Ideal process leaves some superposition states intact.
Category: quantum physics – Page 729
Supersymmetry is super-awesome. Here’s what it means for particle physics
In the 1970s, physicists uncovered a potential symmetry that united all the kinds of particles in our universe. This connection, known as supersymmetry, relies on the strange quantum property of spin, and could help unlock a new understanding of physics.
Could quantum computing help beat the next coronavirus?
Quantum computing isn’t yet far enough along that it could have helped curb the spread of this coronavirus outbreak. But this emerging field of computing will almost certainly help scientists and researchers confront future crises.
“Can we compress the rate at which we discover, for example, a treatment or an approach to this?” asks Dario Gil, the director of IBM Research. “The goal is to do everything that we are doing today in terms of discovery of materials, chemistry, things like that, (in) factors of 10 times better, 100 times better,”
And that, he says, “could be game-changing.”
This Is the World’s First Image of Quantum Entanglement
During the 1930s, venerable theoretical physicist Albert Einstein returned to the field of quantum mechanics, which his theories of relativity helped to create. Hoping to develop a more complete theory of how particles behave, Einstein was instead horrified by the prospect of quantum entanglement — something he described as “spooky action at a distance.”
Despite Einstein’s misgivings, quantum entanglement has gone on to become an accepted part of quantum mechanics. And now, for the first time ever, a team of physicists from the University of Glasgow took an image of a form of quantum entanglement (aka Bell entanglement) at work. In so doing, they managed to capture the first piece of visual evidence of a phenomenon that baffled even Einstein himself.
The paper that described their findings, titled “Imaging Bell-type nonlocal behavior,” recently appeared in the journal Science Advances. The study was led by Dr. Paul-Antoine Moreau, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Glasgow, and included multiple researchers from Glasgow’s School of Physics & Astronomy.
Scientists Finally Observe Long-Predicted Form of Magnetism
Scientists believe they’ve made a concrete example of an unusual, theoretical form of ferromagnetism first described by a researcher more than 50 years ago.
Nagaoka ferromagnetism, named for the scientist who discovered it, Yosuke Nagaoka, is a special case of the same magnetic forces that make regular, refrigerator-type magnets work—ferro meaning iron, plus a few other metals that are naturally receptive to magnetism. Identifying it in real life—in this case using a quantum system of electrons—can help scientists understand how spontaneous ferromagnetism works.
Scientists break Google’s quantum algorithm
Google is racing to develop quantum-enhanced processors that use quantum mechanical effects to increase the speed at which data can be processed. In the near term, Google has devised new quantum-enhanced algorithms that operate in the presence of realistic noise. The so-called quantum approximate optimisation algorithm, or QAOA for short, is the cornerstone of a modern drive toward noise-tolerant quantum-enhanced algorithm development.
The celebrated approach taken by Google in QAOA has sparked vast commercial interest and ignited a global research community to explore novel applications. Yet, little is known about the ultimate performance limitations of Google’s QAOA algorithm.
A team of scientists from Skoltech’s Deep Quantum Laboratory took up this contemporary challenge. The all-Skoltech team led by Prof. Jacob Biamonte discovered and quantified what appears to be a fundamental limitation in the widely adopted approach initiated by Google.
Physicists link quantum memories across the longest distance ever
A team of scientists in China has linked quantum memories over more than 30 miles (50 kilometers) of fiber optic cable, beating the previous record by more than 40 times over. This feat is an important step toward a hack-proof internet, scientists said.
The internet we use today was truly a revolutionary invention. It connected the world with information and allowed us to share millions of photos of cute and cuddly cats. But the internet is also filled with hackers trying to intercept important or sensitive information. To fight back, physicists have come up with a solution, with a little help from Schrödinger’s cat, the famous, hypothetical dead-and-alive feline meant to expose the weird nature of subatomic particles.
Google claims its quantum computer can do the impossible in 200 seconds
Circa 2019
Google claims it has designed a machine that needs only 200 seconds to solve a problem that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to figure out.
The speed achieved by the computer represents a breakthrough called “quantum supremacy,” according to a blog post from the company and an accompanying article in the scientific journal Nature.
The results announced Wednesday herald the rise of quantum computers, which can store and process much more information than their classical cousins by tapping into the powerful forces contained in the field of physics known as quantum mechanics.