Unlocking treasures of the quantum universe

Quantum computers, quantum communication based on quantum technology, is the buzz worldwide. Quantum technology is an attempt to harness the sub-atomic particle, photon, as a means to carry information. A photon does not have material existence like the analogue transistors in computers now in use, occupy less space, move faster and can carry far more information than its counterpart. It has been emerging as a promising new frontier for some years. The US, the EU, China and India are all in it, and so are private tech giants such as IBM, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Nokia. They think quantum computers and quantum communication will change the tech world as we know it.

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So, it was not surprising that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in 2020-21 Union Budget that Rs 8,000 crore, spanning five years, were being allocated to set up research and production facilities to forge ahead with quantum computers and communication, and that apart from the government, private players would take part in it as well.

On April 19, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh announced the Cabinet approval for the Rs 6,000-crore National Quantum Mission (NQM), which would undertake projects for research and development of quantum technologies.

Things have been happening at different places and levels. For example, in April 2021, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune set up a Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) in Quantum Technology with the support of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). It has 20 national-level institutes collaborating in research, including select IITs, the Indian Institute of Science, TIFR, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics and SN Bose National Centre of Basic Sciences.

In August 2021, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar had launched the Quantum Computer Simulator (QSim) toolkit to enable students and researchers to carry out work in quantum computing, one of the verticals of the government’s NQM in a ‘cost-effective manner.’ This project is a collaboration of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) at Pune.

QSim is seen as an outcome of the project — Design and Development of Quantum Computer Toolkit (Simulator, Workbench) and Capacity Building. So, in more ways than one, work on quantum computers, technology and applications has taken off in several places, and, perhaps, it is good that it is not centred in any one place. But work is going on in advanced research centres and not in university science departments, a problem that has been plaguing Indian science from Nehru’s days. Of course, quantum mechanics and quantum technologies will be part of the undergraduate and postgraduate science courses and they will be connected in many ways with NQM projects.

It is hoped that in a bid to show quick results, the NQM managers will not focus only on technological hurdles which need to be solved to move forward. Basic science research in the diversified quantum physics field, pure mathematics and materials science is necessary, which then could lead to breakthroughs. The science bureaucrats are not ruling out international collaborations, which could be exciting. The challenge comes when the funding has to continue even if there are no quick breakthroughs, and even if some research projects reach a dead end.

That has been a key issue with science research all over the world and the Indian government has generally been short-sighted in this matter.

And it would also be futile to paint pictures of a visionary future where quantum computers hold quantum information in folds of quantum cloud formations, where infinite information is the promise. There are real challenges on the way. The base of the quantum computer — the physical structure which is very small as compared to the room-sized supercomputers of the present day — requires temperature a little above absolute zero kelvin, ie minus 273.15 degrees Celsius or minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. It remains a challenge all over the world. We need a supercool atmospheric condition to maintain a quantum computer. And the qubits, the content of the quantum computers, are considered to be unstable because they can flip any time. Stabilising the qubits is another hurdle.

Realistically speaking, the capacity to build a quantum computer is limited to 50 to 100 qubits, which is far more powerful than a supercomputer, but it is too modest in terms of its potential. So, it will be years before capacity increases can be made. What is needed is patience. We cannot look over the shoulder of researchers impatiently, whether they have made the breakthrough or not. An ideal quantum computer can deliver the universe in the palm of our hands, but as a sceptical physicist observed, it is like a cold fusion which can release atomic energy at room temperature, a distinct theoretical possibility, but it remains a chimera as of now. Governments and global tech giants are sinking billions of dollars in quantum technology research. It may lead to the promised miracle, but it could be a failed project.

The problems we have been facing with global digital networks should make us aware that there is no perfect technology. We are putting in efforts in quantum technology and constructing a quantum computer to create a ‘fault-tolerant’ system. It does not mean that we can abandon the enterprise of unlocking the hidden treasures of the quantum universe, which makes the wildest dreams of science fiction look tame with things like quantum teleportation.

The credit, indeed, goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that it has gotten on to the quantum technology bandwagon, even as India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru put India on the path of atomic research and nuclear power, and the then PM Indira Gandhi opened up satellite communication through timely governmental investments. But it is time to look critically at what India managed to do, and failed to do, in these two fields which can be useful on the quantum technology journey. Critical awareness and a bit of scepticism are always useful.