Great ideas honored

Xu Chenyang, mathematician, winner of the mathematics and computer science prize. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Secure communication

Professor Pan Jianwei, 47, a quantum physicist at the University of Science and Technology of China, won the 2017 Future Science Prize in physical science. The award was for his work in enabling the practical implementation of secure communication through quantum key distribution.

One of the best ways to upgrade communication security is to use a system that encrypts the information while simultaneously detecting eavesdroppers. Pan's quantum physics experiments with entangled photons helped to achieve this goal.

When an attempt is made to eavesdrop on a quantum communication it creates a disturbance that can be detected.

Despite its high security level, the implementation of this technology faces a number of challenges including distance and cost.

Pan and his team also broke the distance record by sending a quantum encrypted message about 1,200 kilometers from space to Earth.

Pan was the lead scientist of the world's first quantum-communication satellite, Micius, launched by China in 2016.

"We hope to form a quantum communication network over a wide area in the next five to 10 years," Pan says.