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，而被囚禁离子和被囚禁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。

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.