[Paper Review] The European Quantum Technologies Roadmap

Antonio Acín, Immanuel Bloch+16 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Dec 11, 2017

Quantum Information and Cryptography7 references140 citations

TL;DR

The European Quantum Technologies Roadmap summarizes Europe’s updated view of QT across four domains plus cross-cutting areas, outlining current status, challenges, and ten-year outlook.

ABSTRACT

Within the last two decades, Quantum Technologies (QT) have made tremendous progress, moving from Noble Prize award-winning experiments on quantum physics into a cross-disciplinary field of applied research. Technologies are being developed now that explicitly address individual quantum states and make use of the 'strange' quantum properties, such as superposition and entanglement. The field comprises four domains: Quantum Communication, Quantum Simulation, Quantum Computation, and Quantum Sensing and Metrology. One success factor for the rapid advancement of QT is a well-aligned global research community with a common understanding of the challenges and goals. In Europe, this community has profited from several coordination projects, which have orchestrated the creation of a 150-page QT Roadmap. This article presents an updated summary of this roadmap. Besides sections on the four domains of QT, we have included sections on Quantum Theory and Software, and on Quantum Control, as both are important areas of research that cut across all four domains. Each section, after a short introduction to the domain, gives an overview on its current status and main challenges and then describes the advances in science and technology foreseen for the next ten years and beyond.

Motivation & Objective

• Explain why global alignment is crucial for rapid QT advancement.
• Summarize Europe’s progress and challenges in the four QT domains.
• Present cross-cutting areas (Quantum Theory and Software, Quantum Control) that span domains.
• Describe the anticipated scientific and technological advances over the next decade and beyond.

Proposed method

• Review and synthesize the 150-page QT Roadmap with domain-specific sections.
• Provide status, challenges, and 10-year outlook for each domain.
• Integrate cross-cutting topics (Quantum Theory and Software, Quantum Control) into the roadmap narrative.
• Highlight Europe’s coordination projects that enabled the roadmap’s creation.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What is the current status and main challenges in each QT domain (communication, simulation, computation, sensing/metrology) in Europe?
• RQ2 What advances are foreseen for the next decade across QT domains?
• RQ3 How do cross-cutting areas influence progress in all four QT domains?
• RQ4 What role do coordination projects play in aligning the European QT research community?

Key findings

• QT comprises four interrelated domains: Quantum Communication, Quantum Simulation, Quantum Computation, and Quantum Sensing and Metrology.
• A well-aligned global research community is a critical success factor for QT advancement.
• European coordination projects have facilitated the creation of the QT Roadmap.
• The article provides an updated, domain-by-domain summary with status, challenges, and near-/long-term advances.
• Cross-cutting areas such as Quantum Theory and Software and Quantum Control are important across all QT domains.
• The roadmap presents advances foreseen for the next ten years and beyond.