A collaboration between Cambridge University and MIT has begun a concerted research effort in the theory and technology of quantum information, which includes quantum communication, quantum control, quantum cryptography, and quantum information processing. 2.5 million pounds of core funding for the work has been awarded from funds provided by the UK Government for the Cambridge-MIT Institute, whose remit is to encourage competitiveness and scientific excellence in order to generate higher levels of sustainable growth and productivity in a modern economy.
The CMI's main website is located here.

Quantum computation and quantum communications are rapidly expanding the technologies of information processing. Quantum computers store and process information at the atomic scale, where quantum mechanics governs how information can be registered and transformed. Quantum communication systems transmit information on individual quanta of light. Although quantum computers and quantum communication systems currently exist only in prototype form in the laboratory, they have considerable potential for technological development. In particular, even the relatively simple and small quantum information processing systems in operation today store, process, and transmit information with efficiencies approaching the ultimate limits allowed by the laws of physics. If these prototype systems can be developed further, the possibilities for commercialization are considerable. Perhaps even more promising are the various quantum technologies that are being developed as spinoffs of research on quantum computation. Ultra-powerful sensors, highly sensitive quantum probes and actuators, and applications of quantum coherence in communications and manufacturing represent applications of quantum information processing that promise immediate development.

The collaboration will concentrate on a number of lines of research, which will include the development of quantum communication systems, the construction of semiconductor nanostructures for the coherent processing of information, the development of quantum sensor technology, and the exploration of quantum control techniques. It will also make use of the internet to teach students and encourage them to work in this new and rapidly-developing area of science and technology.
The principle research aims are outlined here.

The collaboration involves the following departments at MIT:

• Center for Theoretical Physics
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Nuclear Engineering
• Research Laboratory of Electronics

and at Cambridge University:

• Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
• Cavendish Laboratory (Physics)
• Computer Laboratory
• Engineering
• MRC Molecular Biology Laboratory
• Statistical Laboratory.

The bonds between groups at Cambridge University and MIT will be cemented by a series of technology development conferences, to be held alternately in the two Cambridges, and by the exchange of students, faculty, and postdoctoral fellows. The goal of these conferences will be to exchange results and to develop strategies for development of those results. Technology transfer to industry will be facilitated by the active participation of industrial partners in research and in the conferences.

• Cambridge- MIT Workshop - MIT, January 2002 - Schedule
• Cambridge- MIT Workshop - Cambridge, June 2002 - Abstracts, Schedule
• Cambridge- MIT Workshop - MIT, January 2003 - Schedule
• Cambridge- MIT Workshop - Cambridge, June 2003 - Abstracts, Schedule

Commercial firms are encouraged to participate in the collaboration. They are being asked to contribute funding and research effort. In return, their staff will have the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and creativity of experts and to negotiate terms for the commercial exploitation of advanced technology. During the collaboration, a four month workshop will take place at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, to bring together scientists from all over the world to exchange ideas and expertise.

A number of postdoctoral positions and research studentships have been funded by the collaboration.