KITCHENER, Ontario (PRWEB) August 10, 2020

evolutionQ was awarded a Space Technology Development Program (STDP) contribution by the CSA to develop solutions to advance satellite-based secure quantum communication services and tools to address challenges related to satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) networks.

Cryptography underpins the secure communications required for the digital, network-based social and financial interactions that are at the heart of modern society and the economy, including banking, the sharing of confidential healthcare data, and the exchange of sensitive information between governmental institutions. However, rapid advancements in quantum computing threaten current encryption methods because quantum computers, when built, will be able to break commonly used cybersecurity systems. It is important to develop tools, like QKD, that will be resistant to such quantum threats.

QKD technologies leverage the fundamental laws of quantum physics to distribute confidential cryptographic keys between two users, while detecting the attempts of malicious third-parties to intercept such keys. Unfortunately, typical terrestrial methods to establish such direct secure connection between locations are limited to relatively short distances, of the order of at most 200 km. This is clearly a challenge for a country as vast as Canada. Satellite-based QKD will enable secure, reliable, and economical key-sharing across Canada.

A powerful quantum computer has the power to decimate todays cryptography. As key quantum computing milestones are achieved, the need for quantum-safe solutions intensifies, said Dr. Michele Mosca, President and CEO of evolutionQ. Robust cryptography is absolutely necessary for our safety and the proper functioning of our digital economy. We must adopt quantum-safe solutions to secure and safeguard our critical infrastructures, financial services and intellectual property."

Quantum Key Distribution is an important tool in addressing the quantum threat. QKD uses the fundamental laws of physics to protect information shared between two parties. CTO of evolutionQ, Dr. Norbert Ltkenhaus remarked. Satellite-based QKD is essential for a vast country like Canada and will help secure communications from coast to coast. evolutionQ is poised to utilize its expertise and develop solutions to help establish satellite QKD, and to integrate it with existing terrestrial solutions.

evolutionQ will develop tools to address the challenges unique to satellite-based QKD. This will be accomplished by modelling the role and performance of QKD satellites, and by designing optimization algorithms to integrate QKD satellites with terrestrial networks. The software solutions will be designed to be integrated with existing and planned satellite hardware. The project is expected to last 24 months.

The initiative will also help Canada safeguard sovereignty in the quantum age and strengthen Canadian leadership in the space and quantum sectors. The initiative aligns with the new Space Strategy for Canada, the safety and security principle in Canadas Digital Charter and the Government of Canadas Innovations and Skills Plan.

This project is undertaken with the financial support of the Canadian Space Agency.

About evolutionQ:evolutionQ is a leading quantum-safe cybersecurity company led by world-renowned quantum computing experts Dr. Michele Mosca and Dr. Norbert Ltkenhaus. evolutionQ delivers quantum-risk management strategy and advisory services along with robust cybersecurity products designed to be safe against quantum computers.

Share article on social media or email:

See the rest here:

Quantum-safe security firm evolutionQ awarded contribution from Canada Space Agency for Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Network Research and...

The quantum world is a pretty wild one, where the seemingly impossible happens all the time: Teensy objects separated by miles are tied to one another, and particles can even be in two places at once. But one of the most perplexing quantum superpowers is the movement of particles through seemingly impenetrable barriers.

Now, a team of physicists has devised a simple way to measure the duration of this bizarre phenomenon, called quantum tunneling. And they figured out how long the tunneling takes from start to finish from the moment a particle enters the barrier, tunnels through and comes out the other side, they reported online July 22 in the journal Nature.

Quantum tunneling is a phenomenon where an atom or a subatomic particle can appear on the opposite side of a barrier that should be impossible for the particle to penetrate. It's as if you were walking and encountered a 10-foot-tall (3 meters) wall extending as far as the eye can see. Without a ladder or Spider-man climbing skills, the wall would make it impossible for you to continue.

Related: The 18 biggest unsolved mysteries in physics

However, in the quantum world, it is rare, but possible, for an atom or electron to simply "appear" on the other side, as if a tunnel had been dug through the wall. "Quantum tunneling is one of the most puzzling of quantum phenomena," said study co-author Aephraim Steinberg, co-director of the Quantum Information Science Program at Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. "And it is fantastic that we're now able to actually study it in this way."

Quantum tunneling is not new to physicists. It forms the basis of many modern technologies such as electronic chips, called tunnel diodes, which allow for the movement of electricity through a circuit in one direction but not the other. Scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) also use tunneling to literally show individual atoms on the surface of a solid. Shortly after the first STM was invented, researchers at IBM reported using the device to spell out the letters IBM using 35 xenon atoms on a nickel substrate.

