Quantum : the second revolution unfolds

Quan­tum is a field of research desi­gned to unders­tand the laws of the uni­verse, but also to deve­lop tech­no­lo­gies that are revo­lu­tio­ni­sing a range of sec­tors such as heal­th­care, space and electronics.

Des­troy micro­sco­pic can­cer cells, cut out cor­neas, per­form MRI scans, replace old light bulbs with ener­gy-effi­cient LEDs, com­mu­ni­cate via fibre optics : all are made pos­sible by research into quan­tum phy­sics and asso­cia­ted developments.

Today, we are on the cusp of what Nobel Prize winner Alain Aspect calls the “second quantum revolution”, which could lead to disruptive technologies such the quantum computer.

In this issue of 3.14, you’ll find his exclu­sive inter­view, as well as articles by experts in the field that will help you bet­ter unders­tand the uni­verse of the infi­ni­te­ly small.

What you’ll find :

• The basics : what is quan­tum phy­sics and why is there talk of a second revolution ? 

• The appli­ca­tions : which indus­tries are alrea­dy bene­fi­ting from the advances of quan­tum technology ?

• The com­pu­ters : what is the poten­tial of quan­tum computing ?