I run a global telecommunications company.

At a recent Mobile World Congress, I met people who were conducting research at different European institutions. They told me that the behaviour of atoms and photons could revolutionise the field of communications, for example by improving data security.

When I got back home, I asked our company's engineers to study how quantum physics could benefit our business.

I work at a company that designs and builds lasers, ranging from small ones like the pointers you can buy in a local shop to industrial lasers that can precisely cut all kinds of material or even weld metal. We also manufacture lasers used in operating theatres to perform precision surgery.

A unique technology derived from quantum interactions between light and matter with many different applications.

We could not understand modern medicine without quantum physics. At the hospital where I work as a doctor, we often use MRI scans to detect tumours and other types of pathologies. Quantum physics is key to understanding this technology's basic processes. In addition, lasers (another quantum technology) have become essential tools for extreme-precision surgery. These are just two examples of how quantum physics can help medicine!

Every day we share a great deal of private information (personal, financial or health data) that could be intercepted: the cryptographic protocols that currently protect them would not work with computers more powerful than current ones.

One solution could come from quantum physics, which makes it possible to design cryptographic protocols that would resist attacks by any computer (present or future). There are still many technological challenges to be able to integrate quantum cryptography systems into the current telecommunications network: solving them is the objective of CiViQ. This is a European Quantum Flagship project that ICFO coordinates and that involves other research centres, universities and large and small businesses, including the Quside and LuxQuanta spin-offs that ICFO founded in recent years.

Photo: One of ICFO's laboratories where quantum cryptography technologies are being developed

New quantum technologies are emerging that promise to revolutionise the information and communication world: in order to maximise this potential, the European Union is planning to build quantum communications infrastructure, which would allow quantum devices to be connected and eventually form a quantum internet. This infrastructure will make use of the current fibre optic network for short- and medium-distance connections and combine satellites to cover longer distances. The most sensitive data, such as personal, financial and government information, as well as electricity grid, air traffic control and health system data, will thus be protected thanks to quantum physics.

Photo: Clouds of cold atoms in one of ICFO's laboratories.

Imagine a ball in a bowl. Even if we push the ball, it will not be able to escape the bowl unless it has enough energy: it will get to a certain height and fall back.

At quantum scale, particles can overcome certain barriers even if they do not have enough energy. It is as if a tunnel allowed them to cross the barrier without expending energy (tunnel effect).

Applications: electron microscopy (a very thin metal point is placed near a surface and "rips" electrons through the tunnel effect.)

Quantum physics has enabled us to better understand the properties of many materials, such as semiconductors, but there are some we do not understand because the calculations we would have to perform to understand them are too complex, even for the most powerful computers.

As we wait for the arrival of quantum computers, we can start using simple quantum systems that we can precisely control in a lab, such as a cloud of cold atoms, which behave like the more complex systems we want to study. These are quantum simulators, which promise to help us understand materials that are interesting for their technological applications, such as superconductors.

Some predictions of scientific theories may require years of research and testing before they are confirmed. For example, it took more than 40 years from the theoretical formulation of lasers to their manufacture, or from the predicted existence of the Higgs boson to its detection.

What if they had given up hope years before and never found it? To what extent is it wise to invest money and effort to confirm a theory when there are so many social challenges that require immediate investment?

It is important for people to be informed about scientific advances so they can express critical opinions about news in the media, advertising, social networks, etc. and avoid falling for scams or misunderstandings. However, sometimes information comes from pseudoscientific sources of dubious reliability.

How should we manage this often dubious information flow?

Their applications in all fields of human activity will radically change our lives, just as electricity and electronics once did. We must invest as much as we can in their development, to make them commercially viable as soon as possible. 

We should not be fooled by illusory promises. We have gone very far with traditional technologies and we still have a long way to go: we should keep the current investment in quantum technologies at the same level. Let scientists do their work and continue to research, focusing on maintaining and improving the technologies that we already have. 

Research into quantum physics and its applications is positive, but we currently have other far more important and pressing issues, such as hunger, poverty, wars and terrorism. Let us maintain research, but invest our money to find solutions to the major problems our society has today.  

Quantum technologies are very promising, but if they are to be effective, they require solid knowledge of their foundations. We should invest in fundamental research: a better understanding of the foundations of quantum physics will naturally lead to the development of its applications.