Like every weekend, Mathilde Fontez, editor-in-chief ofEpsiloon decrypts new scientific data for franceinfo. Today, the launch of the quantum computing platform.
franceinfo: A few days ago, the Minister of Research, Frédérique Vidal, and the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, launched a quantum computing platform …
Mathilde Fontez: This is the first phase of the national investment plan announced a year ago by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron. A plan which amounts to 1.8 billion euros, including 1 billion of state investments, and which aims to finance research, start-ups, and industrial initiatives in the quantum field.
Quantum is the science of the infinitely small …
That’s it: it’s a theory that was invented in the 1920s, and which describes particles: atoms, light and their interactions. But what is funded here is not really basic research. It’s technology.
Quantum has already given birth to technologies that are familiar to us today, the laser for example. And right now, she is giving birth to a new, potentially revolutionary machine: a new type of computer, a quantum computer.
This in particular is what this plan aims to finance, but also billions of investments all over the world: a new computing machine that does not work like conventional computers.
Will this quantum computer be more efficient?
There is no doubt about that. This is where it all started in the 1990s: theorists have shown that a computer which exploits the specific properties of the infinitely small calculates certain problems much faster. The gain can even be exponential.
But above all, this computer must exist. That we manage to manufacture it. That’s the whole difficulty: transforming this theoretical concept into reality. There have been continuous efforts for 30 years. But in recent years, things have started to change. Manufacturers have started to fund research on the subject: IBM, Microsoft, Google.
And the first machines are starting to take shape. So, they are not successful. These are kind of little prototypes. But they are causing a stir. Because the quantum computer, if it happens, could change everything. In fact, it is a technology that is considered strategic, hence the presence of the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, on Tuesday for the launch of the French platform.
Because this computer will offer unprecedented computing power?
Yes, it will allow those who have it to calculate faster. And we can imagine a host of applications: this ranges from research into new drugs, new materials, optimization of industrial processes.
But above all, this computer will be able to suddenly break the encryption that secures our communications on the Internet. For example, when we authenticate to pay online. There, we are talking about a “threat” to national security. This is the term that the Minister of the Armed Forces used.
Cryptography specialists around the world are already preparing to face this, by working on new encryption methods that are resistant to the quantum computer. We call it post-quantum cryptography!