D.J. Wineland<br>

Time and Frequency Division, NIST, Boulder, CO<br>

<i>Quantum games with trapped atomic ions; whither quantum computation?</i><p>

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Among a number of possible physical implementations of quantum information
processing, trapped ions are attractive because the basic elements of
quantum computation have been experimentally demonstrated.  A skeptic can
perhaps justifiably classify these accomplishments as parlor tricks;
nevertheless, the trapped-ion system also has a straightforward path to
scaling to large qubit numbers.  Some of the technical hurdles to achieving
this scaling, including seemingly mundane things like understanding metal
(electrode) surfaces at a mesoscopic scale, will be discussed.  In the
meantime, some simple implementations of quantum computation could have
important applications before large-scale quantum computation is practical,
for example, for efficient quantum-limited measurements.
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