Australia is a world leader in quantum computing, attracting interest from the biggest tech companies in the world, the best academics and researchers looking to advance their understanding of this important, albeit largely inaccessible discipline for most.

RMIT associate professor, Nicolas Menicucci, explains for us how quantum computing actually works – and how it doesn’t – its different iterations including laser/optical, where the technology is today, the recent advances and key hurdles, as well as what the technology might mean for all of us, especially in businesses and the enterprise.  

And Dr Ben Brown, quantum computing researcher at The University of Sydney, explains the importance of his and others’ work in addressing ‘decoherence’, which describes the high levels of noise or errors in quantum systems. These can occur as a result of entanglement, which is when different quantum elements come together in ways that weren’t predicted (seems little is in this area) and produce unexpected results.

It’s a critically important area of quantum computing, the success of which will largely determine whether the technology will live up to expectations.