China Is at the Forefront of the Quantum Revolution　中國(guó)走在量子革命最前沿

珍妮·惠倫　孫加

More than a decade ago， Chinese physicist Pan Jian-Wei returned home from Europe to help oversee research into some of the most important technology of the 21st century.

At a conference in Shanghai last summer， Pan and his team offered a rare peek at the work he described as a “revolution.”

They spoke of the hacking-resistant1 communications networks they are building across China， the sensors they are designing to see through smog and around corners， and the prototype computers2 that may someday smash the computational power of any existing machine.

All the gear3 is based on quantum technology—an emerging field that could transform information processing and confer big economic and national-security advantages to countries that dominate it. To the dismay of some scientists and officials in the United States， Chinas formidable4 investment is helping it catch up with Western research in the field and， in a few areas， pull ahead.

Beijing is pouring billions into research and development and is offering Chinese scientists big perks5 to return home from Western labs.

Quantum technology seeks to harness6 the distinct properties of atoms， photons7 and electrons to build more powerful tools for processing information.

In 2018， China had nearly twice as many patent filings8 as the United States for quantum technology overall， a category that includes communications and cryptology9 devices， according to market research firm Patinformatics10. The United States， though， leads the world in patents relating to the most prized segment of the field—quantum computers—thanks to heavy investment by IBM， Google， Microsoft and others.

Helping oversee Chinas program is Pan， whom Chinese media call the “father of quantum.” From his labs at the University of Science and Technology of China （USTC）， in Shanghai and Hefei， the 50-year-old leads a team of 130 researchers. In 2017， the journal Nature named him one of “ten people who mattered this year，” saying he had “l(fā)it a fire under11 the countrys efforts in quantum technology.”

In his talk at the Shanghai event， Pan detailed how China is harnessing qubits12 to safeguard its communications from hacking—one of the fields in which China appears to have a lead over the West.

Pan and his team are aiming to launch a constellation of13 satellites and a nationwide fiber-optic14 network that use qubits to securely transmit information. An almost 1，300-mile fiber link connecting Beijing， Shanghai and other cities is already up and running. So is a satellite China launched in 2016， which has conducted several prominent experiments， including facilitating15 a hacking-resistant video conference between Beijing and Vienna.

If the technology gains traction16 globally， China could be in a strong position to sell it， given the large number of patents its universities and companies have registered for devices and technology relating to quantum communication and encryption17， according to Patinformatics.

For now， China is lagging behind18 the US tech industry in perhaps the most important race in the field： building a quantum computer.

A fully functioning quantum computer has the potential to be transformative. The exponentially19 greater calculation power could help identify new chemical compounds to treat intractable20 diseases， and eliminate traffic snarls21 by predicting and managing the flow of vehicles.

To get a fully functioning computer—a goal still a decade or more away， most scientists agree—researchers must coax22 a large number of qubits into working together efficiently. Thats difficult because qubits are finicky23 and have the propensity24 to stop functioning at the slightest disturbance， such as a minor change in temperature.

Google and IBM are at the forefront， using superconducting25 circuits to manipulate qubits. In 2018， Google unveiled a quantum processor with 72 qubits， surpassing IBMs previously announced 50-qubit computer.

Chinese researchers so far have reported a 12-qubit processor， using superconducting technology similar to Googles and IBMs.

The leader of that work， USTC professor Zhu Xiaobo， presented his teams results at the Shanghai conference， flashing a picture of their prototype on the screen—a shiny tangle of coaxial cables26 resembling an intricate golden chandelier.

“We are now working on 24 qubits，” Zhu said. “We hope next year we will go to 50， and maybe sometime we will go to quantum supremacy27，” he added， referring to the point at which a quantum computer is able to perform a calculation that existing computers cant. Lu Chaoyang， a young physicist who earned his PhD at Cambridge University， also stepped to the lectern to deliver an update on his teams approach to quantum computing. It relies on photons， which he dubbed28 “fast-flying qubits.”

