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The Quantum Black Box

Def.: black box (noun); anything that has mysterious or unknown internal functions or mechanisms


2025 was designated the International Year of Quantum (IYQ) because it marks a century since a series of papers were published that marked the foundations for quantum mechanics that we know today (see below). We marvel about the rapid advance from the first human flight to setting foot on the moon, but the advancement in quantum is much more startling. At least flight was understood; we still don't understand basic foundational questions about how quantum physics works. It just does. But that hasn't stopped us from leveraging the quantum properties of small particles for amazing applications. This evolution occurred in three major epochs:


1905 - 1939: The Era of Quantum Discovery

This era is marked by the incredible cooperation between true scientific giants as they invented, and grappled with, the concepts of superposition, entanglement, the uncertainty principle, and the observation problem. They didn't have the sophisticated technology that we have today, only basic equipment, thought experiments and a spirit of collaboration. And yet, our modern capabilities have proven that they were all pretty much spot on (with some notable exceptions). Unfortunately, World War II broke up that incredible period of discovery.


1939 to 2000: The First Quantum Revolution

The Manhattan Project changed the course of quantum development forever, as the race for the atomic bomb led to a shift from theoretical to experimental quantum physics. Backed by immense funding, this focus on experimentation led to nuclear reactors, atomic clocks, lasers, MRIs, and semiconductors. The atomic bomb was horrible and devastating, but it is hard to imagine the world without these developments.


2000 to Today: The Second Quantum Revolution

These inventions utilized the bulk quantum properties of materials, but it was these developments, most notably the laser, that opened the door to the Second Quantum Revolution where we can now manipulate the quantum properties of individual particles. The laser not only revolutionized communications, sensing, imaging, and integrated circuits, but it is an instrumental tool for quantum experiments (including the proof of entanglement) and are used to isolate and "freeze" particles that is the basis for quantum computers and quantum sensors, and create streams of single or entangled photons that are used for quantum communications. A century ago we didn't know these quantum properties existed; now we are building boxes with "Quantum Inside." This hardware, tied with advances in quantum information theory and quantum optics, have now shifted our focus from hardware to new and potentially disruptive applications, including complex optimization problems and simulations; the sensitive measurement of RF, magnetic and gravity fields; accurate clocks and imaging; the secure delivery of encryption keys, random numbers, and time; and quantum networks, aka the quantum internet. These mysterious black boxes may be tough to understand (a common affliction in our modern world of smartphones and ChatGPT), but you don't need to understand how they work to use them.


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It has been a century since a dense paper by Werner Heisenberg inspired a slew of research that marked the foundations for quantum mechanics that we know today. These scientists sought to understand the orbit of an electron orbiting a proton in a hydrogen atom. In the classical world, we know that the Earth orbits the sun, the moon orbits the Earth, and so on. These satellites follow a predictable path based on Keplerian orbital mechanics: if you know the position and velocity of a satellite now, you know its location in the future. But the orbit of an electron does not work that way; the math doesn't work out. So these early quantum physicists created a mathematical framework that suggests that the electron does not have a defined position - it is in a superposition (though some think that this is only a mathematical convenience). This, and other contradictions to our knowledge of classical physics, is part of the reason quantum mechanics is hard to grasp. Consider the obstacles that faced those early 20th century scientists (as well as any modern first year quantum students):

  • Small particles behave fundamentally differently than the world of large objects. This is why we know (well, strongly suspect) that Schrödinger's cat is either dead or alive even when the box is closed, the moon is there if we don't look at it, and your hand won't pass through a table.

  • It needs complex math, not to gate-keep us mere mortals, but that is the only way to explain what our experiments are telling us. (Though there is a move towards using Quantum Picturalism as a better teaching tool).

  • We cannot observe the quantum states directly. We can only asks questions, in the form of experiments and tests, and infer from the results what is going on in the quantum world.

There are also the aspects of quantum mechanics that confounded even Albert Einstein: that the quantum world is fundamentally random and not deterministic (God “does not play dice”) and that quantum entanglement effects are not local (their influence is faster than the speed of light), and are not based on hidden variables (the so-called "spooky action at a distance"). Quantum scientists are still grappling with these questions, even as John Stewart Bell and the experimentalists that won the 2022 Nobel Prize seems to have resolved these arguments.

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