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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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DOE OSTI2025

Quantum-enhanced detection of viral cDNA via luminescence resonance energy transfer using upconversion and gold nanoparticles

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted global economies and healthcare systems, revealing critical vulnerabilities in both. In response, our study introduces a sensitive and highly specific detection method for cDNA, leveraging Luminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (LRET) between upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and achieves a detection limit of 242 fM for SARS-CoV-2 cDNA. This innovative sensing platform utilizes UCNPs conjugated with one primer and AuNPs with another, targeting the 5′ and 3′ ends of the SARS-CoV-2 cDNA, respectively, enabling precise differentiation of mismatched cDNA sequences and significantly improving detection specificity. Through rigorous experimental analysis, we established a quenching efficiency range from 10.4 % to 73.6 %, with an optimal midpoint of 42 %, thereby demonstrating the superior sensitivity of our method. Our work uses SARS-CoV-2 cDNA as a model system to demonstrate the potential of our LRET-based detection method. This proof-of-concept study highlights the adaptability of our platform for future diagnostic applications. Instrumental validation confirms the synthesis and formation of AuNPs, addressing the need for experimental verification of the preparation of nanomaterial. Our comparative analysis with existing SARS-CoV-2 detection methods revealed that our approach provides a low detection limit and high specificity for target cDNA sequences, underscoring its potential for targeted COVID-19 diagnostics. This study demonstrates the superior sensitivity and adaptability of using UCNPs and AuNPs for cDNA detection, offering significant advances in rapid, accessible diagnostic technologies. Our method, characterized by its low detection limit and high precision, represents a critical step forward in developing next-generation biosensors for managing current and future viral outbreaks. By adjusting primer sequences, this platform can be tailored to detect other pathogens, contributing to the enhancement of global healthcare responsiveness and infectious disease control.

Esmaeili, Shahriar [Institute for Quantum Science ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comparing quantum annealing and spiking neuromorphic computing for sampling binary sparse coding QUBO problems

We consider the problem of computing a sparse binary representation of an image. Given an image and an overcomplete, non-orthonormal basis, we aim to find a sparse binary vector indicating the minimal set of basis vectors that when added together best reconstruct the given input. We formulate this problem with an L 2 loss on the reconstruction error, and an L 0 loss on the binary vector enforcing sparsity. First, we solve the sparse representation QUBOs by solving them both on a D-Wave quantum annealer with Pegasus chip connectivity, as well as on the Intel Loihi 2 spiking neuromorphic processor using a stochastic Non-equilibrium Boltzmann Machine (NEBM). Second, using Quantum Evolution Monte Carlo with Reverse Annealing and iterated warm starting on Loihi 2 to evolve the solution quality from the respective machines. We demonstrate that both quantum annealing and neuromorphic computing are suitable for solving binary sparse coding QUBOs.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantum Routing and Entanglement Dynamics Through Bottlenecks

