Question: Hi, In the pursuit of unraveling the mysteries at the quantum level, how do you envision the integration of emerging technologies, such as quantum computing or advanced particle detectors, reshaping the landscape of experimental particle physics at CERN and pushing the boundaries of our comprehension?

Daniel Moise answered on 17 Jan 2024:

CERN has always been active in not just the implementation of new technologies but also their creation. This includes technologies used to make better detectors but also auxiliary pieces of tech such as the World Wide Web, which was born at CERN.

Us experimentalists employ the concept of “physics reach”, which boils down to “what can we measure, and how well, given the equipment we’ve got at our disposal”. Throughout the history of particle physics, leaps in physics reach have been spurred by leaps in technologies, so integrating new technology is vital to the field. Quantum computing is just one of these technologies, and many people are working on figuring out how and to what extent it can be applied to particle physics. To summarise, there are several problems that are part of particle physics where quantum computing might help, but it’s still a very active field of study and a lot of work is ongoing.

If you’d like to read or skim the (rather technical) state of the art, I recommend

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.03236.pdf