I’m as much a nationalist as Dick Cheney is a peace loving hippie. Except, of course, when it comes to funding. Yes, I am a “fundanationalist.” Particularly funding of quantum computing. Selfish? Indeed! And you would be too if your salary came from agencies scooped straight out of a bowl of alphabet soup.
\nSo I have no qualms asking the question “Is the US the leading place to do quantum computing theory research?” Now how might one check this out? One way would be to look at the data from the last two QIP conferences. QIP is certainly the top conference for a certain kind of quantum computing theory, one which is more computer sciency than physicy. Note that over the last two QIPs there has been a more democratic method for inviting speakers, so that this data is arguably fairly representative of the work the community currently values. Here are numbers:<\/p>\n
\nQIP 2007 [Brisbane, Australia]
\nUS 12
\nCanada 8
\nEurope 13
\nAsia 1
\nAustralia 1
\nIsrael 2
\nQIP 2006 [Paris, France]
\nUS 11
\nCanada 8
\nEurope 16
\nAsia 2
\nAustralia 1
\nIsrael 2\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNote that I took the authors current affiliation and not the affiliation when they spoke, as I’m more interested in what the current state of theory research is. Well so the United States has less that one third of the speakers. So I would say that the US is certainly not dominating quantum computing research, but is in a three way tie for the top spot with Europe and Canada. Considering the lack of hiring of top quantum computing people in US universities (certain exceptions<\/a>, of course, apply) I would guess that this divide is only going to deepen.
\nOf course truthfully I am happy to see quantum computing funded everywhere. However I wonder if this view is shared by those deep in the heart of government funding agencies. Is third place good enough for quantum computing theory research in the United States? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I’m as much a nationalist as Dick Cheney is a peace loving hippie. Except, of course, when it comes to funding. Yes, I am a “fundanationalist.” Particularly funding of quantum computing. Selfish? Indeed! And you would be too if your salary came from agencies scooped straight out of a bowl of alphabet soup. So I … <\/p>\n