Research for the quantum transition.
Quantum computing is moving from physics to industrial engineering. As it does, a new class of algorithms will be able to tackle certain problems more efficiently and address a whole new domain of applications. It will also radically change the way we can safely use cryptography.
Qaedra is an independent research firm focusing on this transition: new machines, new algorithms, new cryptography, and the decade of engineering work it sets in motion for the world to transition smoothly and safely.
Our work sits at the intersection of quantum computing, combinatorial optimization, and security.
New machines
Quantum processors are scaling from laboratory demonstrations toward fault tolerance, and soon towards useful-applications scale. The timeline is short; credible roadmaps point at first useful-scale processors by 2028.
The mandates
NIST has finalized post-quantum cryptography standards (FIPS 203/204/205), mandates the deprecation of today's vulnerable algorithms by 2030 and totally disallows them by 2035. Industry heavy-weights target a transition for their own systems by EoY 2029.
The transition
Between the state of today's legacy systems and the mandates sits a global engineering transition: systems to inventory, cryptography to replace, decisions to sequence and prioritize. It is the largest coordinated change computing has ever attempted, yet this "transition of the century" is still poorly understood and charted.
Three directions
Quantum-era security
What has to be answered before any migration can be planned: which components are exposed to harvest-now-decrypt-later capture, how heavy that exposure is per component, and which post-quantum end-states preserve which properties. This research direction produces the inputs; without them, "plan the migration" has nothing to optimize.
Optimization & scheduling
Large software transitions have intrinsic combinatorial structure: sequencing, capacity, deadlines, dependencies. Combinatorial optimization, constrained scheduling research and expertise can add immense value and make the seemingly intractable a done task.
Measurement and monitoring
The transition has mandates, countless intertwined vendors, urgency, yet very few shared numbers across the industry. We build the models, benchmarks and datasets that let the field measure itself.