Aalto researchers have used an IBM quantum computer to explore an overlooked area of physics, and have challenged 100-year-old notions about information at the quantum level.
Category: quantum physics – Page 727
BP Ties Up With IBM’s Quantum Network
IBM announced that global energy company BP has joined the tech giant’s quantum network as an industry partner to boost the use of quantum computing in the energy industry.
Light and a Single Electron Used to Detect Quantum Information Stored in 100,000 Nuclear Quantum Bits
Researchers unlocked the electronic properties of graphene by folding the material like origami paper.
Researchers have found a way to use light and a single electron to communicate with a cloud of quantum bits and sense their behavior, making it possible to detect a single quantum bit in a dense cloud.
The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, were able to inject a ‘needle’ of highly fragile quantum information in a ‘haystack’ of 100000 nuclei. Using lasers to control an electron, the researchers could then use that electron to control the behavior of the haystack, making it easier to find the needle. They were able to detect the ‘needle’ with a precision of 1.9 parts per million: high enough to detect a single quantum bit in this large ensemble.
The technique makes it possible to send highly fragile quantum information optically to a nuclear system for storage, and to verify its imprint with minimal disturbance, an important step in the development of a quantum internet based on quantum light sources. The results are reported in the journal Nature Physics.
A Magnetic Twist to Graphene Could Offer a Dramatic Increase in Processing Speeds Compared to Electronics
Electrons in materials have a property known as ‘spin’, which is responsible for a variety of properties, the most well-known of which is magnetism. Permanent magnets, like the ones used for refrigerator doors, have all the spins in their electrons aligned in the same direction. Scientists refer to this behavior as ferromagnetism, and the research field of trying to manipulate spin as spintronics.
Down in the quantum world, spins can arrange in more exotic ways, giving rise to frustrated states and entangled magnets. Interestingly, a property similar to spin, known as “the valley,” appears in graphene materials. This unique feature has given rise to the field of valleytronics, which aims to exploit the valley property for emergent physics and information processing, very much like spintronics relies on pure spin physics.
Quantum Mechanics, Free Will and the Game of Life
Some thoughts triggered by the death of the mathematician John Conway.
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Q-CTRL’s new AI toolset allows quantum computers to self-optimize
The toolset runs with Q-CTRL’s flagship BOULDER OPAL software for developers and R&D teams, automated closed-loop hardware optimization is also trained to obtain new experimental data/results from quantum computers while simultaneously running optimizations for algorithms. It can be used as a standalone tool or in tandem with a machine-learner online optimization package (M-LOOP) that manages quantum experiments autonomously.