This chapter aims to illustrate how quantum theory provides useful technological solutions – applications that may be more integrated in our everyday lives than we tend to think. Some applications lend themselves to a particularly straightforward outline through examples already seen in the preceding chapters. These include scanning tunnelling microscopy and emission spectroscopy, which utilize tunnelling and energy quantization, respectively. Prior knowledge and readymade implementations allow these applications to be studied in a quantitative manner. Also, nuclear magnetic resonance is, albeit in a somewhat simplified model, studied quantitatively – within the framework of an oscillating spin-½ particle developed in Chapter 5. The remainder of the chapter is dedicated to quantum information technology. Also in this context, the notion of one or two spin-½ particles is applied frequently. A spin-½ particle is one possible realization of a quantum bit, and it serves well as a model even in cases when quantum bits are implemented differently. After having introduced some basic notions, two specific protocols for quantum communication are studied in some detail. The last part of the chapter addresses adiabatic quantum computing. This technology is studied in a manner that lies close to the last example of Chapter 5.

In this final chapter, we focus more on quantum information and quantum computing applications of atomic ensembles. We first examine ways of implementing continuous variables in quantum information processing using atomic ensembles, based on the Holstein--Primakoff approximation. Methods to perform quantum teleportation using this method, and some seminal experiments using this approach are introduced. We then introduce other approaches not based on the Holstein--Primakoff approximation to represent quantum information, namely the spinor quantum computing scheme. After showing a simple example of how such a scheme works with Deutsch's algorithm, we describe how adiabatic quantum computing can be performed, which displays the key feature of quantum error suppression.