New SMCS Technical Committee on Quantum Computing

Emerging quantum technology is recognized as one of the most promising future technologies. By exploiting the unique features of quantum effects, emerging quantum technology is rapidly developing around the world involving quantum computation, quantum communication, quantum metrology and quantum simulation.

Quantum cybernetics provides the framework for a fundamental and interdisciplinary investigation on the role of quantum effects on regulating quantum and classical systems, and developing new quantum technology.

Quantum information has many important potential applications due to its advantages over traditional Information Technology. Existing results have shown that quantum cryptography has better security for communication than its classical counterpart, and quantum computation can efficiently speed up the solutions of some classical problems and can even solve some difficult problems that traditional computation cannot.

This progress in theoretical and experimental aspects brings with it the promise of a new and powerful Quantum Information Industry.

Some world-class companies have also joined the competition of developing quantum information and computing technology. For example, Google has launched a Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab aiming to pioneer research on how quantum computing might help with machine learning and other difficult computer science problems. Microsoft has invested a huge of money to develop quantum computing software and hardware.

There are many challenging problems that need extensive investigation; e.g., the role of unique characteristics including quantum entanglement, quantum coherence and quantum measurement. As Nobel Prize Winner Feynman said, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”.

We feel that people in the SMC society can make more contributions to the area of quantum cybernetics, and this promising direction should also be recognized and explored by more colleagues in the SMC community. The creation of this technical committee on Quantum Cybernetics aims at achieving the two goals and promoting the development of quantum technology.

Vision

The goal of the TC is to provide a forum for idea exchange in the emerging research area of quantum cybernetics. Many fundamental problems in the emerging area are waiting for solutions and lots of applications are unexplored. For example, the development of estimation and control methods is a key task in quantum cybernetics, and the capability of feedback for enhancing robustness of quantum systems is worth deeper investigation. The application of quantum computing to enhancing the efficiency of machine learning is worth further exploring.

The TC will support state-of-the-art strategies and schemes of quantum cybernetics, with aims at sharing knowledge amongst the scientists and generating new knowledge in the emerging area. We will take special attention on novel, and rapidly developing technologies, based on quantum cybernetics, which may bring significant chance to our life and society.

One of the important goals of this technical committee is to provide a forum for exchanging achievements and ideas among worldwide researchers in the emerging area of quantum cybernetics, as well as provide strong support for young scientists to build next generation of scientific community. It will also bridge the gap between the emerging theoretical concepts/knowledge and the potential applications, making the promising future technologies more practical and useful.

The platform will initially consist of a commitment to:

  • Organize special sessions at IEEE SMC conferences on quantum cybernetics, with focus on theory as well as applications.
  • Establish special interest group in quantum cybernetics (trying to apply for international joint projects as well to promote the emerging field).
  • Attract more non-membership researchers to join IEEE SMC for joint research on related topics.
  • Encourage IEEE members to participate research in above-mentioned and related fields to explore new applications for further prompting the world and its higher quality.
  • Co-organize SMC Technical sponsored workshops or conferences.

Technical Committee on Quantum Computing

Daoyi Dong, University of New South Wales, Northcott Drive, ACT 2600 Australia
[email protected]

Tzyh-Jong Tarn, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University, St. Louis, USA
[email protected]

Chunlin Chen, Nanjing University, 22 Hankou Road, Nanjing 210093 China
[email protected]