Chinese physicist Pan Jianwei led his country to the forefront of long-distance, ultra-secure quantum communications, reporting that his team beamed the quantum state of a photon here on Earth to another on a satellite 1,400 kilometers above.

For his role in pushing forward the development of quantum communications, Pan has been included in Nature's 10, the prestigious journal’s annual list of ten people who mattered in science in the current year. The list was released online on Dec 18.

From quantum communications and genome editing to the threat of a nuclear crisis and the dismantling of environmental protections in the United States, "this list covers the highs and lows for science and scientists in 2017," said Brendan Maher, news features editor at Nature.

Dubbed "Father of Quantum" by some in China, Pan Jianwei and his team harnessed quantum laws to transmit information securely, called quantum communications.

Composite photo taken on Dec 9, 2016 shows a satellite-to-earth link established between quantum satellite "Micius" and the quantum teleportation experiment platform in Ali, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Image by Jin Liwang/ Xinhua)

In July, Pan and his team reported they had broken the record for quantum teleportation. In September, the team used a satellite to beam photons to Beijing and Vienna, generating quantum encryption keys that allowed teams in those cities to video chat securely, according to Nature. Because detecting the photons disturbs their quantum states, would-be hackers cannot intercept the keys without their activities being noticed.

More experiments have been planned by Pan and his team, and in the next five years, "many wonderful results will come, It's really a new era," Pan was quoted as saying in the Nature feature.

Renowned scientist and president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Anton Zeilinger, seen as a pioneer in the fields of quantum information and quantum mechanics, believes the landmark quantum-encrypted intercontinental video call between China and Austria is very important and impressive.

"I see this as a part of the goal of building a future quantum internet, where in this case China enabled a worldwide quantum-secure communication," the physicist said.

‘Father of Quantum’ is an apt name for Pan. After training in Europe, Pan returned full-time to China in 2008, and has since lit a fire under the country’s efforts in quantum technology. “It seems like a couple of times a year I’m shocked when I read about what they’re doing,” says Christopher Monroe, a quantum physicist at the University of Maryland in College Park.

The September demonstration was a “historic event”, says Anton Zeilinger, Pan’s former PhD adviser and his current collaborator at the University of Vienna. Pan’s group, he says, is surging ahead in the development of a quantum internet: a network of satellites and ground-based equipment that could share quantum information across the globe.

This would allow unbreakable worldwide encryption, as well as new experiments that harness long-distance quantum connections, such as combining light from detectors across the planet to create a super- resolution telescope. For now, Pan’s team has plans to launch a second satellite, and is running another quantum experiment in space aboard China’s Tiangong-2 space station.

Although he leads a group of 50 scientists spanning multiple disciplines — including quantum simulation, computation and optics — Pan is the “essential brain” behind the work, says Zeilinger, bringing to it a combination of vision, organization and a flair for experiment.

Known as an optimist with unending enthusiasm, Pan also has a gift for persuading funders. And he is quietly confident that the Chinese government will support his next big plan: a US$2-billion, 5-year initiative focused on quantum communication, metrology and computation, which mirrors a $1.2-billion European flagship initiative announced in 2016.

Pan’s skill lies in picking the right problem and taking risks, says Monroe. “China is very lucky to have him.”

Source: Nature