Governments and tech giants worldwide are investing heavily in quantum technologies, and New Zealand is joining the race. The country’s newly announced Institute for Advanced Technology is expected to focus on this rapidly evolving field, aiming to drive innovation and prepare a skilled quantum-ready workforce.
As research accelerates, scientists stress that quantum literacy, a basic understanding of quantum principles, is becoming essential for informed debate and policymaking. Quantum mechanics, the science that underpins these technologies, explains how matter behaves at the atomic and subatomic levels. It has already shaped everyday tools like transistors, microchips, and lasers.
The word “quantum,” introduced by German physicist Max Planck, refers to discrete packets of energy, or quanta. Modern quantum technologies exploit these properties to build ultra-fast computers, highly accurate sensors, and next-generation encryption systems.
At the heart of many quantum breakthroughs lies quantum entanglement, a phenomenon once described by Einstein as “spooky action at a distance.” When two entangled particles are measured, their results remain perfectly correlated, even across vast distances. While popular culture often stretches this idea, such as faster-than-light communication in Liu Cixin’s Three Body Problem, real-world applications are equally remarkable.
Quantum entanglement already powers precision sensors, aids medical imaging, and supports advanced instruments like the LIGO gravitational wave detector. Quantum computers may soon solve complex problems beyond the reach of classical systems, while quantum cryptography could revolutionize data security.
New Zealand researchers are contributing significantly to this global effort. Teams are exploring superconductors, where electrons form entangled “Cooper pairs,” and experimenting with atom entanglement at near absolute zero.
Experts emphasise that to fully benefit from this quantum revolution, investment must go hand in hand with education, embedding quantum understanding from classrooms to industries, to ensure society can both harness and govern this transformative technology.
