Quantum is the basic unit of matter and the basic carrier of energy. The discovery of the quantum theory revolutionized the perception of human being towards the microscopic world; the research on the quantum theory allows us to overcome the classical limits of physical and information science; the applications of quantum include a leap of our computing capability and provide us unconditional information security. In our daily lives, quantum is a term seeming so near yet so far. How will the quantum theory impact people’s lifestyle in the future?
In the afternoon of May 17, 2016, the second “Southern China Science Forum”, co-organized by SUSTech and the University of Macau, was held at the lecture hall of the first research building. Professor Jianwei Pan, executive vice president of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, was invited to deliver a lecture titled “Quantum Leap—Myth, Philosophy, Internet and Future”. The lecture was hosted by President Shiyi Chen.
In January, 2016, 45-year-old Prof. Pan won the First Class Award of National Natural Science, and was the youngest winner for the award. At the end of 2015, the work of his team, “the simultaneous quantum teleportation of two inherent properties of a fundamental particle–the photon”, was selected as the top breakthrough in 2015 around the world by Physics World, a website operated by British Institute of Physics; this was the first time such an honor was received by a research performed in mainland China.
In his lecture, Prof. Pan was able to explain the supposedly complicated theory of quantum physics in simple terms, making them lucid and entertaining to the audience. He began with a comparison between the homo rudolfensis and homoerectus as an example to introduce the concept of “information exchange”, which has been playing an important role in human evolution and social development. According to him, efficiency and privacy protection are the two most significant concerns in information exchange. In ancient times, information could only be transmitted from mouth to mouth. It was the foundation of electrodynamics, including the discovery of radio waves and the invention of telephone, and other progress in the field of physics that dramatically improved the efficiency of information exchange in modern times.
The academician described the classical world and the quantum world as two sides of the world. He noted that the quantum science emerged from the passive observation of macroscopic phenomena. However, after Einstein invented the Relativity Theory and Quantum Mechanics was established, first quantum revolution was triggered and the modern information technology was born. “Perhaps time travel and Star Trek in Hollywood movies would become reality in the near future,” said the professor.
“Currently, bottleneck of computation capacity and information security are two major challenges standing in the way of information technology’s progress. Yet quantum mechanics has formed a solid base with its over-a-hundred-year history and is prepared to solve those problems,” Pan continued. Next the academician gave a brief introduction to the characteristics of quantum and explained quantum entanglement as “spooky action at a distance” by quoting Einstein.
He said that with the second quantum revolution ignited by quantum control and quantum information, quantum science has found applications in various aspects of people’s life. For example, quantum communication, is a communication means guaranteed with unconditional security by the quantum theory. Furthermore, it contains many exclusive advantages that can’t be seen in traditional means. Prof. Pan described quantum teleportation as “the rocket in the quantum world” because of its high efficiency.
Another good example is quantum computation and simulation, which facilitates the great leap of computation capability, thus leading to more efficient means for finding solutions to challenges of large-scale computation, and revelation of the laws of complex physical system. Nowadays, the application of quantum science can be seen in all aspects of human life, including cryptography, weather forecast, drug design, financial analysis, oil exploitation, etc.
Speaking of the development of quantum science in China, Pan Jianwei put on a look of pride. According to him, China is building its own wide-area quantum communication system as well as the Quantum Communication Beijing-Shanghai Route. Also, the Quantum Science Satellite will be launched soon. All these projects have tremendously improved China’s global influence.
Group photo of Academician Pan Jianwei, President Chen Shiyi and SUSTech students
In the interaction session, Prof. Pan answered in detail all the questions raised by SUSTech students.
After the lecture, amid a warm atmosphere, President Chen invited students to come to the stage and took a group photo with Prof. Pan.