To implement arbitrary quantum circuits in architectures with restricted interactions, one may effectively simulate all-to-all connectivity by routing quantum information. We consider the entanglement dynamics and routing between two regions only connected through an intermediate “bottleneck” region with few qubits. In such systems, where the entanglement rate is restricted by a vertex boundary rather than an edge boundary of the underlying interaction graph, existing results such as the small incremental entangling theorem give only a trivial constant lower bound on the routing time (the minimum time to perform an arbitrary permutation). We significantly improve the lower bound on the routing time in systems with a vertex bottleneck. Specifically, for any system with two regions 𝐿,𝑅 with 𝑁 𝐿 ,𝑁 𝑅 qubits, respectively, coupled only through an intermediate region 𝐶 with 𝑁 𝐶 qubits, for any 𝛿 > 0 we show a lower bound of Ω⁢(𝑁$^{1−𝛿}_{𝑅}$/√𝑁 𝐿⁢ 𝑁 𝐶 ) on the Hamiltonian quantum routing time when using piecewise time-independent Hamiltonians, or time-dependent Hamiltonians subject to a smoothness condition. We also prove an upper bound on the average amount of bipartite entanglement between 𝐿 and 𝐶,𝑅 that can be generated in time 𝑡 by such architecture-respecting Hamiltonians in systems constrained by vertex bottlenecks, improving the scaling in the system size from 𝑂⁡(𝑁 𝐿⁢ 𝑡) to 𝑂⁡(√𝑁 𝐿⁢ 𝑡). As a special case, when applied to the star graph (i.e., one vertex connected to 𝑁 leaves), we obtain an Ω⁡(√𝑁 1−𝛿 ) lower bound on the routing time and on the time to prepare 𝑁/2 Bell pairs between the vertices. We also show that, in systems of free particles, we can route optimally on the star graph in time Θ⁡(√𝑁) using Hamiltonian quantum routing, obtaining a speedup over gate-based routing, which takes time Θ⁡(𝑁).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantum tensor network algorithms for evaluation of spectral functions on quantum computers

We investigate quantum algorithms derived from tensor networks to simulate the static and dynamic properties of quantum many-body systems. Using a sequentially prepared quantum circuit representation of a matrix product state (MPS) that we call a quantum tensor network (QTN), we demonstrate algorithms to prepare ground and excited states on a quantum computer and apply them to molecular nanomagnets (MNMs) as a paradigmatic example. In this setting, we develop two approaches for extracting the spectral correlation functions measured in neutron-scattering experiments: (a) a generalization of the SWAP test for computing wave function overlaps and, (b) a generalization of the notion of matrix product operators to the QTN setting which generates a linear combination of unitaries. The latter method is discussed in detail for translationally invariant spin-half systems, where it is shown to reduce the qubit resource requirements compared with the SWAP method and may be generalized to other systems. We demonstrate the versatility of our approaches by simulating spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 MNMs, with the latter being an experimentally relevant model of a Cr$^{3+}_{8}$ ring. Here, our approach has qubit requirements that are independent of the number of constituents of the many-body system and scale only logarithmically with the bond dimension of the MPS representation, making them appealing for implementation on near-term quantum hardware with mid-circuit measurement and reset.

Neutron scattering↗
DOE OSTI2025

COLUMBUS─An Efficient and General Program Package for Ground and Excited State Computations Including Spin–Orbit Couplings and Dynamics

The COLUMBUS program system provides the tools for performing high-level multireference (MR) computations, including the multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) method and its multireference averaged quadratic coupled cluster (MR-AQCC) extension, allowing computations on a wide range of fascinating atomic and molecular systems, including the treatment of open-shells and complicated excited state phenomena. The inclusion of spin−orbit coupling (SOC) directly within the MRCI step enables the description of systems containing heavy elements, such as lanthanides and actinides, whose properties are strongly influenced by SOC. Analytic energy gradients and nonadiabatic couplings at the correlated MRCI level provide the foundation for a variety of dynamics studies, giving insight into ultrafast photochemistry. New and ongoing method developments in COLUMBUS include the computation of spin densities, improved descriptions of ionic states, enhancements to the AQCC method, and the porting of COLUMBUS to graphical processing units (GPUs). New external interfaces enable an enhanced description of electronic resonances and molecules in strong laser fields. This work highlights these new developments while providing a detailed account of the diverse applications of COLUMBUS in recent years.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Toward scalable quantum computations of atomic nuclei

