Spheres and connections represent qubits and entanglement bonds in (a) a two-dimensional cluster state. Coloured qubits show a compact CNOT gate, proceeding from the input qubits (yellow), through progression of Y-basis measurements (pink), to output qubits (light blue). (b) Activating additional collision cavities can create higher-dimensional topologies of entanglement such as this helical structure. Blythe and Varcoe, quant-ph 0605190.

Measurement-Based Quantum Computing Sussex In quant-ph 0605190, Blythe and Varcoe present a primer for feedforward quantum computation via crossed atomic beams to create a highly-entangled initial cluster state. Drawing upon previous work by Raussendorf and Briegel, the authors provide specifications for microwave cavity QED based scalable quantum computing architectures. "In a departure from the traditional understanding of a computer as a fixed array of computational elements, we show that cluster state quantum computing is well suited to atomic beam experiments. We show that all of the necessary elements have been individually realised, and that the construction of a truly scalable atomic beam quantum computer may be an experimental reality in the near future."

Quantum Coherence, Noise and Decoherence in Nanostructures Max-Planck Institute "The modern field of nanoelectronics has brought about novel physical phenomena and created new challenges for their interpretation within quantum theory. Among the most fundamental concepts are quantum coherence and interference effects. An improved understanding of these phenomena is needed both from a fundamental point of view as well as for a variety of potential applications – ranging from highly sensitive detectors to quantum information devices and single-electron logic circuits operating at room temperature. The goal of this meeting is to bring together leading scientists from different subfields of condensed matter physics in order to advance the understanding of decoherence in nanostructures."

Constructive Role of Noise in Complex Systems Max-Planck Institute "Noise is inevitably present in any dissipative systems, and all living organisms operate in the noisy environment. Understanding the role of noise is crucial both in fundamental research in nonlinear physics, and in many applications in engineering, biology and medicine. Recent developments in statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics have shed light on a new, sometimes counterintuitive role which noise plays in nonlinear systems: in a wide range of systems, random forces may bring a system to a more ordered state. This meeting will focus on recent developments in the field of noise and fluctuations in complex nonlinear systems, as well as on applications of new noise-mediated phenomena and theoretical methodologies in experimental physics, biological physics, neuroscience and medicine."

Macroscopic Quantum Coherence and Computing MQC² Workshop "The aim of the workshop is to report on the recent theoretical and experimental results on the macroscopic quantum coherence of mesoscopic systems, as well as on solid state realization of qubits and quantum gates. Particular attention will be given to coherence effects in Josephson devices. Other physical systems, including quantum dots, optical, atomic, and molecular devices, exhibiting macroscopic quantum coherence, will also be discussed."

Quantum Communications in Telecom Networks IEEE "Quantum Cryptography, which carries a promise of fundamentally secure communications, has reached a point of relative maturity and first commercial offerings. Its broad deployment, however, is impeded by many technical challenges. This conference will bring together researchers from universities, industry and government labs, commercial QC system manufacturers, service providers, and funding agencies to discuss the novel physics of single-photon sources, interactions between photonic and material qubits, distant entanglement, single photon detection, fundamental physical constraints on the performance of QC links and networks, and resulting trade-offs among key rate, distance and cryptographic security."

Entanglement Distribution Revealed by Macroscopic Observations Vienna "Observation of quantum entanglement between increasingly larger macroscopic objects is one of the most promising avenues of experimental quantum physics. Eventually, all these developments will lead to a complete understanding of the simultaneous coexistence of a macroscopic classical world and an underlying quantum realm." In quant-ph 0603208, Kofler and Brukner compute multipartite entanglement measures to reveal quantum correlations in the collective properties of two separated objects – "The present work demonstrates that macroscopic properties can reveal entanglement between two or more macroscopic samples. On the fundamental side, our method demonstrates that there is no principal reason why purely quantum correlations could not have an effect on the global properties of objects."

Macroscopic Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Pairs in Superconducting Circuits RIKEN In quant-ph 0508027, Wei et al. introduce an efficient method of creating EPR pairs in capacitively-coupled Josephson nanocircuits: "A possible application of the deterministically generated EPR pairs is to test Bell's Inequality at the macroscopic level. The approach proposed can be easily modified to engineer quantum entanglement in other fixed-interaction solid-state systems."

Quantum Computing with Superconducting Qubits NATO ASI Geller, Wilhelm et al. provide a concise overview of research efforts currently underway to develop scalable superconducting quantum circuits in Superconducting Qubits I: Architectures and Superconducting Qubits II: Decoherence – "Josephson junctions have demonstrated enormous potential as qubits for scalable quantum computing architectures. Here we discuss the current approaches for making multi-qubit circuits and for performing quantum information processing with them."