Basic Quantum 101 and What the U.S. Is Doing with It. Or Isn’t… Doing with It. A three part series on quantum computing from National Defense periodical online was released this week. Part 1’s salient points as found by The Qubit Report:
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- “Quantum computing, quantum encryption and quantum sensing are three major applications being pursued by the United States and other nations — most notably by China. There is a quantum race underway, and these same experts say the defense and national security community is slow to realize the dire implications of coming in second.”
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- “If you don’t understand something, it is really hard to support it,” Dr. James Canton, president and CEO of the Institute for Global Futures, said in an interview. Canton is a futurist and a consultant for the [U.S.] military and intelligence community. There are ongoing debates about the necessity for more investments in quantum computing in the government, he said, but eyes gloss over when terms such as “quantum entanglement” are tossed out.
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- “An unhacklable network is another possible application for the defense and intelligence community. Secure communications is what China demonstrated in June 2017 when it used quantum entanglement to send data from its Micius satellite to an Earth-based ground station.”
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- “Michael Hayduk, deputy director of the information directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory, said cooperation with the private sector is going well. The lab is relying on the big companies to develop quantum computers so it can focus on applications that are more unique to the military, such as communications, precision navigation and precision timing. Meanwhile, the Air Force, Army, Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency over the past year have been doing a better job of coordinating their quantum sciences-related research, he said.xxThe office of the secretary of defense recently appointed Paul Lopata as an undersecretary focusing on quantum sciences, he said.”