Analysis of publication activity of the leading countries in the field of quantum technologies

Abstract

The publication activity of the leading countries in the field of quantum technologies (QT), which include quantum computers and simulators, quantum sensors, quantum data transmission, and quantum metrology is analyzed. A general characteristic of the subject domain and scientometric analysis is carried out using the research chops from the Web of Science database covering the period 2000 – 2016. The sample of bibliographic publications is used to (i) estimate the growth rate of publications on QT in the leading countries (for the indicated period of time), (ii) identify the leading states in the number of publications (on the above-mentioned main directions of QT development), and (iii) determine the publication activity of Russia and the intensity of international cooperation. The results of the research demonstrated, that the USA and China are the leading countries in the field of quantum technologies. Regression dependences are constructed which provide forecasting and description of the functions reflecting the increasing number of publications in aforementioned countries. Using the criterion of signs and the Wilcoxon test for coupled pairs of observations, the hypothesis of significant differences in the publication activity of the United States and China was tested. Both tests at the level of significance α = 0.05 did not reveal significant discrepancies between the number of articles in the US and China on the twelve topics of the Web of Science database. At the same time, a significant advantage of American scientists in the number of publications in the field of quantum computations and creation of a universal quantum computer has been revealed. The primacy in this area is the main condition of «quantum» domination, which implies a significant acceleration of calculations, primarily, decryption of most of the algorithms used to protect information.