Quantum technologies

This webinar will introduce the audience to quantum light microscopy and its applications in biological imaging. It will give an overview of how quantum correlations between photons can enable capabilities beyond what is possible with conventional microscopy. These new capabilities offer the potential for transformational advances in imaging and our understanding of biology. 

Quantum optics has had a profound impact on precision measurements, and recently enabled probing various physical quantities, such as magnetic fields and temperature, with nanoscale spatial resolution. In my talk, I will discuss the development and application of novel quantum metrological technologies that enable the study of biological systems in a new regime. 

A discussion on quantum biology, where accumulating experimental evidence suggests that quantum mechanical effects underlie how organisms function. Quantum biology includes phenomena as varied as magnetic field detection for animal navigation, metabolic and enzymatic regulation in cells, and optimal energy harvesting in photosynthesis.

The discrete electronic energy levels in atoms and atom-like systems and the ability to probe and control them using their interactions with electromagnetic fields have enabled a host of applications in quantum sensing and metrology. For example, individual atoms in a vacuum behave identically for the same species and have properties that do not change with time. 

The internet has had a revolutionary impact on our world. The vision of quantum internet — capable of transmitting quantum information — will provide novel applications that are provably impossible by communicating only classical information. An outstanding challenge of building large-scale quantum networks is to establish a quantum channel that can connect remote parties efficiently.

This webinar with Peter McMahon, Ph.D., will describe how photonics plays a central role in several of the leading candidate technologies for building quantum computers and quantum networks. The webinar will discuss trapped ions, trapped neutral atoms, optically active defects and quantum dots in solid-state materials, and purely photonic approaches for realizing quantum processors.

Quantum computers hold the potential to address complex problems in fields such as material science, quantum chemistry, finance, and pharmaceuticals. How can we realize this promise, and what are the advantages and challenges of different approaches?