A strategic investment in frontier science
QuAntü is not merely a technological development. It is a bet on scientific sovereignty: a country's capacity to design, build and operate the infrastructure underpinning the next generation of information technologies.
Quantum technologies are rapidly moving from theoretical constructions to transformative tools, with applications in cryptography, simulation, optimisation and materials science. Within this paradigm, quantum computing stands out not only for its disruptive potential but for the foundational shifts it demands — from how information is encoded and manipulated to how scientific progress is organised at the national level.
The project brings together researchers from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María around three simultaneous fronts: algorithm design, theoretical modelling of quantum control, and construction of the experimental hardware. All three advance in parallel and feed back into one another.
The name
QuAntü is a compound of quantum and Antü, a Mapudungun word meaning sun or light. The choice is not decorative: light is, literally, the tool used to cool, trap and manipulate every atom on the platform.
To develop and consolidate in Chile a national quantum computing platform based on neutral atoms, establishing the experimental infrastructure, theoretical frameworks and algorithmic capabilities required to implement and control high-fidelity quantum operations.
That QuAntü becomes freely accessible, remotely, to researchers and students across Chile — and that the ecosystem built around it (human capital, infrastructure, alliances) sustains the country's quantum technology development on its own.
These two statements correspond to the project's mission and vision, phrased in academic register.
Why neutral atoms
Several platforms are candidates for building qubits. Neutral atoms sit at the intersection of scalability and coherence, which is why they concentrate much of the current global effort.
Scalability
Optical tweezer arrays allow scaling from tens to hundreds of qubits without redesigning the system. Arrays of more than 250 atoms have already been demonstrated.
Coherence
The hyperfine states of rubidium-87 preserve quantum information for long times, leaving room to run deeper circuits.
Fidelity
Two-qubit gates based on Rydberg blockade now exceed 99.5 % fidelity, above the threshold required for error correction.
Connectivity
Atoms can be transported with light and rearranged mid-computation, allowing qubits that are not physical neighbours to be connected.
Who executes the project
The project is executed by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile as main institution, in association with Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María.
Gender equity and training
The project includes a gender equity plan with defined indicators and biannual review, covering targeted dissemination of every open call, joint activities with Girls in Quantum and women-in-science networks, and work–life measures for team members with caregiving responsibilities.
Advanced human capital formation is a central rather than incidental component: the project funds and supervises undergraduate, master's and doctoral theses, as well as postdoctoral positions, across all three research lines.