In the end we were even able to manage good weather for a project revue meeting!

(L-to-R) Fabio Sciarrino (Reviewer), Corin Gawath (Reviewer), Christoph Clausen (Geneva),

Bart Van Caenegem (EC), Grégoire Ribordy (IDQ), Harald Herrmann (Paderborn),

Matthieu Legré (IDQ), Nicolas Gisin (Geneva), Philippe Goldner (CNRS-LCMPC Paris),

Alban Ferrier (UPMC Paris), Félix Bussières (Geneva), Mikael Afzerlius (Geneva),

Jean-Louis Le Gouët (CNRS-LAC Paris), Rob Thew (Geneva), Stefan Kröll (Lund).

QuReP Partner IDQ just finished its fifth in an increasingly popular series of Winter Schools. This year the programme was extended to include Quantum Computing as well as a day dedicated to Quantum Repeaters, with Lectures given by QuReP researchers Nicolas Gisin, Mikael Afzelius and Rob Thew from the University of Geneva.  As the QuReP project heads into its final six months, this was a perfect opportunity to talk to the diverse audience that these Winter schools attract.  The feedback from the physics students, security specialists and various industry-oriented participants revealed a high degree of interest in the quantum technologies that QuReP is trying to develop. 

Does it have a future? Classic cryptology isn't budging, but all depends on QKD.

There was a nice article recently by Chris Lee in Ars Technica on Quantum cryptography... This gives a very nice overview of what quantum cryptography is about for the general public. Added bonus of interviews from QuRep partners Nicolas Gisin from the University of Geneva and Matthieu Legré from id Quantique. Includes a nice video explaining the BB84 protocol.

Check it out here.

Quantum networks require the crucial ability to entangle quantum nodes. A prominent example is the quantum repeater, the central theme of the QuReP project, which allows overcoming the distance barrier of direct transmission of single photons, provided remote quantum memories can be entangled in a heralded fashion. Building on our recent progress with quantum memories based on rare-earth-ions-doped crystals, The Geneva group have recently demonstrated heralded entanglement between two quantum nodes. The entanglement is created by storing a spatially delocalised heralded single photon state into the memories. Then, the entanglement is revealed by mapping it back to optical modes and by performing quantum state tomography on the retrieved state. Our results show that two macroscopic crystals can be entangled together in an heralded fashion. This brings quantum networks based on solid-state devices one step closer. For more technical information you can find the paper in Nature Photonics.

A new venture capital company focusing on Quantum Technologies has recently been initiated. The Quantum Wave Fund claims it has the potential to raise as much as $100 million, and intends to fund start-up companies working on new kinds of materials and technologies. The fund is Boston-based but with a global vision, having contacts in the US, Europe, Asia as well as in Russia, where several of the key backers are from. The talk of such large amounts of money is a strong endorsement of the rapidly advancing field of quantum information science.

The announcement has also been receiving significant attention in the media - see for example: Optics.org, Venturebeat and TechCrunch. 

It is encouraging to see the beginnings of a quantum industry.  Recently, we mentioned the Quantum wave initiative and now the people behind Blackberry have announced another $100M fund for quantum technologies.  The goal? "... to provide financial and intellectual capital for the development and commercialization of quantum physics and quantum computing breakthroughs." This investment comes on the back of several years of significant investment in quantum information science in Canada and is yet another positive sign that the quantum revolution is coming.