953) is Professor of Computer Science at University College London. He was previously the Christopher Strachey Professor of Computing at the University of Oxford, from 2000 to 2021. He has made contributions to t ...
and
Bob Coecke Bob Coecke (born 23 July 1968) is a Belgian theoretical physicist and logician who was professor of Quantum Foundations, Logics and Structures at Oxford University until 2020, when he became Chief Scientist of Cambridge Quantum Computing, and ...
.


Mathematics

*
Mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The '' Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developme ...
, group led by Artur Ekert.


Origins

The centre has its origins in the early 1980s when the computer industry began to worry about the limits of computing. In 1981, Oxford physicist
David Deutsch David Elieser Deutsch ( ; born 18 May 1953) is a British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation (CQC) in the Clarendon Laboratory of ...
attended a party in Texas given by the famous American physicist John Wheeler who had invited a number of scientists interested in the foundations of computing. It was at this party that Deutsch gained the crucial insight that would lead to an entirely new branch of physics. At the time, computer scientists were turning to
Newtonian physics Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. For objects governed by classical mec ...
to try to resolve certain fundamental puzzles in the field. But during a conversation at Wheeler's party, Deutsch realised that this was the wrong approach. Physics is fundamentally governed by quantum theory, and Deutsch could see immediately that using quantum theory instead of Newtonian physics would give a different result. As a consequence of this insight, Deutsch published the paper in 1985 that is now generally regarded as a classic in the field. The paper describes how a computer might run using quantum mechanics and why such a computer is fundamentally different from ordinary computers. In 1987, Artur Ekert arrived at Oxford to work on a DPhil in physics, where he met Deutsch. Whilst working at Oxford, Ekert developed a theory of cryptography based on quantum entanglement. A chance meeting on the ski slopes of the Alps with John Rarity, a scientist at DRA (then the UK's main military research organisation), led to a collaboration in which Ekert's scheme was tested experimentally in the early 1990s. After finishing his DPhil, Ekert gained a junior research fellowship from Merton and took on his first DPhil student. With Deutsch, this created a small team that within a year had acquired the title of the Quantum Computation and Cryptography Group. A breakthrough in 1994 by
Peter Shor Peter Williston Shor (born August 14, 1959) is an American professor of applied mathematics at MIT. He is known for his work on quantum computation, in particular for devising Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm for factoring exponentially f ...
, a researcher at the labs of the American telecommunications giant
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
, boosted the entire field of quantum information. Shor showed that Deutch's quantum computer could actually solve an important problem that an ordinary computer would find impossible. For the first time, it became clear that quantum computers were far from unimportant curiosities. After Shor's announcement, quantum information became increasingly popular with Oxford. In 1995,
Andrew Steane Andrew Martin Steane is Professor of physics at the University of Oxford. He is also a fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He was a student at St Edmund Hall, Oxford where he obtained his MA and DPhil. His major works to date are on error correc ...
began an experimental effort to study how quantum computers might be built from ionised atoms trapped by laser beams. In 1996, Jonathan Jones started a group working on a quantum computer based on the same techniques used in magnetic resonance imaging in medicine. And two years later,
Dirk Bouwmeester Dirk (Dik) Bouwmeester (born 1967) is a Dutch people, Dutch experimental physicist specializing in quantum optics and quantum information. He currently holds faculty positions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Californi ...
arrived from
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
to begin an experimental group working out how the quantum world could also revolutionise communication. The group changed its name to the Centre for Quantum Computation.


Cambridge

When Artur Ekert moved to Cambridge to become the first Leigh Trapnell Professor of Quantum Physics in 2002, the Cambridge Centre for Quantum Computation was created. It continued under this name until 2010, when the existing research group was joined by
Richard Jozsa Richard Jozsa is an Australian mathematician who holds the Leigh Trapnell Chair in Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge. He is a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, where his research investigates quantum information science. A p ...
, and the centre was renamed the Cambridge Centre for Quantum Information and Foundations (CQIF), reflecting the broad range of its research activities. The Cambridge CQIF is based at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP), within the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The Cambridge CQC's permanent faculty were Artur Ekert, Leigh Trapnell Professor of Quantum Physics at Cambridge from 2002 to 2007, and Adrian Kent, currently Reader in Quantum Physics at Cambridge. The Cambridge CQIF's permanent faculty are Richard Jozsa, Leigh Trapnell Professor from 2010, and Adrian Kent.


See also

*
Quantum information Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both t ...
*
Artur Ekert Artur Konrad Ekert FRS (born 19 September 1961) is a Polish professor of quantum physics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, professorial fellow in quantum physics and cryptography at Merton College, Oxford, Lee Kong Chian C ...
*
David Deutsch David Elieser Deutsch ( ; born 18 May 1953) is a British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation (CQC) in the Clarendon Laboratory of ...
*
Richard Jozsa Richard Jozsa is an Australian mathematician who holds the Leigh Trapnell Chair in Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge. He is a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, where his research investigates quantum information science. A p ...
*
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
*
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
*
Centre for Quantum Technologies The Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) in Singapore is a Research Centre of Excellence hosted by the National University of Singapore. The Centre brings together physicists, computer scientists and engineers to do basic research on quantum phy ...


References


External links


Oxford CQC

Cambridge CQIF
{{authority control Departments of the University of Oxford Quantum Computation Physics institutes