In January 2009, the United States National Science and Technology Council issued a report entitled A Federal Vision for Quantum Information Science. The report proposes that The United States "... create a scientific foundation for controlling, manipulating, and exploiting the behavior of quantum matter, and for identifying the physical, mathematical, and computational capabilities and limitations of quantum information processing systems in order to build a knowledge base for this 21st century technology."
A Workshop on Quantum Information Science has been organized in response to the NSTC report. The workshop, held 23-25 April 2009 at the Tysons Corner Marriott in Vienna, VA, brings together leading theorists and experimenters drawn from physical science, computer science, mathematics, and engineering, in order to assess recent progress in QIS and identify major goals and challenges for future research. The workshop includes open evening sessions so that all participants can express their views concerning the priorities for a national QIS initiative. The workshop will be followed by a report that will be submitted to the Federal agencies that sponsor or perform QIS research. This award, using resources provided by these same agencies, provides funding to cover the cost of holding the workshop and preparing the report.
The intellectual merit of this proposal stems from the workshops potential to identify the central challenges facing QIS research and to formulate a plan for facing these challenges. Its broader impact will be achieved if the workshop and report help to launch a national QIS initiative.
In January 2009, the United States National Science and Technology Council issued a report entitled A Federal Vision for Quantum Information Science. The report proposes that "The United States ... create a scientific foundation for controlling, manipulating, and exploiting the behavior of quantum matter, and for identifying the physical, mathematical, and computational capabilities and limitations of quantum information processing systems in order to build a knowledge base for this 21st century technology." A Workshop on Quantum Information Science, organized in response to the NSTC report, was held 23-25 April 2009 at the Tysons Corner Marriott in Vienna, Virginia, funded by this NSF award. The workshop brought together leading theorists and experimentalists drawn from physical science, computer science, mathematics, and engineering, who assessed recent progress in QIS and identified major goals and challenges for future research. The workshop also included open evening sessions so that all participants could express their views concerning the priorities for a national QIS initiative. There were 28 speakers and 178 participants. Copies of all presentations have been posted at the workshop website www.eas.caltech.edu/qis2009/ A report, prepared by workshop participants based on the presentations, is also available at this website. The report has been used by US government agencies to guide funding priorities and strategy in this reseach area. We do not yet have a clear picture of how QIS might influence the science and technology of the 21st century. It is likely that the most far-reaching quantum technologies have not yet been anticipated, and will emerge only as basic research in QIS continues to mature and develop. But as the NSTC report emphasizes, QIS will require long-term focused attention for a decade or more from a variety of government agencies and national laboratories if the US is to achieve and maintain a global leadership position while training a new generation of quantum scientists and engineers. We hope that the Workshop on Quantum Information Science and the associated report will help to nucleate a cohesive national effort that will nurture and invigorate this vitally important emerging field.
