Science and technology go hand in hand but it’s not always true that basic research leads to applications. Many early advances in thermodynamics, for example, followed the opposite path, emerging from experiments with equipment developed by James Watt, who was trying to improve the efficiency of steam engines. In a similar way, much progress in optics and photonics only arose after the invention of the laser.
The same is true in quantum physics, where many of the most exciting advances are occuring in companies building quantum computers, developing powerful sensors, or finding ways to send information with complete security. The cutting-edge techniques and equipment developed to make those advances then, in turn, let us understand the basic scientific and philosophical questions of quantum physics.
Quantum entanglement, for example, is no longer an academic curiosity, but a tangible resource that can be exploited in quantum technology. But because businesses are now applying this resource to real-world problems, it’s becoming possible to make progress on basic questions about what entanglement is. It’s a case of technological applications leading to fundamental answers, not the other way round.
In a recent panel event in our Physics World Live series, Elise Crull (a philosopher), Artur Ekert (an academic) and Stephanie Simmons (an industrialist) came together to discuss the complex interplay between quantum technology and quantum foundations. Elise Crull, who trained in physics, is now associate professor of philosophy at the City University of New York. Artur Ekert is a quantum physicist and cryptographer at the University of Oxford, UK, and founding director of the Center for Quantum Technologies in Singapore. Stephanie Simmons is chief quantum officer at Photonic, co-chair of Canada’s Quantum Advisory Council, and associate professor of physics at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
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