The Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) is a research institute affiliated with the University of Maryland, College Park and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), headquartered at the University of Maryland. The JQI conducts basic and applied research in quantum information science, including quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and quantum metrology.
The JQI was founded in 2006 as a joint endeavor of NIST and the University of Maryland. It is one of a handful of institutes worldwide devoted to the study of quantum information science, which seeks to harness the strange properties of quantum mechanics for new technologies.
One focus of JQI research is developing scalable methods for storing and manipulating information using individual atoms or photons—the smallest units that make up light. This area of work has led to advances in optical atomic clocks, which are now among the most precise timekeepers on Earth. Other JQI scientists are engineering “quantum simulators” that could someday be used to study complex problems in materials science or high-energy physics; these devices use trapped atoms to mimic other physical systems.
In addition to its fundamental research mission, the JQI also supports NIST’s role as a national metrology institute—the official U.S. measurer of everything from length and mass to time and temperature. In this capacity, JQI physicists develop novel measurement techniques based on principles from quantum mechanics. These include laser spectroscopy methods used to calibrate critical components in GPS satellites; magnetic field sensors that could detect land mines; pressure gauges for deep-sea oil drilling; even sensitive detectors of gravity waves—cosmic ripples in spacetime predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
With more than 50 faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, students, and staff spread across campuses in College Park and Gaithersburg, Maryland, as well as Boulder, Colorado (home to NIST), the Joint Quantum Institute is one of the largest centers worldwide for interdisciplinary research into quantum information science