W. M. Keck Foundation funds major new MIT program
in quantum information theory:
New center seeks to
revolutionize our understanding of information processing
at the extreme limits posed by the laws of physics
MONDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2007
Contact: William Smith, Assistant Director for Finance
and Sponsor Relations
Phone: +1.617.253.5621
Email: whs@mit.edu
Cambridge, MA 02.05.2007. What are the ultimate
powers of quantum computers, quantum communications,
and quantum precision measurement systems? The
new $3.5M W. M. Keck Foundation Center for Extreme
Quantum Information Theory (xQIT) at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) has been inaugurated
with $1.63M in funding from the Keck Foundation, as
well as funding from MIT and other sponsors, to discover
answers to these fundamental, yet still unsolved, questions.
Seth Lloyd, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and
Jeffrey H.
Shapiro, Julius A. Stratton Professor of
Electrical Engineering and Director of the Research
Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) will lead the new center.
The program funded by the Keck Foundation enables
a major new push by MIT theorists in the international
race to
determine the ultimate capabilities of quantum information
systems. Establishing
these theoretical capabilities would move us closer
to being able to exploit quantum effects for novel
applications, including computers, communication networks,
and global positioning systems. As technological
advances drive contemporary systems and devices to
ever smaller and faster scales, mastery of quantum
mechanical effects is proving crucial to overcoming
the current limitations of classical systems and creating
the next generation of applications in which macroscopic
quantum phenomena play an explicit role.
President Susan Hockfield of MIT said, "The Keck
Foundation has a distinguished history of supporting
bold research efforts and laying the groundwork at
pivotal moments to enable breakthrough scientific progress.
MIT is grateful for the Foundation's foresight in funding
this new center at a time when much Federal support
is devoted to applications of quantum information science,
but less to the fundamental quantum science theory
needed to frame and solve some of the most important
questions."
MIT's research team will pursue theoretical problems
in three key areas: adiabatic quantum computing; quantum
channel capacity; and quantum sensing and control.
In addition to Professors Lloyd and Shapiro, senior
investigators include Professors Edward H. Farhi, Jeffrey
Goldstone, Leonid S. Levitov, Sanjoy K. Mitter, Peter
W. Shor, and Jean-Jaques E. Slotine. The new center,
based in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at
MIT, unites theorists in five academic departments
and five
major research laboratories and centers. It will be
one of the largest
theoretical research efforts at MIT, comprising a broad-based
community of faculty, students, and postdoctoral researchers,
complemented by visiting scientist and outreach programs.
Said MIT's Vice President for Research Claude R. Canizares, "One
of the most exciting things about the Keck Foundation's
support for the new center is that it creates a locus
of interdepartmental and interdisciplinary common purpose
among MIT's researchers in quantum information theory.
Our individual, world-leading efforts in quantum information
science can now be integrated in a way that will improve
the chances of success in the three important research
areas of xQIT."
Professor Lloyd, the program's principal investigator,
noted, "The Keck-funded center on extreme quantum
information theory gives us a huge opportunity to uncover
the truth about the universe at its most fundamental
scales. xQIT
assembles an unmatched team of scientists and engineers
to attack some of the toughest problems in the field."
The W.M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in
Los Angeles, California by William Myron Keck, founder
of The Superior Oil Company. The Foundation is one
of the nation's largest philanthropic organizations,
with assets of more than $1 billion. The Foundation's
Science and Engineering Program makes awards with the
objective of supporting innovative undergraduate instruction
in these fields, as well as leading university research
programs and interdisciplinary projects.
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