Milestones of research activity in quantum computing: EPS grand challenges

Abstract

We argue that quantum computing underwent an inflection point circa 2017. Long promised funding materialised which prompted public and private investments around the world. Techniques from machine learning suddenly influenced central aspects of the field. On one hand, machine learning was used to emulate quantum systems. On the other hand, quantum algorithms became viewed as a new type of machine learning model (creating the new model of {\it variational} quantum computation). Here we sketch some milestones which have lead to this inflection point. We argue that the next inflection point would occur around when practical problems will be first solved by quantum computers. We anticipate that by 2050 this would have become commonplace, were the world would still be adjusting to the possibilities brought by quantum computers.

to appear, Book Chapter in EPS Grand Challenges Physics for Society in the Horizon 2050, Institute of Physics Publishing, London, United Kingdom