We solve the nuclear two-body and three-body bound states via quantum simulations of pionless effective field theory on a lattice in position space. While the employed lattice remains small, the usage of local Hamiltonians including two- and three-body forces ensures that the number of Pauli terms scales linearly with increasing numbers of lattice sites. We use an adaptive ansatz grown from unitary coupled cluster theory to parametrize the ground states of the deuteron and 3 He, compute their corresponding energies, and analyze the scaling of the required computational resources. Our quantum simulations reproduce exact benchmarks for 2 H and 3 He within 100 keV, requiring at most 30 layers in the ansatz and thus resulting in modest circuit depths. Additionally, we find the number of shots required to reach a given precision scales linearly in the lattice size and more mildly in the system size. Furthermore, based on the agreement with exact benchmarks and mild scaling, we conclude that this can be an efficient, scalable approach for quantum computations of nuclear ground states, particularly to prepare initial states for quantum phase estimation or other filtering algorithms.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Particle accelerator spin-transparent storage rings for beyond state-of-the-art science

We describe spin-transparent storage rings that exhibit coherence times of many hours and store a large number of particles and their use in novel applications. For example, these rings can be used to directly measure the electric dipole moment of the electron, relevant to CP violation and matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe, and to search for axion-mediated forces. These rings can also serve as a compelling platform for quantum computing. In particular, we will describe how spin-transparent rings can be used in conjunction with ion traps to enhance scalability and increase quantum-coherence times of ion quantum computing.

Suleiman, R.↗
DOE OSTI2025

LLRF System Analysis for the Fermilab PIP-II LINAC

Developing long-lived quantum processing units (QPUs) capable of supporting high-fidelity quantum operations is a crucial challenge on the path toward fault-tolerant quantum computing. TESLA-shaped superconducting RF (SRF) cavities, known for photon relaxation times on the order of seconds, provide an excellent foundation for 3D QPUs and quantum memory. This talk presents a novel design that leverages TESLA cavity modes coupled to ancillary transmon qubits, optimized to preserve coherence and control. By carefully engineering the package geometry, optimizing Hamiltonian parameters, and minimizing lossy participation ratios, we achieve photon relaxation times of over 16 ms and 20 ms for the two cavity modes, representing a significant improvement over previous multimode quantum memories. Despite the reduced coupling between the qubit and cavity modes, which is necessary to preserve long lifetimes, the platform supports robust and universal control schemes that are not limited by low coupling strength. We will also discuss how this architecture can lead to scalable, modular quantum computing systems.

Varghese, P. [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2020

From Long-distance Entanglement to Building a Nationwide Quantum Internet: Report of the DOE Quantum Internet Blueprint Workshop

A Quantum Path Forward. Today, many scientific experts recognize that building and scaling quantum-protected and enhanced communication networks are among the most important technological frontiers of the 21st century. The international research community perceives the construction of a first prototype global quantum network-the Quantum Internet-to be within reach over the next decade. In February 2020, the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)'s Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research hosted the Quantum Internet Blueprint workshop to define a potential roadmap toward building the first nationwide quantum Internet. The workshop participants included representatives from DOE national laboratories, universities, industry, and other U.S. agencies with serious interests in quantum networking. The goal was to provide an outline of the essential research needed, detail any engineering and design barriers, and suggest a path forward to move from today's limited local network experiments to a viable, secure quantum Internet.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Concatenated dual displacement code for continuous-variable quantum error correction

The continuous-variable (CV) Gaussian no-go theorem fundamentally limits the suppression of Gaussian displacement errors using only Gaussian gates and states. Prior studies have employed Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) states as ancillary qumodes to suppress small Gaussian displacement errors. However, when the displacement magnitude becomes large, inevitable lattice-crossing errors arise beyond the correctable range of the GKP state. To address this issue, we concatenate the Gaussian-noise-suppression circuit with an outer analog Steane code that corrects such occasional lattice-crossing events as well as other abrupt displacement errors. Contrary to conventional concatenation, which primarily aims to reduce logical error rates, the Steane-GKP duality in encoding provides complementary protection against displacement errors at different scales: The inner GKP layer employs non-Gaussian resources to suppress continuous Gaussian noise and reduce residual variance, while the outer analog Steane code corrects discrete lattice-crossing events that exceed the GKP correctable range. It is precisely this separation of error-mitigation roles that enables CV error correction. In contrast to prior work on concatenating GKP and repetition codes to establish error correction for discrete qubit/qudit encoding, we provide correction in the continuous encoding space. Analytical studies show that, under infinite squeezing, the concatenated code suppresses the variance of Gaussian displacement errors acting on all qumodes by up to 50%, while enabling unbiased correction of lattice-crossing errors with a success probability determined by the ratio between the residual Gaussian error standard deviation and the lattice-crossing magnitude. Even with finite squeezing, the proposed architecture still provides Gaussian-error suppression and lattice-crossing correction. Moreover, the presence of the outer analog Steane code relaxes the squeezing requirement of the inner GKP states, indicating near-term experimental feasibility. This work establishes a viable route toward fault-tolerant continuous-variable quantum computation and provides insight into the design of concatenated CV error-correcting architectures.

