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Radio astronomy relies on abundant and affordable compute capacity. While we are rapidly approaching physical limitations that inhibit the continued growth of conventional technology, revolutionary new technologies are being developed. The most radical of these is quantum computing. Heavy investment is made into quantum initiatives, but these generally focus on the development of the base technologies, not on the applicability in data-intensive science. Current algorithms used in radio astronomy do not map directly onto quantum computers, a complete rethink of the processing is required.