While the laws of quantum mechanics allow for quantum tunneling, researchers still don't know exactly what happens while a subatomic particle is undergoing the tunneling process. Indeed, some researchers thought that the particle appears instantaneously on the other side of the barrier as if it instantaneously teleported there, Sci-News.com reported.

Researchers had previously tried to measure the amount of time it takes for tunneling to occur, with varying results. One of the difficulties in earlier versions of this type of experiment is identifying the moment tunneling starts and stops. To simplify the methodology, the researchers used magnets to create a new kind of "clock" that would tick only while the particle was tunneling.

Subatomic particles all have magnetic properties and when magnets are in an external magnetic field, they rotate like a spinning top. The amount of rotation (also called precession) depends on how long the particle is bathed in that magnetic field. Knowing that, the Toronto group used a magnetic field to form their barrier. When particles are inside the barrier, they precess. Outside it, they don't. So measuring how long the particles precess told the researchers how long those atoms took to tunnel through the barrier.

Related: 18 times quantum particles blew our minds

"The experiment is a breathtaking technical achievement," said Drew Alton, physics professor at Augustana University, in South Dakota.

The researchers prepared approximately 8,000 rubidium atoms, cooled them to a billionth of a degree above absolute zero. The atoms needed to be this temperature, otherwise they would have moved around randomly at high speeds, rather than staying in a small clump. The scientists used a laser to create the magnetic barrier; they focused the laser so that the barrier was 1.3 micrometers (microns) thick, or the thickness of about 2,500 rubidium atoms. (So if you were a foot thick, front to back, this barrier would be the equivalent of about half a mile thick.) Using another laser, the scientists nudged the rubidium atoms toward the barrier, moving them about 0.15 inches per second (4 millimeters/s).

As expected, most of the rubidium atoms bounced off the barrier. However, due to quantum tunneling, about 3% of the atoms penetrated the barrier and appeared on the other side. Based on the precession of those atoms, it took them about 0.6 milliseconds to traverse the barrier.

Chad Orzel, an associate professor of physics at Union College in New York, who was not part of the study, applauded the experiment, "Their experiment is ingeniously constructed to make it difficult to interpret as anything other than what they say," said Orzel, author of "How to Teach Quantum Mechanics to Your Dog" (Scribner, 2010) It "is one of the best examples you'll see of a thought experiment made real," he added.

Experiments exploring quantum tunneling are difficult and further research is needed to understand the implications of this study. The Toronto group is already considering improvements to their apparatus to not only determine the duration of the tunneling process, but to also see if they can learn anything about velocity of the atoms at different points inside the barrier. "We're working on a new measurement where we make the barrier thicker and then determine the amount of precession at different depths," Steinberg said. "It will be very interesting to see if the atoms' speed is constant or not."

In many interpretations of quantum mechanics, it is impossible even in principle to determine a subatomic particle's trajectory. Such a measurement could lead to insights into the confusing world of quantum theory. The quantum world is very different from the world we're familiar with. Experiments like these will help make it a little less mysterious.

Originally published on Live Science.

See the rest here:

Physicists watch quantum particles tunnel through solid barriers. Here's what they found. - Live Science

If Juan Maldacena were not a physicist, he thinks he would have been an engineer like his father. As a boy growing up in Buenos Aires, he liked to spend time with him tinkering with the washing machine or the car or other household items, learning how they exploited the laws of physics, as he sees it today.

Now a theoretical physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, Maldacena is world-famous in part for writing what is still one of the most influential articles in string theory.

Although the abstract realms of theoretical physics may seem like a far cry from the literal nuts and bolts of heavy appliances, I think its not too different, he says. Building a theory that works is like building a washing machine that works.

String theory just has a lower risk of electrocution or a flooded basement.

When Maldacena began his post-secondary education at the University of Buenos Aires, it seemed natural to enter as a physics major. I really loved learning about how the laws of physics explained various aspects of the real world, he says.

After two years, he transferred to the Instituto Balseiro in the far western Argentinian city of Bariloche, a research-oriented institution that accepts students after their first two years at other institutions. It is small and grants degrees in only a few disciplines, all related to physics and engineering.

Maldacena graduated with the equivalent of a US masters degree in 1991. He debated what his next move should be: physics graduate school or leaving the academic world to work as an engineer. He was a strong student and loved the discipline but worried that he might not have what it takes to make it as a physics researcher.

I really enjoyed taking the classes, but I didnt know what research was like. It was still a big mystery to me, he says. In the end, I decided to take my chances.

He was accepted to Princeton University, where he started a PhD that fall. Maldacena thrived at Princeton, where he says he enjoyed taking classes with some of the best particle physicists in his field. It was wonderful to see all these people whose papers I had been reading.