quantum error correction↗
DOE OSTI2025

Para-particle oscillator simulations on a trapped-ion quantum computer

Deformed oscillators allow for a generalization of the standard fermions and bosons, namely, for the description of para-particles. Such particles remain hypothetical and unobserved in nature; yet, they can model physical phenomena, such as topological phases of matter. Here, we report the digital quantum simulation of para-particle oscillators by mapping para-particle states to the state of a qubit register, which allows us to identify the para-particle oscillator Hamiltonian as an XY model and further digitize the system onto a universal set of gates. In both instances, the gate depth grows polynomially with the number of qubits used. To establish the validity of our results, we experimentally simulate the dynamics of para-fermions and para-bosons, demonstrating full control of para-particle oscillators on a quantum computer. Furthermore, we compare the overall performance of the digital simulation of dynamics of the driven para-Fermi oscillator to a recent analog quantum simulation result.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Towards a real-time computation of timelike hadronic vacuum polarization and light-by-light scattering: Schwinger Model tests

Hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) and light-by-light scattering (HLBL) are crucial for evaluating the Standard Model predictions concerning the muon’s anomalous magnetic moment. However, direct first-principle lattice gauge theory-based calculations of these observables in the timelike region remain challenging. Discrepancies persist between lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations in the spacelike region and dispersive approaches relying on experimental data parametrization from the timelike region. Here, we introduce a methodology employing 1+1-dimensional quantum electrodynamics (QED), i.e. the Schwinger Model, to investigate the HVP and HLBL. To that end, we use both tensor network techniques, specifically matrix product states, and classical emulators of digital quantum computers. Demonstrating feasibility in a simplified model, our approach sets the stage for future endeavors leveraging digital quantum computers.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Advancing Quantum Many-Body GW Calculations on Exascale Supercomputing Platforms

Advanced ab initio materials simulations face growing challenges as increasing systems and phenomena complexity requires higher accuracy, driving up computational demands. Quantum many-body GW methods are state-of-the-art for treating electronic excited states and couplings but often hindered due to the costly numerical complexity. Here, we present innovative implementations of advanced GW methods within the BerkeleyGW package, enabling large-scale simulations on Frontier and Aurora exascale platforms. Our approach demonstrates exceptional versatility for complex heterogeneous systems with up to 17,574 atoms, along with achieving true performance portability across GPU architectures. We demonstrate excellent strong and weak scaling to thousands of nodes, reaching double-precision core-kernel performance of 1.069 ExaFLOP/s on Frontier (9,408 nodes) and 707.52 PetaFLOP/s on Aurora (9,600 nodes), corresponding to 59.45% and 48.79% of peak, respectively. Our work demonstrates a breakthrough in utilizing exascale computing for quantum materials simulations, delivering unprecedented predictive capabilities for rational designs of future quantum technologies.

