On November 5-6, 2018, CERN openlab organized a first-of-its-kind workshop on quantum computing in high-energy physics (HEP) at CERN’s Main Auditorium in Geneva. More than 400 people followed the event in person or via webcast, according to a CERN news article published after the workshop.
The event brought members of the HEP community together with leading quantum computing companies, including Intel, IBM, Strangeworks, D-Wave, Microsoft, Rigetti, and Google. Google announced at the event that it had signed an agreement to join CERN openlab. Several large-scale research initiatives were also presented, including the EU’s Quantum Technologies Flagship project and programs at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermilab.
Eckhard Elsen, CERN’s Director for Research and Computing, stated at the workshop that while quantum computing would not solve all future computing needs of the HEP community, the availability of quantum computers and a possible breakthrough in qubit count could make rethinking algorithms a major benefit. The workshop later came to be recognized as the starting point for what became the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative.