Quantum Information Science
How do we harness the power of quantum mechanics to improve information processing?
Computing technology has become so much a part of everyday life that most of us never consider just how amazing the technology, or the extent of the technological revolution it has created. The next revolution is around the corner: quantum information science.
Computer science, aided by quantum mechanical inventions such as the transistor and the laser, has developed further in the past 50 years than we would have imagined. But current computers are binary: a switch is either on or off, one or zero. In this way, they are limited in what they can do.
QIS offers the potential to approach quantum mechanics and computer science through a powerful new frame. Potential applications range from cryptography, code-breaking, design and simulation of materials and chemicals, to fast optimization and machine learning techniques.
Many nations are already investing billions of dollars in the field, and spinoff technologies using QIS are already being commercialized, including sensors, amplifiers and detectors with applications ranging from medical imaging to oil exploration.
This program connects theorists and experimentalists who address the field’s most fundamental questions. This approach will pay dividends by encouraging radically new ideas, at the same time it engages with industry in the search for new applications and to maximize the positive impact on society of QIS.
SELECTED PAPERS
Knill, E., R. Laflamme et G.J. Milburn. "A scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics." Nature 409 (2001) : 46-52. ABSTRACT
Negrevergne, C. et al. "Benchmarking quantum control methods on a 12-qubit system." Physical Review Letters, 96 (2006) : 170501 ABSTRACT
L. A. Rozema et al., “Quantum Data Compression of a Qubit Ensemble,” Physical Review Letters 113, 16 (2014). ABSTRACT
J. Zhang et al., “Digital quantum simulation of the statistical mechanics of a frustrated magnet,” Nature Communications 3, 880 (2012). ABSTRACT
Founded In
2002
Renewal Dates
2007, 2012, 2019
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Computer science, including quantum computing and theory of computation
Quantum, condensed matter, mathematical and atomic physics
Optics
Electronic and information engineering
Applied mathematics
Contact
Fellows & Advisors
Program Directors
Aephraim M. Steinberg
Program Director
Fellows
David Bacon
Associate Fellow
Alexandre Blais
Fellow
Lilian Childress
Fellow
Jay Gambetta
Associate Fellow
David Gosset
Fellow
University of Waterloo
Patrick Hayden
Fellow
Stacey Jeffery
Fellow
QuSoft
Ben Lanyon
Fellow
Irfan Siddiqi
Fellow
Stephanie Simmons
Fellow
Matthias Troyer
Associate Fellow
Guifré Vidal
Fellow
X the Moonshot Factory
Thomas Vidick
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Advisors
Dorit Aharonov
Advisor
Gilles Brassard
Advisor
Michel Devoret
Advisor
Raymond Laflamme
Advisory Committee Chair
John Preskill
Advisor
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
Ashok Ajoy
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Nir Bar-Gill
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Giulio Chiribella
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Gerhard Kirchmair
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Peter McMahon
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Christine Muschik
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
University of Waterloo
Alexei Ourjoumtsev
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Paul Skrzypczyk
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Pablo Solano
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Thomas Vidick
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Support Us
CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.