十多年前，中國(guó)物理學(xué)家潘建偉從歐洲歸國(guó)，成為某項(xiàng)21世紀(jì)最重要技術(shù)研究的總負(fù)責(zé)人。

去年夏天，在上海某次會(huì)議上，潘建偉和團(tuán)隊(duì)讓公眾得以一窺他稱(chēng)之為“革命”的研究?jī)?nèi)容。

據(jù)介紹，他們正在鋪設(shè)遍布全國(guó)的防黑客入侵通信網(wǎng)絡(luò)，設(shè)計(jì)能穿透煙霧、繞過(guò)拐角的探測(cè)傳感器，以及幾臺(tái)原型計(jì)算機(jī)——這些計(jì)算機(jī)的計(jì)算能力，在將來(lái)的某一天，會(huì)碾壓現(xiàn)存的任何機(jī)器。

這些設(shè)備均基于量子技術(shù)。量子技術(shù)是目前正嶄露頭角的新領(lǐng)域，該領(lǐng)域能徹底改變信息處理的過(guò)程，為掌握該技術(shù)的國(guó)家?guī)?lái)可觀的經(jīng)濟(jì)收入與國(guó)防優(yōu)勢(shì)。中國(guó)在這一領(lǐng)域中投下了巨額資金，逐步趕上西方同類(lèi)研究，并在某些方面取得了領(lǐng)先地位。這一點(diǎn)，頗讓美國(guó)的某些科學(xué)家和政府官員驚愕。

北京方面為該技術(shù)的研發(fā)投下了幾十億的資金，還提供了豐厚的津貼，以吸引中國(guó)科學(xué)家離開(kāi)西方國(guó)家的實(shí)驗(yàn)室，回歸祖國(guó)。

量子技術(shù)的目標(biāo)是：掌握原子、光子和電子各自的獨(dú)特性質(zhì)，用以建造更加強(qiáng)大的信息處理工具。

根據(jù)專(zhuān)注市場(chǎng)研究的 “專(zhuān)利信息分析”公司的數(shù)據(jù)，2018年，中國(guó)在量子總體技術(shù)（包括通信及密碼學(xué)設(shè)備）方面申請(qǐng)的專(zhuān)利，達(dá)到了美國(guó)的兩倍。但是，在量子技術(shù)最有價(jià)值的一塊——量子計(jì)算機(jī)方面，美國(guó)申請(qǐng)的專(zhuān)利則領(lǐng)先全世界。這多虧了IBM、谷歌、微軟及其他公司的大量投資。

中國(guó)量子技術(shù)項(xiàng)目的總負(fù)責(zé)人，則是被中國(guó)媒體譽(yù)為“量子之父”的潘建偉。他現(xiàn)年50歲，來(lái)自中國(guó)科學(xué)技術(shù)大學(xué)，在上海及合肥均設(shè)有實(shí)驗(yàn)室，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)著130人的研究團(tuán)隊(duì)。2017年，他入選《自然》雜志“全球科學(xué)界十大年度人物”，稱(chēng)他“推動(dòng)了國(guó)家在量子技術(shù)方面的投入”。

在上海會(huì)議上，潘建偉詳細(xì)介紹了中國(guó)如何利用量子比特保障通信安全，杜絕黑客——這正是中國(guó)似乎領(lǐng)先西方的領(lǐng)域之一。

潘建偉團(tuán)隊(duì)計(jì)劃發(fā)射一系列衛(wèi)星，同時(shí)建設(shè)覆蓋全國(guó)的光纖網(wǎng)絡(luò)，利用量子比特實(shí)現(xiàn)信息安全傳輸。目前，已有近1300英里的光纖鋪設(shè)完成并投入使用，連接北京、上海及其他城市。2016年，中國(guó)還發(fā)射了一顆衛(wèi)星，利用這顆衛(wèi)星，團(tuán)隊(duì)進(jìn)行了數(shù)項(xiàng)重要實(shí)驗(yàn)，其中之一便是協(xié)助實(shí)現(xiàn)了北京—維也納之間的防黑客安全視頻會(huì)議。

據(jù)“專(zhuān)利信息分析”公司預(yù)測(cè)，由于國(guó)內(nèi)大學(xué)與公司注冊(cè)過(guò)大量量子通信與加密的設(shè)備和技術(shù)專(zhuān)利，一旦量子技術(shù)開(kāi)始在全球獲得關(guān)注和推廣，中國(guó)在專(zhuān)利出售方面可能處于有利地位。

不過(guò)，在可能是這一領(lǐng)域最重要的競(jìng)賽——量子計(jì)算機(jī)制造方面，中國(guó)仍暫時(shí)落后于美國(guó)的技術(shù)工業(yè)。

