Pa. poised to lead in quantum computing field, state lawmakers hear

Pennsylvania is well positioned to be a leader in the development of the next major breakthrough in computing, state lawmakers heard Tuesday in an informational hearing on quantum technology.

“Quantum computing has the potential to transform industries that we care about: life sciences, advanced manufacturing, energy, ag, logistics, and national security,” Jen Gilberg, deputy secretary of technology for entrepreneurship at the state Department of Community and Economic Development, told members of the House Committee on Communications and Technology.

The commonwealth’s seven top-level research universities have formed the Keystone AI + Quantum Factory to collaborate and share resources to speed innovation in the field, she said. They’re working to build a statewide “ecosystem” that brings together research infrastructure, workforce development and commercial applications.

The collaboration includes the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh, as well Carnegie Mellon, Drexel, Penn State, Temple and Lehigh universities.

“Very few states can bring together this depth of research capability in one coordinated effort,” Gilberg said. “So it really is a big deal, and it gives us this great opportunity to compete for federal dollars and also industry dollars.”

Quantum computers employ the rules of quantum physics – the branch of science used to describe the properties of atoms and subatomic particles – which is distinct from classical physics.

Rep. Joe D’Orsie (R-York) noted he and his son had watched a video about “Schroedinger’s Cat,” the famous thought experiment named after physicist Erwin Schroedinger. It involves a theoretical cat sealed in a box with a poison device triggered by a random atomic event. If it occurs, the cat dies, but the cat must be considered to be alive and dead simultaneously until someone opens the box to check.

Matt Brandsema, head of the quantum and multi-physics department at Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory, said quantum computing employs that concept, called superposition, in which a system can exist in multiple states until it is measured.

Classical computers use units of information called bits to represent information. A bit can either be a one or a zero, but quantum computers use quantum bits, or quibits, that can represent ones and zeroes simultaneously. That allows them to test many solutions to a problem very quickly, Brandsema said.

The likely result, he said, is that quantum computers will eventually be powerful enough to break the encryption now used to secure information transmitted on the internet. Brandsema said that’s unlikely for a decade or more, he added.

“How do we defend ourselves when that happens?” Brandsema said “Because when that happens, basically the whole internet’s trust system goes out the window, and you have to migrate to something else.”

The solution is to make the encryption more complicated to solve, he said, adding that’s a major area of research in the quantum computing field.

Gilberg said the commonwealth and research institutions are also working on workforce development. 

“We want to make sure that Pennsylvanians are prepared for these new quantum age jobs, and the quantum workforce is going to span the whole spectrum from PhDs down through technicians,” she said.

The Keystone AI + Quantum Factory is collaborating with the state departments of Education and Labor and Industry to develop road maps for training a quantum computing workforce, Gilberg said.

“There is a great opportunity to uplift on all ends of the spectrum and make sure we have precision machinists, skilled tradespeople, people who can service the quantum computers,” she said.

Mihir Bhaskar, senior vice president for research and development at quantum computing company IonQ, said quantum tech also has the potential to change the nature of data centers, which Rep. Robert Ledbetter (R-Columbia) noted has become an “incendiary” topic across the commonwealth.

Technologists are motivated to build quantum computers for many of the reasons people oppose data centers so strongly. They require massive amounts of energy and resources.

“What we’re trying to build are … machines that are much more efficient at solving the problems we’re seeking out to solve,” Bhaskar said. “Not using an entire data center to do a chemical simulation that consumes megawatts of power, but to use a quantum computer that will be much, much more efficient and it’s designed to solve those very important tasks.”