The Army has designated the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory as one of four Defense Department quantum research centers. Scientists there will harness the power of quantum physics and, "these properties will lead to revolutionary advances in timekeeping and sensing, and it will result in disruptive capabilities in computing and communications for the soldier," explained senior Army research scientist Dr. Fredrik Fatemi.
“Future research will impact the Army of 2040 and beyond by enabling the warfighter to measure better and decide faster,” Fatemi states in an Army press release. “It’s why QIS is a priority research area for the Army.”
Quantum science studies "nonintuitive properties of nature" that occur at the microscopic scale. Applications include timekeeping, but also quantum encryption and decryption. Theoretically, whoever invents quantum decryption first would be able to decrypt all encrypted communications.
Quantum information science, "already forms the backbone of tools we take for granted, such as atomic clocks for the Global Positioning System. In the nearer term, we will see revolutionary advances in timekeeping and sensing, while in the longer term, quantum computing and other entanglement-enhanced quantum technologies could lead to disruptive technological surprise," Fatemi said.
Thus far the Army Research Lab has already developed a quantum sensor for receiving radio transmissions and a low cost atomic clock to help soldiers and their various systems keep track of time in the most precise manner.
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Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
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