His doctoral thesis probed the behavior of black holes in string theory, a framework that unites quantum mechanics and Einsteins theory of relativity by describing fundamental particles as one-dimensional strings.

String theory is a theory of quantum gravity, so Maldacena was extrapolating from the quantum scale to the very, very large. It was considered to be a big success for string theorythe fact that you could describe black holes, which are a big deviation from flat space. It was a consistency check for this theory, he says.

Prominent string theorist Nathan Seiberg was on sabbatical from Rutgers University at the IAS when he met Maldacena, who was then a graduate student at Princeton. They were later colleagues at Rutgers, and they are now colleagues again at the IAS.

Seiberg says he was enormously impressed with Maldacena when they first met. It was quite clear from day one that he was someone specialvery, very specialand he would rise to the top.

Maldacena is best known for his description of the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence. The crux of the AdS/CFT correspondence is that a theory of gravity in one universe is the same as the quantum field theory on the boundary of that universe.

Maldacenas first paper describing the idea, published in 1997, has become one of the most-cited articles in string theory, and high-energy physics more broadly. These are results that will stay fundamental in physics for centuries, Seiberg says.

The correspondence has had interesting applications to several fields, including nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, cosmology and mathematics.

Maldacena graduated from Princeton in 1996, so his AdS/CFT breakthrough came very early in his career, when few academics would risk taking a big swing like that. Hes not afraid. Hes very bold, Seiberg says. He likes to attack the most difficult questions that most people would stay away from. He just goes full steam ahead.

The risk paid off. Maldacena was hired as an associate professor at Harvard University directly from the first year of his postdoc at Rutgers and was offered a full professorship two years later. Shortly after that, he was offered a permanent position at the IAS and moved back to New Jersey.

Maldacenas clarity stands out to Seiberg. In research, one is often in this fog of confusion. And he has this clear mind, seeing through the fog and knowing where to go, Seiberg says.

Seiberg says they have worked together a few timesand the joy of the collaboration was enormousbut Maldacena has also had an influence on him far beyond their formal co-authorship. There were many times, both when I made official presentations and in informal conversations, that he would ask a question that completely changed the direction of my own research, Seiberg says.

When he isnt doing physics, Maldacena enjoys hiking with his wife and three children. He sees his work and recreation as two sides of the same coin. When you think about physics problems, you are thinking about very specific aspects of nature, Maldacena says. When you go hiking, you appreciate other aspects of nature.

In addition to his own research, Maldacena has advised several PhD students and postdocs. He has a very good sense for identifying talent, Seiberg says. His track record is amazing.

Maldacena remembers when he wasnt sure whether he should try going into a research career in physics and hopes that other students in his position will not let that fear keep them from trying it. Maybe they will find that they are better than they expected, he says. Or maybe they will love it more than they expected.

See the original post:

Taking a risk on theoretical physics | symmetry magazine - Symmetry magazine

Clouds of supercooled atoms offer highly sensitive rotation sensors and tests of quantum mechanics.

A new device that relies on flowing clouds of ultracold atoms promises potential tests of the intersection between the weirdness of the quantum world and the familiarity of the macroscopic world we experience every day. The atomtronic Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) is also potentially useful for ultrasensitive rotation measurements and as a component in quantum computers.

In a conventional SQUID, the quantum interference in electron currents can be used to make one of the most sensitive magnetic field detectors, said Changhyun Ryu, a physicist with the Material Physics and Applications Quantum group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. We use neutral atoms rather than charged electrons. Instead of responding to magnetic fields, the atomtronic version of a SQUID is sensitive to mechanical rotation.

A schematic of an atomtronic SQUID shows semicircular traps that separate clouds of atoms, which quantum mechanically interfere when the device is rotated. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Although small, at only about ten millionths of a meter across, the atomtronic SQUID is thousands of times larger than the molecules and atoms that are typically governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. The relatively large scale of the device lets it test theories of macroscopic realism, which could help explain how the world we are familiar with is compatible with the quantum weirdness that rules the universe on very small scales. On a more pragmatic level, atomtronic SQUIDs could offer highly sensitive rotation sensors or perform calculations as part of quantum computers.

The researchers created the device by trapping cold atoms in a sheet of laser light. A second laser intersecting the sheet painted patterns that guided the atoms into two semicircles separated by small gaps known as Josephson Junctions.

When the SQUID is rotated and the Josephson Junctions are moved toward each other, the populations of atoms in the semicircles change as a result of quantum mechanical interference of currents through Josephson Junctions. By counting the atoms in each section of the semicircle, the researchers can very precisely determine the rate the system is rotating.

