The Quantum Science Center

The Quantum Science Center (QSC) is advancing scientific discovery to enable new quantum technologies and their applications to radically accelerate secure, energy-efficient computing. Established by the U.S. Department of Energy under the National Quantum Initiative, the QSC is headquartered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and supports over 300 members through partnerships with 21 institutions across academia, industry, and the national laboratory system. The center develops the quantum materials, devices, and systems necessary to demonstrate how novel states of matter harness entanglement to overcome key challenges in noise, error, and scalability.

The QSC combines the creation and control of topological quantum materials with high-fidelity quantum simulations of strongly correlated systems to validate the principles of scalable resilience to error. These activities include demonstrating first-in-kind tests for entanglement in quantum materials, performing large-scale simulations of topological states on quantum computers, and establishing state-of-the-art instrumentation to probe and control the behavior of entangled quantum systems. The research addresses the notable convergence in technical challenges for controlling exotic quasiparticles and searching for dark matter candidates as well as mitigating and correcting errors in quantum computation. This presentation will provide an overview of the motivation and impacts of QSC research, the opportunities for engaging with the center, and the next steps for realizing new pathways to scalable quantum computing.