Quantum Information Science in the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science

With an annual budget of over $6 billion, the DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The mission of the Office of Science is the delivery of... [ view full abstract ]

With an annual budget of over $6 billion, the DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The mission of the Office of Science is the delivery of scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and to advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. Quantum Information Science provides a basic foundation for numerous application areas with potential transformative impact on the Office of Science’s mission. Built upon community input gathered through sponsored events since early 2014, Office of Science has formulated its quantum information science strategy and made its investments in this field a strategic priority in its fiscal year 2018 and 2019 budget requests. 

In this talk, I will outline Office of Science’s quantum information science strategy and its multi-pronged approach through six interdisciplinary scientific program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics. In addition, I will describe the ongoing activities and present early results from quantum algorithm teams, quantum testbed pathfinder and high energy physics pilot programs. Finally, I will summarize the plans for other upcoming programs in quantum computing, quantum materials, systems for quantum information science and quantum information science enabled discovery in high energy physics.