post-quantum

English

Alternative forms

• postquantum

Etymology

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

Adjective

post-quantum (not comparable)

1. Existing in the hypothetical time period after the development of powerful quantum computers.

   As research continues on quantum computers, we are quickly approaching the post-quantum age.

   • 2016 March 18, Johannes A. 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:

     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.

   • 2018 February 16, Ryan F. Mandelbaum, “Quantum Hacking Could Be 'Catastrophic' If We Don't Develop Better Cryptography”, in Gizmodo‎^[1], archived from the original on 2022-12-25:

     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.

   • 2021 October 4, “With Quantum Computing’s Rise, Cybersecurity Takes Center Stage”, in Wired‎^[2], San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-16:

     The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is stepping in to prepare for this post-quantum future.

   • 2022 April 26, Joseph Marks, “Government is racing against the clock to keep encryption secure”, in The Washington Post‎^[3], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-04-27:

     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.

   1. Suitable for the post-quantum age; quantum-resistant.

      Cryptographers are at work developing post-quantum algorithms for the future.

      • 2015 July 1, Adrienne LaFrance, “The Race to Build a Quantum Computer”, in The Atlantic‎^[4], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-06:

        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 September 1, Daniel Oberhaus, “Countdown to the Crypto-Apocalypse”, in VICE‎^[5], archived from the original on 2022-08-23:

        These new algorithms fall into one of two broad categories: quantum and post-quantum.

      • 2018 October 8, Erica Klarreich, “Graduate Student Solves Quantum Verification Problem”, in Quanta Magazine‎^[6], New York, N.Y.: Simons Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-03:

        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.

      • 2021 December 3, James Titcomb, “China's quantum leap plunges West into a race to protect its secrets”, in The Daily Telegraph‎^[7], London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-12-13:

        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.

      • 2023 March 22, Skip Sanzeri, “Quantum Computers: Why We Should Be Both Excited And Concerned”, in Forbes‎^[8], New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-22:

        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.

2. (rare) Beyond quantum physics.
   • 1998, Walter Schwarz, Dorothy Schwartz, Living Lightly: Travels in Post-Consumer Society, Charlbury, Oxfordshire: Jon Carpenter, →ISBN, pages 326–327:

     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.

   • 2002, Guy Lyon Playfair, Twin Telepathy: The Psychic Connection, 2nd edition, Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, published 2008, →ISBN, page 154:

     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.

   • 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:

     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.

Related terms

• quantum-resistant

Further reading

• Post-quantum cryptography on Wikipedia.Wikipedia