How quantum physics could ‘revolutionize everything’

Liam Hall grew up on a farm in Australia, and was a mechanic who “got grease and scratches on his knuckles”, but in recent years his career has taken a more technical turn.

He is now Head of Quantum Biotechnology at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.

“I have a bit of a strange background. I always wanted to be a diesel mechanic. Doing that for a while led to wanting to study engineering at university. That introduced me to physics, and then to quantum physics. Rollercoaster rides are a good way to go,” he says. To describe it.

His team is developing diagnostic techniques and trialling tiny sensors made from tiny pieces of diamond about 50 nanometers in size (about 1,000 times finer than a human hair) to test patients’ iron levels.

Current methods monitor a protein known as ferritin, which is the body’s iron storage mechanism. While monitoring ferritin is a good way to measure iron, it would be more accurate to measure the actual iron levels within the protein.

One way to do this is to measure the small magnetic fields generated by iron. But there is one big problem with this approach.

“[The magnetic field] “It is quite small and beyond the measurement of any conventional magnetic measuring devices or microscopes,” explains Dr. Hall.

However, Dr. Hall’s nanoscale quantum sensors can detect and measure those tiny fields.

In the future, he says, this technology could develop an early marker for any given disease, including monitoring certain hormones or proteins that may indicate cancer.

“The advantage of quantum systems has always been that you can achieve much better sensitivity and easier identification of chemicals at much lower cost,” says Dr. Hall.

Dr. Hall is part of a global drive to advance quantum technologies. Britain, China, the United States and other countries are all trying to exploit the strange properties of quantum mechanics.

“Quantum is one of Australia’s most promising growth opportunities – an opportunity to create new markets and new applications,” CSIRO chief scientist Professor Bronwyn Fox said.

Quantum mechanics emerged in the early twentieth century through studies of the smallest objects in nature. Scientists believe it has the potential to expand our understanding of the universe and solve complex problems at lightning speed.

The range of applications appears broad; From advances in environmental science and decarbonisation, to cybersecurity and new medicines. There could be molecules that “eat carbon” and remove it from the atmosphere, quantum batteries to power cars, airplanes designed to reduce their emissions, and transportation logistics to reduce road congestion.

One ambition of quantum research is to harness the power of subatomic particles to store and process data.

While classical computing generally uses bits (zeros and ones), quantum computers use qubits, which can exist as zeros, ones, or a combination of both.

This is where things can get a little weird, as particles can exist in multiple states at once (this is called superposition), and also be entangled (or entangled) with each other.

“By using this principle of quantum superposition with another quantum phenomenon known as entanglement, it enables you to perform calculations that are simply impossible using conventional computers. It opens up the possibility of performing some amazing calculations that could change the world,” explains the professor. Andrew Dzurak from the University of New South Wales.