Konwersatorium im. Leopolda Infelda

The effort to develop practical quantum technology is ramping up worldwide, with several governments (including the UK) recently announcing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investment. Is thispremature? Or are we now sure that complex quantum systems can be adequately controlled, and sufficiently scaled, that they can be useful? I will ague for a "yes" by reviewing recent achievements in experiments,architecture theory and applications. My talk will include a graphical (non-mathematical) explanation of our best ideas for spotting errors in a quantum computer's memory -- even though we are not allowed to look atit! Audience members who bring a laptop with Chrome or Safari browsers will be able to try a simulation where they control a quantum memory themselves.