Zhang, Benran [University of Southern California, ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Rapid Quantum Ground State Preparation via Dissipative Dynamics

Inspired by natural cooling processes, dissipation has become a promising approach for preparing low-energy states of quantum systems. However, the potential of dissipative protocols remains unclear beyond certain commuting Hamiltonians. This work provides significant analytical and numerical insights into the power of dissipation for preparing the ground state of noncommuting Hamiltonians. For quasi-free dissipative dynamics, including certain 1D spin systems with boundary dissipation, our results reveal a new connection between the mixing time in trace distance and the spectral properties of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, leading to an explicit and sharp bound on the mixing time that scales polynomially with system size. For more general spin systems, we develop a tensor network-based algorithm for constructing the Lindblad jump operator and for simulating the dynamics. Using this algorithm, we demonstrate numerically that dissipative ground state preparation protocols can achieve rapid mixing for certain 1D local Hamiltonians under bulk dissipation, with a mixing time that scales logarithmically with the system size. We then prove the rapid mixing result for certain weakly interacting spin and fermionic systems in arbitrary dimensions, extending recent results for high-temperature quantum Gibbs samplers to the zero-temperature regime. Together, these results show that dissipation can be a powerful tool for ground state preparation, with potential applications across condensed matter physics, quantum materials science, and beyond.

decoherence↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quantum Computing Strategy 2026

Quantum computing (QC) is a rapidly maturing technology with the potential for revolutionary impacts on stockpile stewardship science and national security. Recent developments in fault-tolerant architectures have compressed vendor roadmaps, and predictions of a production-ready quantum computer by the mid-2030s are becoming increasingly credible. This strategy provides a roadmap for integrating QC into the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program by investing in four strategic focus areas: 1. Develop Capabilities in Mission-Relevant Quantum Applications: ASC will prioritize developing quantum-ready applications in mission areas that have shown significant promise for quantum advantage, including simulations of materials in extreme environments, nuclear dynamics, solving linear and nonlinear partial differential equations, and uncertainty quantification. These applications directly support stockpile stewardship science and modernization objectives. 2. Conduct R&D in Algorithms, Software, and Hardware: Sustained research into quantum algorithms, robust software tools, and quantum hardware is essential. ASC will develop efficient quantum algorithms; invest in quantum compilers, debuggers, and performance tools; and explore specialized quantum hardware tailored to NNSA’s unique requirements. 3. Engage with Vendors and Partners: Early and active collaboration with commercial quantum hardware vendors and academic partners is critical. Through testbeds, co-design agreements, and quantum demonstration facilities, ASC will influence hardware design, gain early access to emerging technologies, and ensure that quantum platforms evolve to meet mission needs. 4. Build Knowledge, Experience, and Workforce: Expanding and upskilling the quantum-trained workforce is essential to long-term success. This includes hiring, internal training, university outreach, and postdoctoral support to ensure ASC maintains the expertise required to operate, program, and integrate quantum systems as they become available. While quantum computing will never replace classical computing, it has the potential to solve certain problems with speed and accuracy that would be unachievable using any conceivable classical high-performance computing (HPC) system. By investing strategically in QC, ASC will help propel the emergent QC industry, maintain U.S. technological leadership, ensure mission readiness, and position itself to rapidly adopt quantum technologies as they mature.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Braiding for the win: Harnessing braiding statistics in topological states to play quantum games

Nonlocal quantum games provide proof of principle that quantum resources can confer an advantage at certain tasks. They also provide a compelling way to explore the computational utility of phases of matter on quantum hardware. In a recent paper [O. Hart et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 130602 (2025)], we demonstrated that a toric code resource state conferred advantage at a certain nonlocal game, which remained robust to small deformations of the resource state. In this paper we demonstrate that this robust advantage is a generic property of resource states drawn from topological or fracton ordered phases of quantum matter. To this end, we illustrate how several other states from paradigmatic topological and fracton ordered phases can function as resources for suitably defined nonlocal games, notably the three-dimensional toric-code phase, the X-cube fracton phase, and the double-semion phase. The key in every case is to design a nonlocal game that harnesses the characteristic braiding processes of a quantum phase as a source of contextuality. We unify the strategies that take advantage of mutual statistics by relating the operators to be measured to order and disorder parameters of an underlying generalized symmetry-breaking phase transition. Additionally, by connecting the win probability to twist products, we show that success at the game serves as a many-body entanglement witness. Namely, if the players implement a perfect quantum strategy on large length scales, the quantum state they share cannot be connected to a trivial product state via a constant-depth local unitary circuit. Lastly, we massively generalize the family of games that admit perfect strategies when codewords of homological quantum error-correcting codes are used as resources.

