Quantum Computing Talk

On the 20 June, Year 11 Physics students and keen learners from Years 9-12 were treated to a very special lecture by the University of Sydney on Quantum Computation. PLC Sydney is extremely fortunate to have hosted this eye-opening talk with distinguished guest speaker, Dr Ivan Kassal.

During the lecture, Dr Kassal talked to the students about the strange realm of quantum physics, and how traditional concepts are constantly challenged with revolutionary ideas, such as particles behaving like waves. Extending this discovery, scientists are now looking to the potential applications for quantum mechanics, including to build a quantum computer.

Different to a classical computer, such as the one that’s being used to view this blog post, a quantum computer can be designed to tackle many questions which currently take billions of years to solve. This includes trying to break confidential encryptions, as well as making chemical simulations to predict the behaviour of new medicines. But the future of encryption is not as bleak as we might think, Dr Kassal informed us, because quantum mechanics can also be applied to ensure the security of data in a field called quantum-communication.

Following the lecture, Year 12 students were invited to a morning tea with Dr Kassal, where outstanding questions were asked and the stimulating discussion was continued. Although this technology still feels surreal and far into the future, the students learnt that it is, in fact, happening all around us - Australia especially has a strong focus on being the leader of Quantum Computation.

All in all, it was a wonderful opportunity for PLC Sydney students to expand their knowledge beyond the limits of the classroom. Despite the strong physics theory behind Quantum Computation, this is indeed an enabling technology that can be applied to many aspects of our lives. What an exciting future to be anticipated!