Have you ever heard of quantum money?
In 1970, physicist Stephen Wiesner proposed an idea that seemed straight out of science fiction: a banknote whose counterfeiting would be prevented by the very laws of quantum physics.
The principle behind its security was the No-Cloning Theorem, which states that it’s impossible to create a perfect copy of an unknown quantum state. Measuring a quantum state can itself alter it, making it possible to detect any attempt to copy the banknote or extract information about its secret states.
So why don’t we have quantum money circulating yet?
The main challenge is quantum decoherence: quantum states are extremely sensitive to interactions with their environment, which makes it difficult to store this information in a stable and practical way.
Even though it never made it into our pockets, Wiesner’s proposal played an important role in the development of quantum cryptography and in the study of concepts such as no-cloning, measurement, and quantum memory.
At Dobslit, we believe that understanding the fundamentals of quantum technologies is also part of building the solutions that will shape their future.
