Quantum skeptics should take note of the news today that the Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to three scientists who performed “groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated.”
Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger share the prize for all having conducted experiments which observed how what happens to one of a pair of entangled particles determines the state of the other particle, no matter how far apart they are from one another. But this isn’t just a case of an award being given for interesting theoretical work – the Nobel Committee cites the real usefulness of their research.
“The ineffable effects of quantum mechanics are starting to find applications,” the Nobel Committee for Physics wrote. “There is now a large field of research that includes quantum computers, quantum networks and secure quantum encrypted communication.”
Quantum computers are here. They are not just a theoretical possibility. Dozens of them exist around the world right now and newer, more powerful generations of quantum hardware are announced every few months. Not every platform will necessarily be successful at doing work that classical computers cannot do, but with thousands of physicists and engineers working with combined budgets of billions of dollars with the support of governments, universities and corporations behind them it is difficult to believe that none of them will succeed.
Eventually, some of these quantum computers will be able to crack RSA and other conventional forms of encryption. That’s a serious problem. They will also probably enable accelerated new drug discoveries, breakthroughs in materials science, battery development and other types of optimization. The world will have to deal with a little bit of bad along with a lot of good.
Qrypt was founded by people who believed in the same vision that the Nobel Committee for Physics does. That quantum technology has already proven that it is going to change the world. We congratulate each of these scientists and the many members of their labs who have helped to bring about this change. We are committed to innovating and providing quantum-safe encryption that will never be vulnerable to decryption by quantum computers, so that the world can celebrate quantum innovations like these without fear.
Image credit: © Nobel Prize Outreach. Illustration: Niklas Elmehed
