National Quantum Mission

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• What is Quantum Technology?
• Quantum Technology and India
• What is the National Quantum Mission?

 

Why in News?

• The Union Cabinet approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) in a bid to aid scientific and industrial research and development in quantum technology.
• The mission involves a cost of Rs 6,003.65 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31, and aims to put India among the top six leading nations involved in the research and development in quantum technologies.

 

What is Quantum Technology?

• It is a class of technology (developed in the early 20th century) that works by using the principles of quantum mechanics - the physics of subatomic particles, including quantum entanglement and quantum superposition.
  • Hence, it is based on phenomena exhibited by microscopic particles (like photons, electrons, atoms, etc) which are quite distinct from the way normal macroscopic objects behave.
  • As behavior of these microscopic particles can’t be described by Classical Physics (based on Newtonian Mechanics), consequently Quantum Mechanics came into picture.
• The principles behind quantum technology:

• Applications: In more reliable navigation and timing systems, more secure communications, more accurate healthcare imaging through quantum sensing (perform a measurement of a physical quantity), more powerful computing (Quantum computer), etc.
  • Presently, R&D works in quantum technologies are underway in the US, Canada, France, Finland, China and Austria.

 

Quantum Technology and India:

• Professor Satyendra Nath Bose, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and Professor Meghnad Saha are some stalwart Indian scientists that have contributed in the field of quantum technology.
• India is currently at the forefront of tapping the second quantum revolution through massive investments in the field.
• Quantum technologies & applications is one of the 9 missions of national importance, being driven by the Prime Minister’s Science and Technology Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) through the Principal Scientific Advisor’s office.
  • In order to leverage cutting edge scientific research for India’s sustainable development, the areas of focus would be around 4 verticals -
    • Quantum Computing and Simulations,
    • Quantum Materials and Devices,
    • Quantum Communications and
    • Quantum Sensor and Metrology.
• To address the above 4 verticals, the Union Budget 2020-21 proposed to spend ₹8,000 crore on the newly launched National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications (NMQTA) and ₹ 3660 Crore for National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

 

 

What is the National Quantum Mission (NQM)?

• NQM will be led by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for strengthening India’s R&D in the quantum arena.
• It will target developing intermediate scale quantum computers with 50-1000 physical qubits in eight years in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology.
• Other objectives of the mission:
  • Satellite based secure quantum communications over a range of 2000 km within India and with other countries.
  • Develop magnetometers with high sensitivity in atomic systems and Atomic Clocks for precision timing, communications and navigation.
  • It will also support design and synthesis of quantum materials such as superconductors, novel semiconductor structures and topological materials for fabrication of quantum devices.
• Four ‘Thematic Hubs’ (T-Hubs) will be set up in top academic and national R&D institutes in the domains of quantum computing, communication, sensing and metrology.
  • The hubs will focus on generation of new knowledge through basic and applied research as well as promote R&D.
• The Mission will have wide-scale applications ranging from healthcare and diagnostics, defence, energy and data security.

 

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Q1) How quantum computers work?

Quantum computing uses the qubit as the basic unit of information rather than the conventional bit. The main characteristic of this alternative system is that it permits the coherent superposition of ones and zeros, the digits of the binary system around which all computing revolves.

 

Q2) What is Quantum key distribution (QKD)?

QKD is a secure communication method that implements a cryptographic protocol involving components of quantum mechanics. It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which then can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages.

 

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Source: Govt green flags the National Quantum Mission to aid R&D in quantum tech | PIB