Presentations at the First NASA Quantum Future Technologies Conference conference at NASA Ames Research Center, January 17–21, 2012, are now available online in PDF and full video.

The conference brought together NASA scientists and quantum technology experts from academia, government and industry to identify where quantum technologies can have the greatest impact in space exploration, aeronautics, earth and space science. It focused on quantum measurement, quantum computing, and quantum cryptography.

The conference topics included theoretical understanding of measurement precision bounds offered by quantum correlations under realistic conditions of noise and decoherence; the development of next generation quantum instruments for measurements of time and distance, navigation, field sensing; and gravity wave detection.

The conference also focused on quantum algorithms and scalable quantum computing architectures to address the need for a dramatic increase in computational power and data storage at low energy and spatial scales. practical and secure transmission over long distances, including fiber channels and Earth-Satellite links through a turbulent atmosphere.

Target application areas for NASA include software and hardware validation and verification, image processing, pattern recognition, anomaly detection, robot navigation, precision landing, aviation safety, air traffic control, and data mining, automation, planning, and scheduling and system diagnostics in fully autonomous regime for deep space and planetary missions.practical and secure transmission over long distances, including fiber channels and Earth-Satellite links through a turbulent atmosphere.