IRR: Quantum Informatics
Quantum Informatics
What differentiates Quantum Informatics from the other programmes on the Informatics MSc portfolio?
The use of quantum systems to carry and manipulate information brings new, unprecedented, possibilities. In recent times, our ability to control quantum systems with great accuracy has transformed the prospect of quantum technologies, from a theoretical endeavour to a practical reality. The better known application is quantum computation that holds the promise to solve some hard problems faster than our traditional computer. Quantum cryptography is also a vast area of research, ranging from certification of randomness, quantum key distribution or post-quantum cryptography, i.e., the development of classical cryptographic protocols secure against quantum computer attacks. Quantum Informatics is an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of quantum mechanics, theoretical computer science, cybersecurity and hardware engineering. Big IT companies are investing large in the field, while numerous start-ups with specific focus on quantum have been created, and an increasing number of applications of these new technologies are being developed.
Are there go-to sources to find reviews and perspectives on these research topics? i.e. are there any good review journals that are worth browsing to get topic overviews. What are the key journals or conferences in the field for finding high quality research papers in these topics
Quantum Informatics being an interdisciplinary field with members from the physics and computer science community, thei fields has adapted to the peculiarities of both fields, some people focus on publication others on peer-reviewed conferences plus posting on their work arXxiv (https://arxiv.org/), but most people do both. Few places to look for high quality results:
Probably the best place to look for papers in the field of quantum information is using Scirate https://scirate.com/ Scirate allows you to follow the scientific papers uploaded to the arXiv.org by categories and see the highest ranked new papers. This allows you to quickly explore the most ranked papers of the last day, week, month or even year.
Recording of previous conferences (see QIP, TQC and QCYPT) are ideal places to look for the latest results and rapidly growing areas of research. The recording of the semesters and workshop on Quantum Computation organized at the Simon Institute for the Theory of Computing https://simons.berkeley.edu/ are a great place to look for tutorials for beginners and at the same time rapidly growing areas of research.
The main journal dedicated to the field are:
Quantum, an open non-profit and open access peer-reviewed journal community-driven online journal https://quantum-journal.org/
PRX Quantum https://journals.aps.org/prxquantum/
NJP Quantum https://www.nature.com/npjqi/
It is fair to say that most influential papers in the field are published on other journals that do not specialize in quantum informatics, such as:
Nature https://www.nature.com/
Nature Physics https://www.nature.com/nphys/
Physical Review X https://journals.aps.org/prx/
Physical Review Letters https://journals.aps.org/prl/
Conferences
- Quantum Information Processing (QIP) (https://qipconference.org/ )
- Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC) (https://tqc2021.lu.lv/)
- QCRYPT (https://2021.qcrypt.net/)
Are there any particular high profile or rapidly growing research areas in the programme that you would suggest might be worth looking at for potential IRR themes.
Quantum algorithms for near-term quantum processing units (QPU).
Quantum machine learning algorithms.
Recent experiments on QPU by Google, IBM, Rigetti.
Implementation of quantum error-correcting codes.
Design of more efficient error-correcting codes that adapt to specific hardware requirements.
Quantum simulation of many-body physics or quantum chemistry.
Implementation of device-independent quantum key distribution
Certification of random number generation.