Quantum information processing and quantum optics with superconducting qubits; traitement de l'information quantique et optique quantique ave les qubits supraconducteurs

量子信息是一个新的研究领域，它承诺比当前技术提供的计算机更强大。这些计算机将利用量子力学的基本效应。 因此，量子计算机不仅是一项重大的技术进步，也是量子力学基础研究的独特实验室。 然而，实现这样的量子信息处理器是一项极其困难的任务。 一些最有前途的方法来实现它是基于介观电纳米电路包括超导结。该研究计划的目标是加深我们对这些介观器件在大尺度上表现出量子现象的理解，并将这种新的理解应用于量子信息处理。 我们将开发基于超导体的量子计算机架构的新设计，并研究在这些电路中存储和操纵量子信息的新颖且更强大的方法。 我们还将探索这些介观系统与量子光学和原子物理学传统研究的物理学之间新认识的相似之处。通过开辟新的途径来利用固态器件中的量子力学效应，该研究计划将对介观物理和量子信息处理领域产生影响。

Quantum information is a new field of research that promises exponentially more powerful computers than those offered by current technology. These computers will harness effects that are fundamentally quantum mechanical.  A quantum computer would therefore not only be a major technological advance, it would also represent a unique laboratory for the fundamental study of quantum mechanics.  The realization of such a quantum information processor is however an extremely difficult task.  Some of the most promising approaches to its realization are based on mesoscopic electrical nano-circuits comprising superconducting junctions. The goal of this research program is to deepen our understanding of these mesoscopic devices exhibiting quantum phenomena on large length scales and to apply this new understanding to quantum information processing.  We will develop new designs of superconductor-based quantum computer architectures and investigate novel and more robust approaches to store and manipulate quantum information in these circuits.  We will also explore newly recognized parallels between these mesoscopic systems and the physics traditionally studied in quantum optics and atomic physics. By opening new avenues to harness quantum mechanical effects in solid-state devices, this research program will have impact on the fields of mesoscopic physics and quantum information processing.