一臺(tái)功能完備的量子計(jì)算機(jī)，有可能徹底改變世界。相比現(xiàn)有計(jì)算機(jī)，量子計(jì)算機(jī)的計(jì)算能力會(huì)以指數(shù)級(jí)別提高，能識(shí)別新的化合物，以治療棘手的疾病;還能預(yù)測(cè)和管理車(chē)流量，徹底消除交通堵塞。

要造出功能完備的量子計(jì)算機(jī)——大多數(shù)科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，距離實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)還需要十年或更多時(shí)間——研究者們必須想辦法讓大量量子比特一同高效運(yùn)作。要實(shí)現(xiàn)這一點(diǎn)很困難：量子比特對(duì)環(huán)境十分挑剔，任何微小的擾動(dòng)——比如溫度略有升降——都有可能造成量子比特運(yùn)作失常。

在這方面，谷歌與IBM公司進(jìn)展最快。他們利用超導(dǎo)電路來(lái)操控量子比特。2018年，谷歌發(fā)布了一款72量子比特的量子處理器，超越了IBM此前發(fā)布的50量子比特計(jì)算機(jī)。

目前，中國(guó)研究者們公開(kāi)發(fā)布的只有12量子比特的處理器，用的也是跟谷歌與IBM類(lèi)似的超導(dǎo)技術(shù)。

中國(guó)量子計(jì)算機(jī)項(xiàng)目的領(lǐng)頭人、中國(guó)科大教授朱曉波在上海舉行的會(huì)議上，展示了所率團(tuán)隊(duì)的研究成果。他在大屏幕上播放了團(tuán)隊(duì)設(shè)計(jì)的原型計(jì)算機(jī)的一張照片——閃亮的同軸電纜錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜，仿佛造型繁復(fù)的金色枝形吊燈。

“我們正在研發(fā)24量子比特的計(jì)算機(jī)。”朱曉波說(shuō)。接著，他補(bǔ)充道：“我們希望明年能達(dá)到50量子比特，或許將來(lái)能取得量子霸權(quán)?！绷孔影詸?quán)，指的是量子計(jì)算機(jī)的計(jì)算能力達(dá)到某個(gè)節(jié)點(diǎn)，能夠完成現(xiàn)存計(jì)算機(jī)無(wú)法完成的計(jì)算任務(wù)。在劍橋大學(xué)獲得博士學(xué)位的年輕物理學(xué)家陸朝陽(yáng)也上臺(tái)發(fā)表了演講。在演講中，他提到自己團(tuán)隊(duì)在量子計(jì)算方面的新進(jìn)展：利用光子——他稱(chēng)之為“高速飛行的量子比特”——進(jìn)行量子計(jì)算。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

1 hacking-resistant防黑客入侵的。? 2 prototype computer原型計(jì)算機(jī)，指投入量產(chǎn)前的創(chuàng)新樣品計(jì)算機(jī)。? 3 gear設(shè)備。

4 formidable驚人的。? 5 perk津貼，額外補(bǔ)貼。? 6 harness控制，掌握。? 7 photon光子。? 8 patent filing專(zhuān)利申請(qǐng)。? 9 cryptology密碼學(xué)。? 10 Patinformatics該公司名稱(chēng)由patent、information、analytics三詞合成，意為“專(zhuān)利信息分析”。

11 lit a fire under推動(dòng)。? 12 qubit量子比特，量子信息的計(jì)量單位。? 13 a constellation of一系列。? 14 fiber-optic光纖，光導(dǎo)纖維的簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)，由玻璃或塑料制成的纖維，利用光的全內(nèi)反射原理傳輸?shù)墓鈧鲗?dǎo)工具。? 15 facilitate協(xié)助實(shí)現(xiàn)。? 16 traction牽引力，此處引申為影響。? 17 encryption加密。? 18 lag behind落后。

19 exponentially以指數(shù)級(jí)別地。? 20 intractable棘手的。? 21 snarl堵塞，混亂。? 22 coax設(shè)法實(shí)現(xiàn)。? 23 finicky挑剔的。? 24 propensity傾向。? 25 superconducting超導(dǎo)的。超導(dǎo)現(xiàn)象指材料在低于某一溫度時(shí)，電阻變?yōu)榱愕默F(xiàn)象，特征是零電阻和完全抗磁性。

26 coaxial cable同軸電纜。? 27 supremacy優(yōu)勢(shì)，最高地位。? 28 dub稱(chēng)為。