Unsurprisingly, resources are pouring into the sector to try to apply this research. For example, a computer that can use qubits, the quantum equivalent of a binary “bit” in a normal computer, could be hundreds of orders of magnitude more effective at some calculations than a binary computer. But applied, such research could unlock potentially transformative technology. In the labs, postgraduate students work mostly on pure fundamental research-for example, examining how molecules of different materials, from diamond to silicon, can be manipulated at a quantum level. What does it add up to? Quantum technology is still at an early stage. Hence the building of the lab, which cost $300m, as well as the hiring of staff. “I said we have to hire a dozen faculty, build buildings, build laboratories, and he said, we will do it,” recalls Mr Awschalom. According to Mr Awschalom, however, it was visionary thinking by Robert Zimmer, a former president of the University of Chicago, that was responsible for the city’s more recent quantum leap.Ī little over a decade ago, Mr Awschalom says, he was drawn back to Chicago from California when Mr Zimmer agreed to dip into the university’s endowment to fund a quantum-engineering programme. Today, Illinois generates more electricity from nuclear power than any other state. Argonne National Lab opened in 1946 as a hub for research into nuclear power. But if the technology does take off, the Windy City hopes to be at the forefront of it.Ĭhicago’s strength in quantum research in part goes back to its days at the centre of research into the nuclear industry. And a lot of the cutting-edge action in the field is happening in the private sector (in firms such as Google, IBM and Intel, and startups like IonQ) rather than in government-funded labs. It is still unclear whether quantum technology will ever amount to much. Roughly two-fifths of federal funding for quantum research is spent in Illinois, and four of the country’s ten quantum labs are in the state. That is just one part of a world-leading research cluster taking root in Chicago into quantum technology, attempting to apply the confusing nature of atoms to practical use in communications and computing. ![]() Through it, scientists experiment with sending signals by the means of entangled photons. A fibre-optic line connects the building directly to Argonne National Laboratory, a government facility 20 miles away in the south-western suburbs of Chicago. Such precision is necessary, because it is in the labs on these floors where students try to measure the movement of individual molecules. PREMIUM The establishment of “quantum innovation hubs” in partnership with selected state governments can help direct investments efficiently and build a well-connected quantum research network in the country. (Shutterstock) Three feet of concrete absorb even the tiniest of vibrations caused by, say, a truck passing nearby, without affecting the instruments. “This was made to be functional.” There is almost perfect silence, except for the quiet hum of the air-conditioning. The parts upstairs “were made to be beautiful”, he says. Yet to David Awschalom, one of America’s leading molecular physicists, and the director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, it is down here, three storeys below ground, that is the most exciting part of the architecture. Whereas the upper floors of the building are a postmodern tower of angled glass, underground the walls are bare-white MDF. ![]() To a casual visitor, the basement of the William Eckhardt Research Centre, at the University of Chicago, might appear nothing special.
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