Dictionary

post-quantum en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From post- (“after, later”) + quantum.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Existing in the hypothetical time period after the development of powerful quantum computers.
   • The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is stepping in to prepare for this post-quantum future. 2021 October 4, “With Quantum Computing’s Rise, Cybersecurity Takes Center Stage”, in Wired, San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Dec 2022:
   • The challenge for post-quantum cryptographers is to encode messages and other data using math problems so complex that even quantum computers can't solve them. 2022 April 26, Joseph Marks, “Government is racing against the clock to keep encryption secure”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Apr 2022:
   • Computing with Shor’s algorithm is a little further on the horizon than other applications. But adapting to a new post-quantum landscape isn’t just a quick patch download. 2018 February 16, Ryan F. Mandelbaum, “Quantum Hacking Could Be 'Catastrophic' If We Don't Develop Better Cryptography”, in Gizmodo, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2022:
   • Once the need for post-quantum public-key cryptography is established, the question arises what it means for a public-key scheme to be secure in a post-quantum world. 2016 March 18, Johannes Buchmann, Denis Butin, Florian Göpfert, Albrecht Petzoldt, “Post-Quantum Cryptography: State of the Art”, in The New Codebreakers (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; 9100), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 89:
   • As research continues on quantum computers, we are quickly approaching the post-quantum age.
2. (not-comparable, qualifier:computer security) Existing in the hypothetical time period after the development of powerful quantum computers. ▸ Suitable for the post-quantum age; quantum-resistant.
   • If the data stolen by the balloon was encrypted with post-quantum cybersecurity, it would not be breakable with classical or quantum computers. Therefore, we should upgrade to post-quantum cybersecurity as quickly as possible so that data stolen today remains private for the longest possible time. 2023 March 22, Skip Sanzeri, “Quantum Computers: Why We Should Be Both Excited And Concerned”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2023:
   • These new algorithms fall into one of two broad categories: quantum and post-quantum. 2015 September 1, Daniel Oberhaus, “Countdown to the Crypto-Apocalypse”, in VICE, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2022:
   • There's an entire field of study dedicated to post-quantum cryptography. It's based on writing algorithms that could withstand an attack by a quantum computer. 2015 July 1, Adrienne LaFrance, “The Race to Build a Quantum Computer”, in The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Dec 2022:
   • Methods such as the RSA algorithm that are used to encrypt things like online transactions are not post-quantum — a large quantum computer could break them, because their security depends on the hardness of factoring large numbers. 2018 October 8, Erica Klarreich, “Graduate Student Solves Quantum Verification Problem”, in Quanta Magazine, New York, N.Y.: Simons Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2023:
   • Cryptographers are at work developing post-quantum algorithms for the future.
   • The report recommended that companies start working on "post-quantum decryption", an emerging field of protecting data in a way that quantum computers could not unlock. 2021 December 3, James Titcomb, “China's quantum leap plunges West into a race to protect its secrets”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2021:
3. (not-comparable, rare) Beyond quantum physics.
   • Marti took us to the Laboratory of Human Evolution, a small library of Mothernalia containing books about quantum and pseudo-quantum and post-quantum science, several copies of Rupert Sheldrake, the nine volumes of the Agenda (Mother's diaries) out on loan, nine tapes of Mother's edited conversations in both French and English. 1998, Walter Schwarz, Dorothy Schwartz, Living Lightly: Travels in Post-Consumer Society, Charlbury, Oxfordshire: Jon Carpenter, →ISBN, pages 326–327:
   • Even if we do develop a post-quantum explanation of reality, however, we must keep in mind the metaphorical nature of such a model and its limitation as a metaphor for understanding only certain aspects of reality. 2013, James Gollnick, The Spiritual, Social, and Scientific Meanings of Dreams: What Do Our Dreams Teach Us?, Lewiston, N.Y.; […]: The Edwin Mellen Press, →ISBN, page 355:
   • However, before anyone nominates me for a Nobel Prize for solving the mystery of telepathy, I should add that it cannot yet be explained in terms of post-quantum science either. 2002, Guy Lyon Playfair, Twin Telepathy: The Psychic Connection, 2nd edition, Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, published 2008, →ISBN, page 154:

Forms

Relateds

quantum-resistant