Title: Quantum Computing - potential, implementation, challenges Speaker: Professor Lloyd C.L. Hollenberg, ARC Australian Professorial Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology, University of Melbourne Date/Time: Tuesday, November 27, 2007, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Seminar Location: CSRI Building, Room 90 (Sandia NM) Brief Abstract: There is a growing movement seeking to understand and harness the information processing potential of systems obeying the laws of quantum mechanics, with the ultimate goal of designing and constructing a quantum computer. In this talk the basics of quantum computing will be reviewed - from the simplest quantum algorithms to the requirements for scaled-up implementations. The focus will be on the considerable physical resources required for implementing quantum information processing in a manner which is inherently fault tolerant - where the design of the computer allows for the protection of quantum information against environmental decoherence, through recursively applied quantum error correction protocols. While there are many candidate qubit systems there are in fact not many physical systems which show promise for scale-up in this strong sense. Even before classical control requirements are taken into account, the question of how to achieve scalable fault-tolerant quantum computation in any given physical system is non-trivial. In this context the silicon quantum computer proposal - one of the few architectures analyzed for scale-up - will be reviewed, with emphasis on the challenges to be met in the design and construction of a full-scale quantum computer. Bio: Lloyd completed his PhD in 1989 at the University of Melbourne in theoretical particle physics. In 1990 he was awarded a JSPS Fellowship and began postdoctoral work in the theoretical physics group at the KEK accelerator laboratory in Tsukuba, Japan. After his postdoctoral period he returned to the School of Physics. In the interim, he has spent extended periods working at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg (1999), and the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, (2005), sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. A long standing interest in quantum many body systems, was a natural starting point for research in quantum computing and communication applications. In 2000 Lloyd joined the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology, and created the Device Modelling Program in 2001. This program now comprises 12 research students and 2 postdoctoral researchers and has had significant impact on the scientific directions of the Centre. He is also a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts, and Technical Director (Theory) of the Quantum Communications Victoria diamond-based single photon source prototype development initiative. CSRI POC: Ann E. Mattsson, (505) 844-9218 |