Application development will strengthen security in quantum computing

The UCSC academic is part of the team working on this edge, which will be a fundamental part of the technology that is pushing the limits of applied research worldwide.

Communications Catholic University of the Holy Conception.-If it sounded like fiction before, the quantum race is a reality that has promoted the development of technological advances, such as quantum computers: devices that can perform highly complex tasks in a matter of seconds, compared to the years it would take traditional computers to do so. Quantum technology is a discipline that has received enormous recognition with the awarding of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics to Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger, pioneers in the foundation and development of these applications.

But just as new technologies are a fact, there is also significant progress in applications in the area of ​​information security, among others. And at UCSC, the academic of the Faculty of EngineeringDr. Jaime Cariñe, is the one who leads research in this field.

In this way, this year he participated in the publication of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Physics, “Certification of non-projective measurements in quantum systems using multi-port light splitters”in collaboration with researchers from the Millennium Institute for Research in Optics (MIRO), to contribute advances in the development of quantum applications.

“This is a job where we develop an optical circuit that is capable of carrying out processes for advanced systems, which are quantum systems. In 2020 we presented the first results from a device called Beam Splitter (or multi-port light splitters), built on multi-core optical fibers, a fundamental part that integrates the optical circuit used in the recent publication. Roughly speaking, this circuit operates with two Beam Splitters coupled to various electronic devices that allow the generation and measurement of quantum states in a controlled manner and with high efficiency”, explained the researcher from the Department of Electrical Engineering at UCSC. The usefulness of this research will be relevant for the development of applications that provide information security.

quantum systems

The boom in the development of quantum systems was at the end of 2018, the year in which the United States, China and the European Union invested billions of dollars to work on quantum information, an area that includes everything from quantum computing to data transmission. At that time, the existence of this type of computer was seen as “probable”. Today, however, it is a reality, in which companies like IBM and Google are some of the world leaders.

Speed ​​and the ability to solve problems in different ways than usual is what quantum computing not only promises, but has also demonstrated. Hence, for about three years the concept of “quantum supremacy” arose, evidencing the superiority that these new devices have in relation to traditional computers.

“Currently, people are exposed to information security risks, since these tasks could also attack security systems. For example, a person who has a key generator for bank transfers (or digipass), presses it and encodes a transfer. A normal computer would take years to know the code to validate the transfer and cheat. On the other hand, a quantum computer could take seconds, and could take not only the transfer, but all the money to other accounts”, explained Dr. Cariñe.

That is why one of the branches in which the UCSC researcher is working is information security, which has to do with transmitting the key from one point to another, with the assurance that no one will be able to read it without be detected. “That is the principle of quantum information aimed at key distribution. And since it is quantum, it is called ‘quantum key distribution’ (QKD)”, explained the academic, who hopes to be able to contribute to information security in areas such as banking systems, military information or government information.