Physical quantum dynamics and quantum measurement

量子技术不再是科幻小说。 包括微软、谷歌、IBM、BBN雷神、洛克希德、HRL在内的大公司以及D-Wave和Anyon Systems等加拿大公司都在这一领域投入巨资。 最终目标不一定像建立通用量子计算机那样雄心勃勃。 短期量子技术有可能彻底改变我们从事基础科学的方式。 这些技术包括依赖于测量单个自旋的量子态的纳米级磁场传感器，以及可以模拟相互作用的多体系统的复杂量子动力学的设备。 量子传感器现在已经被用来绘制出单个细胞的磁场，而在捕获离子和捕获原子系统中的量子模拟正在进入我们在传统计算机模拟中无法预测的领域。我之前的NSERC发现基金在纳米级量子动力学方面非常成功，导致我们对捕获离子的量子退相干的理解，以及量子点，线和威尔斯中的电子和空穴自旋的理解。 此外，我们在理解量子系统的物理测量方面取得了实质性进展，例如，到纳米级氮空位（NV）中心磁场传感器的带宽有效加倍。*在这个NSERC发现补助金，我提出了一个研究计划，利用这个新的理解，我们已经开发了量子动力学在半导体纳米结构和量子测量。 在这个提议中，我们将量子模拟的想法扩展到这些半导体纳米结构的领域，并提高了我们为传感和容错量子计算执行量子测量的能力。作为NSERC发现基金的一部分，我将为下一代在量子技术前沿工作的HQP做准备。 HQP在我的小组学习有价值的技能：量子信息/量子计算和理论凝聚态物理学的跨学科结合，直接接触和应用到实验中。这正是学术界、研究中心和工业界高度追捧的技能组合。 **

Quantum technologies are no longer science fiction. Large corporations, including Microsoft, Google, IBM, BBN Raytheon, Lockheed, HRL, and Canadian companies like D-Wave, and Anyon Systems, are all investing heavily in this area. The end goal is not necessarily as ambitious as building a universal quantum computer. Shorter-term quantum technologies have the potential to revolutionize the way we do fundamental science. These technologies include nanometre-scale magnetic-field sensors that rely on measuring the quantum states of individual spins and devices that can simulate the complex quantum dynamics of an interacting many-body system. Quantum sensors have now been used to map out the magnetic field of a single cell and quantum simulations in trapped-ion and trapped-atom systems are reaching into territory that goes beyond what we can predict in a traditional computer simulation.****My previous NSERC Discovery Grant on nanoscale quantum dynamics was highly successful, resulting in advances in our understanding of quantum decoherence for trapped ions, and for electron and hole spins in quantum dots, wires, and wells. In addition, we have made substantial progress in understanding physical measurements of quantum systems, leading, e.g., to an effective doubling of the bandwidth of a nanoscale nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center magnetic-field sensor.***In this NSERC Discovery Grant, I have proposed a research program that leverages this new understanding we have developed for quantum dynamics in semiconductor nanostructures and in quantum measurements. In this proposal, we extend ideas for quantum simulation to the realm of these semiconductor nanostructures, and improve on our ability to perform quantum measurements for sensing and for fault-tolerant quantum computing.***As part of this NSERC Discovery Grant, I will prepare the next generation of HQP working at the forefront of quantum technologies. HQP in my group learn valuable skills: An interdisciplinary combination of quantum information/quantum computation and theoretical condensed-matter physics, with direct contact and application to experiment. This is precisely the combination of skills that is highly sought after in academia, in research centres, and in industry. **