Fractons↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Role of Quantum Science Concepts in Enhancing Sensing and Imaging Technologies: Applications for Biology: Proceedings of a Workshop

Quantum concepts hold the potential to enable significant advances in sensing and imaging technologies that could be vital to the study of biological systems. The workshop Quantum Science Concepts in Enhancing Sensing and Imaging Technologies: Applications for Biology, held online March 8–10, 2021, was organized to examine the research and development needs to advance biological applications of quantum technology. Hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the event brought together experts working on state-of-the-art, quantum-enabled technologies and scientists who are interested in applying these technologies to biological systems. Through talks, panels, and discussions, the workshop facilitated a better understanding of the current and future biological applications of quantum-enabled technologies in fields such as microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology, plant science, mycology, and many others. The workshop was organized around three main themes. The first, quantum in biology, examined quantum concepts that are hypothesized to be important for life processes and that researchers are working to observe through biological imaging and sensing. The second, quantum for biology, addressed ways to use quantum concepts to enhance technologies for biological imaging and sensing. The third, biology for quantum, offered a wider discussion of how the frontiers of biological imaging and sensing could enable future study using quantum concepts, tools, or technologies. Throughout the workshop, participants identified a wide range of emerging approaches and opportunities at the intersection of quantum physics and biological sensing and imaging. During the workshop, there were some differences in how each speaker defined the term quantum. During one of the panels, Prem Kumar offered thoughts on what phenomena are classical versus quantum, explaining that techniques get progressively more quantum as you move from just having superposition to having superposition with measurement and entanglement. Another explanation from Clarice Aiello delineates the definition into several levels. This includes a base level of “quantum-ness,” which reflects that all matter is made of atoms, and when these particles are isolated they behave based on quantum mechanical principles. A second level is related to quantum coherence, where a single quantum object might be found in a coherent superposition state. A final level, which she described as the quantum-entangled level, involves multiple quantum systems which are entangled among themselves. Overall, the workshop touched on concepts such as superposition, entanglement, and squeezing and their potential implications for communication, computing, and simulation, in addition to the workshop’s main focal area, biological sensing and imaging. At the opening of the workshop, Thorsten Ritz of the University of California, Irvine, identified two questions at the heart of quantum biology: Is the machinery of life quantum mechanical, and can quantum mechanics be used to study the machinery of life in new ways? Participants highlighted systems in which researchers have explored these questions, from the vast array of molecular interactions involved in biological processes such as photosynthesis, to the mechanics involved in cellular functions such as differentiation and aggregation, to the role of oscillating magnetic fields in flight orientation among birds. Sensing and imaging technologies are crucial to biological research; these technologies could both enhance the study of quantum effects and be enhanced by quantum concepts. A critical challenge in biological research is to develop imaging and sensing tools that do not damage or interfere with the often fragile and fleeting systems being studied. Attendees discussed a variety of established and emerging technologies that could enhance noninvasive biological imaging, including single- and two-photon spectroscopy, single-molecule spectroscopy, quantum illumination, ghost imaging, and cryo-electron microscopy. One example came from Marlan Scully who gave a keynote address on the first day of the workshop. Scully emphasized the use of different laser technologies, which exhibit coherence and other quantum properties, in moving toward real-world biological applications, such as the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Both tools and theory will play an important role in advancing quantum biology research and applications. Several participants suggested theorists and experimentalists should work in tandem to understand and model biological processes. While physics often reduces systems to their simplest forms for fundamental insights, participants also noted the value of observing and understanding biological systems in all their “messiness,” capturing both the inner workings of biological systems and the complex interactions that occur within and between organisms. In discussions among participants, several attendees