The race is on. Political, economic and strategic power in the 21 century will be more and more defined by the power of the computer systems and the algorithms that are available. Although this modern war has already started with conventional computer weaponry, the world power structure of the coming centuries will be defined by the technology that can be applied by the respective players. Thus research centers, governments and companies are already looking at the next weapon of mass destruction: Quantum computing.
This new concept of computing data surpasses the classical methods by far, giving a huge strategic advantage to anybody who would be able to apply it first. Quantum computing uses quantum phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to perform data processing. However, applying these quantum concepts to macroscopic devices like computers is an enormous challenge for information scientists and physicists alike. What does it make so hard? Well, scientists have to find a material in which they are able to store and manipulate quantum bits (qubits). Since quantum states are very fickle and thus hard to abide, the most important task is to find materials in which qubits can be stored for a sufficient long time. Surprisingly they found these properties in diamond. More specific, scientists are investigating defect centers in diamond to be used as qubits. Although quantum computing in 2014 is still in its infancy, first experiments have already been carried out that give hope that these computational concepts will become reality.
This talk is an entertaining “tour de force” including a brief introduction to the fascinating yet strange theories of quantum physics, the concepts of using these in quantum computing and the latest results on qubits in devices made out of diamond. Moreover this presentation is given by a physicist who has been working on diamond for various other applications for years - who suddenly realized that he has the material for the next IT revolution right in his lab.
If you want to learn about the machines that decrypt your passwords in the coming years and how you can actually grow diamonds in your microwave oven (and who wouldn’t?) this talk is for you!