Happy anniversary, Yale Quantum Institute. It’s time for a cake topped with “entangled” candles that are simultaneously lit and unlit.
How else to celebrate a decade of excellence in one of science’s most confounding, yet promising sectors — a decade in which Yale quantum research achieved national prominence and positioned itself as a major force in shaping the economy of tomorrow?
Since 2014, when the Yale Quantum Institute (YQI) convened its first colloquium and board meetings on campus, the institute has been at the center of vital research in this emerging field, which explores the tiniest objects in the universe.
“We have a sense there’s a great, untapped power here,” YQI director Robert Schoelkopf, Sterling Professor of Applied Physics and Physics, said in 2015, when the institute unveiled its newly renovated space on Hillhouse Avenue. “Often, we are focusing on the building of a quantum computer … but in addition to just making computing faster and letting us store more information, there are other applications that could be really impactful in people’s lives: Better ways of sensing minute signals, better ways of transmitting information, better ways of securing people’s privacy. There’s a whole host of things.”
Likewise, YQI has endeavored to bring quantum science to life with visual art representations, a museum exhibit, and even a music album that highlighted quantum concepts.
More milestones await. Over the past couple of years, Yale launched a new campus hub for quantum research and engineering and a partnership with the University of Connecticut to make the state a national center for innovation in quantum science and technology. And, as it happens, 2025 is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology and YQI will be co-organizer for a conference in Germany celebrating 100 years of quantum mechanics.
As Yale and YQI continue this quantum journey it’s worth a look back at 10 years of scientific progress.
Yale Quantum Institute through the years
Oct. 9, 2014
YQI organized its first talk. Krysta Svore of Microsoft spoke to a group in Sloane Lab about “Probabilistic Quantum Circuit Decomposition.”
Welcome Home, YQI
YQI officially opened in its renovated space at 17 Hillhouse Ave. on Oct. 23, 2015. Yale President Peter Salovey was on hand to launch YQI with a ceremonial “live” quantum observation.
July 20, 2016
YQI researchers explore a new paradigm for quantum computing based on “Schrödinger’s Cat” states of light (photons). The researchers are the first to demonstrate effective error correction with such photon qubits, a critical step toward computation with logical qubits.
Nov. 17, 2016
YQI researchers derive a formula for understanding where quantum objects land when they are transmitted. Tracking the flow of quantum objects in motion is a development that offers insight for controlling open quantum systems in a variety of situations.
Feb. 9, 2017
Launch of the YQI Nontechnical Series, aiming to bring a new regard to quantum physics and STEM by having experts cast new light on often-overlooked aspects of scientific work. This series of talks — 19 talks thus far — is co-sponsored by the Franke Program for Science and the Humanities.
April 23, 2018
YQI researchers “pitch” a qubit — a tiny bit of quantum data — from one physical point in a microwave cavity to a separate point in a different cavity. It is the first end-to-end quantum transmission done on demand.
June 12, 2018
Martha Lewis, YQI’s first Artist-in-Residence, shows her artwork at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. YQI hosts a discussion, “I’ll Be Your Qubit,” with Lewis and Yale physicist Michel Devoret.
Quantum Circuits
Yale quantum computing startup Quantum Circuits Inc. opens lab in New Haven on Jan. 24, 2019.
June 3, 2019
YQI researchers detect a quantum jump in advance — potentially enabling them to set up an early warning system for imminent jumps of artificial atoms containing quantum information.
Quantum Sound
In 2019, YQI researchers and 2nd artist-in-residence Spencer Topel use Yale quantum computer prototypes to make music based on quantum signals. They give a pair of “Quantum Sound” concerts at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.
Aug. 26, 2020
YQI scientists help lead national quantum center, the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage.
YQI’s new logo
Jere Mäkinen, a YQI Fellow, created the YQI logo in 2020 by absorption imaging of ultracold fermions, at temperatures of a few tens of nanokelvins, with a new optical system allowing it to trap atoms in arbitrary geometries.
Sept. 2, 2021
Yale is among the key partners of the Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation, an effort focused on developing quantum simulation devices that can understand the behavior of complex quantum systems.
Quantum Week debut
YQI organizes the first Quantum Week at Yale, April 8-14, 2022, featuring nearly two dozen events.
March 21, 2023
YQI researchers substantially extend the lifetime of a qubit. The experiment proves that quantum error correction, a process theorized for decades, works in practice.
June 29, 2023
YQI artist-in-residence Stewart Smith leads a quantum error correction algorithm visualization on the New Haven Green.
Circuit QED turns 20
A three-day conference, Jan. 10-12, 2024, commemorates the 20th anniversary of YQI researchers’ first published studies in circuit quantum electrodynamics (Circuit QED).
ThaumCATrope time
The educational app ThaumCATrope, a metaphorical quantum search in New Haven, debuts in June, 2024.
