David Kaiser, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Abstract
In recent years, the field of quantum information science has catapulted to the cutting edge of physics. The tremendous excitement marks the tail end of a long-simmering Cinderella story. Long before the big budgets and dedicated teams, the field moldered on the scientific sidelines. In fact, the pre-history of the field stretches back, in part, to the hazy excesses of the 1970s New Age movement. Many of the ideas that now occupy the core of quantum information science once found their home amid an anything-goes counterculture frenzy, a mishmash of spoon-bending psychics, Eastern mysticism, LSD trips, CIA spooks chasing mind-reading dreams, and comparable “Age of Aquarius” enthusiasms. For the better part of a decade, the concepts that would, in time, blossom into developments like quantum encryption were bandied about in late-night bull sessions and hawked by proponents of a burgeoning self-help movement -- more snake oil than stock option. This talk describes the field’s bumpy transition from New Age to cutting edge.