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Researchers at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) have brought together two Nobel prize-winning research concepts to advance the field of quantum communication.

Research often unfolds as a multistage process. The solution to one question can spark several more, inspiring scientists to reach further and look at the larger problem from several different perspectives. Such projects can often be the catalyst for collaborations that leverage the expertise and capabilities of different teams and institutions as they grow.

For half a century, scientists have delved into the mysteries of 1T phase tantalum disulfide (1T-TaS₂), an inorganic layered material with some intriguing quantum properties, like superconductivity and charge density waves (CDW). To unlock the complex structure and behavior of this material, researchers from the Jozef Stefan Institute in Slovenia and Université Paris-Saclay in France reached out to experts utilizing the Pair Distribution Function (PDF) beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility located at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, to learn more about the material’s structure. While the team in Slovenia had been studying these kinds of materials for decades, they were lacking the specific structural characterization that PDF could provide.

The results of this collaboration, recently published in Nature Communications, revealed a hidden electronic state that could only be seen by a local structure probe like the pair distribution function technique. With a more complete understanding of 1T-TaS₂’s electronic states, this material may one day play a role in data storage, quantum computing, and superconductivity.

In a new study, scientists propose the concept of “virtual quantum broadcasting,” which provides a workaround to the longstanding no-cloning theorem, thereby offering new possibilities for the transmission of quantum information.

An exploration of the concept of other dimensions and what sci fi gets right about it, and wrong. Also included is String theory’s view of upper dimensions and its descriptions of them.

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In the race to develop powerful quantum computers, one of the biggest roadblocks has been their extreme sensitivity to errors introduced by environmental noise. Even the smallest disturbance can corrupt the delicate quantum states that form the basis of quantum computation.

Now the AWS Center for Quantum Computing team says they may have discovered a promising solution to this hurdle. The researchers report in a blog post that they have designed and demonstrated a new type of quantum bit, or qubit, that converts the majority of errors into a special class known as “erasure errors” – and these errors can be detected and fixed much more efficiently than standard quantum errors.

The team writes: “Quantum error correction is a powerful tool for combating the effects of noise. As with error correction in classical systems, quantum error correction can exponentially suppress the rate of errors by encoding information redundantly. Redundancy protects against noise, but it comes at a price: an increase in the number of physical quantum bits (qubits) used for computation, and an increase in the complexity and duration of computations.”

Long before Archimedes suggested that all phenomena observable to us might be understandable through fundamental principles, humans have imagined the possibility of a theory of everything. Over the past century, physicists have edged nearer to unraveling this mystery. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity provides a solid basis for comprehending the cosmos at a large scale, while quantum mechanics allows us to grasp its workings at the subatomic level. The trouble is that the two systems don’t agree on how gravity works.

Today, artificial intelligence offers new hope for scientists addressing the massive computational challenges involved in unraveling the mysteries of something as complex as the universe and everything in it, and Kent Yagi, an associate professor with the University of Virginia’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences is leading a research partnership between theoretical physicists and computational physicists at UVA that could offer new insight into the possibility of a theory of everything or, at least, a better understanding of gravity, one of the universe’s fundamental forces. The work has earned him a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation, one of the most prestigious awards available to the nation’s most promising young researchers and educators.

Researchers at HZDR managed to generate wave-like excitations in a magnetic disk – so-called magnons – to specifically manipulate atomic-sized qubits in silicon carbide. This could open new possibilities for the transduction of information within quantum networks. Credit: HZDR / Mauricio Bejarano.

Researchers at HZDR have developed a new method to transduce quantum information using magnons, offering a promising approach to overcoming the challenges in quantum computing, particularly in enhancing qubit stability and communication efficiency.

Quantum computers promise to tackle some of the most challenging problems facing humanity today. While much attention has been directed towards the computation of quantum information, the transduction of information within quantum networks is equally crucial in materializing the potential of this new technology.

A team of scientists has successfully mimicked black hole conditions by creating a quantum vortex in superfluid helium, shedding light on gravitational interactions and quantum field theories in curved spacetimes.

Scientists have for the first time created a giant quantum vortex to mimic a black hole in superfluid helium that has allowed them to see in greater detail how analog black holes behave and interact with their surroundings.

Research led by the University of Nottingham, in collaboration with King’s College London and Newcastle University, has created a novel experimental platform: a quantum tornado. They have created a giant swirling vortex within superfluid helium that is chilled to the lowest possible temperatures. Through the observation of minute wave dynamics on the superfluid’s surface, the research team has shown that these quantum tornados mimic gravitational conditions near rotating black holes. The research has been published today in Nature.

A recent study by scientists from the University of California, Irvine and Los Alamos National Laboratory, published in Nature Communications, reveals a breakthrough method for transforming everyday materials, such as glass, into materials scientists can use to make quantum computers.

“The materials we made are substances that exhibit unique electrical or quantum properties because of their specific atomic shapes or structures,” said Luis A. Jauregui, professor of physics & astronomy at UCI and lead author of the new paper. “Imagine if we could transform glass, typically considered an insulating material, and convert it into efficient conductors akin to copper. That’s what we’ve done.”

Conventional computers use silicon as a conductor, but silicon has limits. Quantum computers stand to help bypass these limits, and methods like those described in the new study will help quantum computers become an everyday reality.