Second generation quantum technologies will have a major impact on education and training in the field of quantum physics. The progress in quantum computing, simulation, sensing, and communication will lead to the emergence of new industries with a corresponding workforce demand. In quantum industry, new job types will appear which require specialized qualifications. A certain understanding of quantum physics will be a necessary prerequisite to work in these professions. It will have to be taught to a much wider and much more diverse group of stakeholders than is the case today. Expanding audiences will include engineering, information sciences, pharmaceutics, finance and insurance, but also salespersons, CEOs and policymakers. Providing appropriate education and training offers tailored to the needs of these audiences will be a considerable challenge for both academia and providers of upskilling programs.

This topical collection aims to focus on novel approaches to address these educational challenges and their relevance for the quantum industry. Appropriate contributions to this topical collection include:

• discussion of new topics relevant for the teaching of modern quantum physics • new teaching methods and ideas, including the use of multimedia and new media • implementation of demonstration and student experiments • empirical results on learning difficulties and the effectiveness of novel approaches • results on the effectiveness of communicating quantum technologies to broader audiences and the general public • novel methodologies for workforce training and lifelong learning in quantum technologies • methodological considerations of the current and emerging infrastructures and ecosystem related to the workforce development pipeline

Every article submitted to the collection is expected not only to present new concepts and ideas but also to (a) include at least initial results of an empirical evaluation, and (b) make a case for the relevance of their work to the development of the quantum industry.

Society is dependent on Global Navigation Satellite Signals (GNSS) such as Global Position Systems (GPS) for position, navigation and timing (PNT) yet these signals are not available inside buildings, underground or under the ocean. These signals from space are only 10 nW at the earth’s surface and therefore are easy to jam, spoof or mecone. A key concern for many governments is that their critical infrastructure is dependent on these satellite signals especially for timing and synchronisation that is essential for the operation of utilities, communication, finance, transport, emergency and defence systems. There is therefore great interest in finding sensors and timing systems that can operate even when GNSS systems are unavailable, denied or spoofed.

This special collection wants to bring together papers from quantum technologies that can aid classical PNT in an area being called quantum enabled position, navigation and timing. Quantum technologies are defined in terms of the use of superposition, entanglement, squeezing, quadrature states (where the states are linked through the Heisenberg uncertainty principle) or single-photon approaches. The collection aims to provide up to date examples of the progress made using quantum or quantum enhanced approaches to timing and synchronisation, inertial sensing, all types of range-finding, sensors for geo-location, map matching, any other quantum technology sensor or system that can provide a benefit to PNT when satellite signals are unavailable, and quantum-classical hybrid solutions.

Submissions are welcome in the following areas:

• Atomic clocks, especially approaches aiming to improve the performance over commercially available clocks or reduce the size, weight, power and cost for PNT applications.

• Quantum-based frequency references, low-phase noise oscillators, frequency combs and other key components required in quantum enabled PNT applications.

• Methods for accurate synchronisation of atomic clocks, networks or distributed sensing systems especially those that use quantum effects for improved accuracy.

• Cold atom based inertial sensors including accelerometers, gyroscopes, gravimeters and gravity gradiometers.

• Co-magnetometer or atomic spin gyroscopes.

• Range-finding and LiDAR techniques using quantum technology approaches or systems including single-photon or other quantum-based sensing modalities.

• Map matching techniques using quantum sensors.

• Quantum approaches or quantum sensors for geo-location.

• Hybrid sensors or systems for PNT which include quantum sensors.

• Use of quantum approaches including superposition, squeezing or entanglement that provide a measurement advantage to any PNT sensors or systems.

• Use of quantum approaches to improve the performance of integrated inertial navigation systems or inertial measurement units.

Submission Information:

Authors should select the appropriate Collection title “Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT)” under the “Details” tab during the submission stage.

All manuscripts will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and will be subject to the standard editorial policies. Articles will be assessed, reviewed and published in this collection on a rolling basis.