As the first prototype atomtronic SQUID, the device has a long way to go before it can lead to new guidance systems or insights into the connection between the quantum and classical worlds. The researchers expect that scaling the device up to produce larger diameter atomtronic SQUIDs could open the door to practical applications and new quantum mechanical insights.

###

Reference: Quantum interference of currents in an atomtronic SQUID by C. Ryu, E. C. Samson and M. G. Boshier, 3 July 2020, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17185-6

Los Alamos National Laboratorys Laboratory Directed Research and Development program provided funding.

Originally posted here:

New Atomtronic Device to Probe Weird Boundary Between Quantum and Everyday Worlds - SciTechDaily

The global economic machine has taken a battering from the lockdown, and part of the recovery will involve inflation. How well placed are engineers and technologists to ride out the chaos?

Economists used to model their systems like engineers designed refineries, with money flowing around piping, through valves, and in and out of tanks. Its a handy metaphor, but it belongs in its time.

These days it might be better to update the model to our understanding (or lack of it) of quantum physics. Schrdingers cat makes for a good model of the global economy because right now it is both alive and dead at the same time and its going to be a while before we open the box and find the definitive answer.

However you measure the effect of the global lockdown, the economic losses of the last few weeks have been colossal. Sales tax measures suggest a near 50 per cent drop; overall taxes point to 28 per cent, while CO2 emissions show an 18 per cent drop off. So even with a stunningly strong recovery, the net loss to tax revenues in the UK will be hundreds of billions. If the budget is not slashed and the government has promised it wont be those losses will balloon into a bigger and bigger national debt.

The upshot of all this is that the UK, and for that matter pretty much every country on Earth, is going to balloon its public debt to levels that will make a mockery of previous attempts at controlling expenditure so that, for example, the UKs finances next year will look like Italys national debt of last year. All those economic benefits of those years of austerity have gone up in smoke in a few short weeks.

While the UK and Europe have been working flat out to ameliorate their economic woes by exploding their budgets into a series of bailouts, the US has gone all in on a scale only matched by World War Two budgets and it has boosted its money supply at an annualised rate of 100 per cent in the last three months, already banking in an over-30 per cent rise in M1 cash in that time.

As any of us who took GCSE or O-Level Economics will recall, a boost of money supply means a boost in inflation, unless more goods are made to quench the demand triggered by the boosted supply of buying power. Well its a certainty that fewer goods have been made during the lockdown, so a 30 per cent-plus increase in money supply in a few weeks has a South American hyperinflation ring to it. The US is also on the brink of monetising corporate debt the amount that added nine zeros to a German postage stamp in the 1920s. The Germans, if not licking their stamps, are still licking the wounds from that experience, which many blame for the rise of a certain moustachioed landscape painter to power.

Many economists disagree; they say that the money will be stashed just like the cash of the last ten years of QE. The money will be sequestered in ultra-valued bonds, stocks and houses and it wont leak into the hands of the wider population to flush into a buying frenzy that will drive a price rise spiral. That sounds good until you realise that much of the stimulus has gone into the hands of the public in the form of boosted social security payments. The US unemployment payout has been increased by $600 a week, making many people temporarily better off on their sofa watching Netflix or punting stocks on the zero-fee stock trading apps, rather than in their old jobs.

Its a mess, and to my mind it is an inflationary mess, with inflation being the only natural lubricator of the changes ahead for our societies.

Governments cant afford deflation. Recoveries dont happen quickly under deflation. The necessary redistribution of resources that has to now happen doesnt pan out smoothly under deflation. Inflation is the classic path of governance under pressure when crisis strikes, it is the get out of jail free card for rulers since antiquity. However, it is a crazy orthodoxy that inflation is ever so difficult to create, but you can discount that nonsense. If that isnt a huge lie, someone needs to tell Iran, Zimbabwe and Venezuela.

A more nuanced version of the inflation lie is that inflation is caused by the expectation of inflation, and once sparked, its a self-fulfilling loop. That sounds credible until you ask how come they always have banknotes with more zeros to hand as hyperinflation strikes. As the monetarists that killed the inflation of the 1970s tell us: Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.

We are certainly entering into a period of monetary phenomena.

The next few years are going to be grim, but the strategy is the same as in every crisis. Stay employed, be working in the latest thing, buy assets when you see them super cheap.

Engineers and technologists are fortunately at the tip of the value chain and will miss the worse of whats ahead, while Aesops grasshoppers are in for a pretty nasty surprise.

Sign up to the E&T News e-mail to get great stories like this delivered to your inbox every day.

Continue reading here:

Money & Markets: After the virus, make sure you've read the inflationary playbook - E&T Magazine