stressed the need to match emerging tools with the right scientific questions. Rather than developing quantum technologies as “a hammer looking for a nail,” participants emphasized a focus on exploring the problems these technologies are best suited to address. For example, it is important to consider the size of the phenomenon being studied, the timescales that are important in answering the scientific question, and other relevant considerations. Every tool along the spectrum from classical to quantum involves its own set of trade-offs. For example, Ted Laurence of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said that quantum measurements, such as single photon counting, fluorescence transitions, and lasers, can take longer to produce the same results as classical measurements. These quantum measurements, however, do not require calibration and can enable new research questions to be answered. Prem Kumar, Northwestern University, noted that, despite their promise, quantum approaches should not be used simply for the sake of using quantum, especially in situations where classical approaches better meet the needs of the researcher. Understanding and applying quantum concepts could enable advances in a wide range of application areas including energy, synthetic biology, medicine, and sustainability. For example, Michelle O’Malley, University of California, Santa Barbara, described how improved noninvasive imaging approaches could help capture the complex interactions and functions involved in the breakdown of organic matter by microbial communities and lead to new technologies for capturing valuable products from plant waste. Several other participants discussed needs in tracking the movement of metabolites and molecules in microbial communities for insights into nutrient cycling in environments such as soil. Margaret Ahmad, Sorbonne University, discussed potential opportunities to leverage the magnetic properties of cryptochromes to advance new treatment approaches for diseases such as COVID-19 and cancer. Looking toward the future development of the field, participants discussed challenges to advancing quantum biology that arise from disciplinary disconnects between physicists and biologists. The siloing of academic research disciplines represents a significant barrier to progress. Disconnects in terminology, motivations and priorities, and structural barriers to collaborative work underscore the need for concerted efforts to bridge these divides. Attendees and speakers offered suggestions for resolving these divergences, establishing a shared language, moving the field forward, and fostering meaningful feedback between disciplines. Overall, participants stressed a need for balance, open communication, collaboration, unity, and clear dialogue on trade-offs between quantum and classical approaches. Keiko Torii, The University of Texas at Austin, said that the best collaborations happen when the project provides mutual advantages that can show off everyone’s talents, each team finds the work interesting, and partners develop a camaraderie to pursue new knowledge. To enable near- and long-term opportunities in this space, participants suggested that exploratory, high-risk funding could improve existing instrumentation to explore quantum enhancement collaboratively. They also emphasized the need for collaboration between quantum physicists and sensing/imaging scientists, which could be advanced through a dedicated quantum biology investigator program. People, even more than technology, will be crucial to the future of quantum biology. Participants explored training, education, and workforce needs to further develop this burgeoning field and cultivate the next generation of scientists. While many programs are still in their nascent stages, participants highlighted examples of approaches and programs being developed at various types of institutions to engage students and professional scientists in quantum biology research. Several participants stressed the need for an inclusive approach, spanning disciplines as well as communities to foster a diverse field fueled by the intellectual contributions of a wide range of people, including historically under-resourced schools and students. To increase awareness and excitement about quantum physics and related areas of biology, attendees suggested capitalizing on the “buzz” around quantum. Several participants emphasized the need to start early, introducing students to quantum concepts and their appealing “weirdness” in K–12 education. Engaging students early—before they become entrenched in traditional disciplinary siloes as typically happens in graduate school—could help to galvanize interest in the area and foster a generation of scientists with the interdisciplinary mindset and skills needed to advance this interdisciplinary field. While these efforts could be advanced at many levels and across multiple sectors, several participants suggested a national quantum biology center could be a valuable hub to coordinate and support quantum biology education and workforce development across academia, industry, and government.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