Project description
Setting the standards for quantum technologies
Quantum technologies are expected to outperform their classical counterparts in a variety of important tasks, including faster computations and novel encryption schemes. The EU-funded CERQUTE project aims to provide the tools to achieve quantum certification. This will allow detecting when a quantum system has a relevant property, such as entanglement or randomness, or performs a task as expected, such as providing cryptographic security or performing computations correctly. Project research will rest on three pillars that reflect the broadness and interdisciplinary nature of the field: many-body quantum systems, quantum networks and quantum cryptographic protocols.
Objective
Given a quantum system, how can one ensure that it (i) is entangled? (ii) random? (iii) secure? (iv) performs a computation correctly? The concept of quantum certification embraces all these questions and CERQUTE’s main goal is to provide the tools to achieve such certification. The need of a new paradigm for quantum certification has emerged as a consequence of the impressive advances on the control of quantum systems. On the one hand, complex many-body quantum systems are prepared in many labs worldwide. On the other hand, quantum information technologies are making the transition to real applications. Quantum certification is a highly transversal concept that covers a broad range of scenarios –from many-body systems to protocols employing few devices– and questions –from theoretical results and experimental demonstrations to commercial products–. CERQUTE is organized along three research lines that reflect this broadness and inter-disciplinary character: (A) many-body quantum systems: the objective is to provide the tools to identify quantum properties of many-body quantum systems; (B) quantum networks: the objective is to characterize networks in the quantum regime; (C) quantum cryptographic protocols: the objective is to construct cryptography protocols offering certified security. Crucial to achieve these objectives is the development of radically new methods to deal with quantum systems in an efficient way. Expected outcomes are: (i) new methods to detect quantum phenomena in the many-body regime, (ii) new protocols to benchmark quantum simulators and annealers, (iii) first methods to characterize quantum causality, (iv) new protocols exploiting simple network geometries (v) experimentally-friendly cryptographic protocols offering certified security. CERQUTE goes at the heart of the fundamental question of what distinguishes quantum from classical physics and will provide the concepts and protocols for the certification of quantum phenomena and technologies.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantHost institution
08860 Castelldefels
Spain