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How to profit from quantum technology without building quantum computers

Nature Reviews Physics volume 3, pages 150–152 (2021)Cite this article

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There are a number of lower risk opportunities to invest in quantum technologies, other than quantum computers, but to make the most of them both specialist knowledge and market awareness are required.

Physicists have long studied quantum computing and its possible applications. Numerous platforms such as ultracold atoms and superconducting circuits have been explored in this context leading to a plethora of related technological advances. The excitement is palpable, as public and private capital is flowing in (see Supplementary Information, Fig. S1). A large number of high-tech companies have some form of a quantum computing effort underway. The US, the EU and the Chinese government agencies have allocated billions of US$ to quantum computing research. But some expectations are running ahead of reality and a true large-scale general-purpose quantum computer will require more time, research and innovations to come to fruition. As with any big scientific challenge, working towards the end-goal will certainly bring many innovations along the way. What are the options in the meantime?

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Fig. 1

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor Shimon Kolkowitz for numerous discussions of related topics and providing useful feedback on the manuscript. The authors are also grateful to Professors Benjamin Lev and Steven Rolston for comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aspen Quantum Consulting, Towson, MD, USA

    Dmitry Green, Yuval Oreg & Victor Galitski

  2. McKinsey & Company, Inc., Frankfurt, Germany

    Henning Soller

  3. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Yuval Oreg

  4. Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Victor Galitski

Authors
  1. Dmitry Green
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  2. Henning Soller
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  3. Yuval Oreg
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  4. Victor Galitski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor Galitski.

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Competing interests

Aspen Quantum Consulting is providing consulting services on quantum technologies. The remaining author declares no competing interests.

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Green, D., Soller, H., Oreg, Y. et al. How to profit from quantum technology without building quantum computers. Nat Rev Phys 3, 150–152 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-021-00290-w

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