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Making a Traversable Wormhole with a Quantum Computer

Wormholes — wrinkles in the fabric of spacetime that connect two disparate locations — may seem like the stuff of science fiction. But whether or not they exist in reality, studying these hypothetical objects could be the key to making concrete the tantalizing link between information and matter that has bedeviled physicists for decades.

Surprisingly, a quantum computer is an ideal platform to investigate this connection. The trick is to use a correspondence called AdS/CFT, which establishes an equivalence between a theory that describes gravity and spacetime (and wormholes) in a fictional world with a special geometry (AdS) to a quantum theory that does not contain gravity at all (CFT).

In “Traversable wormhole dynamics on a quantum processor”, published in Nature today, we report on a collaboration with researchers at Caltech, Harvard, MIT, and Fermilab to simulate the CFT on the Google Sycamore processor. By studying this quantum theory on the processor, we are able to leverage the AdS/CFT correspondence to probe the dynamics of a quantum system equivalent to a wormhole in a model of gravity. The Google Sycamore processor is among the first to have the fidelity needed to carry out this experiment.

Engineers use quantum computing to develop transparent window coating that blocks heat, saves energy

Cooling accounts for about 15 percent of global energy consumption. Conventional clear windows allow the sun to heat up interior spaces, which energy-guzzling air-conditioners must then cool down. But what if a window could help cool the room, use no energy and preserve the view?

Tengfei Luo, the Dorini Family Professor of Energy Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and postdoctoral associate Seongmin Kim have devised a transparent coating for windows that does just that.

The coating, or transparent radiative cooler (TRC), allows to come in and keeps other heat-producing light out. The researchers estimate that this invention can reduce electric cooling costs by one-third in hot climates compared to conventional glass windows.

Is the brain a quantum computer? A remarkable pair of studies suggests so

Using modified MRI machines, physicists may have found quantum entanglement between the heart and brain If someone were to (theoretically) throw a wrench at your head, you might be able to catch it just in time to avoid a concussion. But how? Typically, for split-second reactions, we do not consciously decide to catch.

20 Times More Intense: New Material Will Help Improve Phone and Television Displays

Scientists have created, synthesized, and analyzed a new class of fluorophores, which are luminous chemical compounds. These are the new bullet systems based on cyanopyrazine. According to research, the inclusion of cyanogroup compounds in fluorophores considerably boosts the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). This indicates they can be utilized to develop new materials to improve the brightness of smartphone, computer, and television screens. The researchers’ findings were recently published in the journal Dyes and Pigments.

The research was led by Egor Verbitskiy, the director of the Postovsky Institute of Organic Synthesis Ural Branch of RAS and a member of the Laboratory of Medical Chemistry and Advanced Organic Materials at the Ural Federal University. He states that physicists were aware that introducing cyanogroups to fluorophores can enhance the OLEDs’ properties and overall efficiency.

New quantum computing feat is a modern twist on a 150-year-old thought experiment

A team of quantum engineers at UNSW Sydney has developed a method to reset a quantum computer—that is, to prepare a quantum bit in the ‘0’ state—with very high confidence, as needed for reliable quantum computations. The method is surprisingly simple: it is related to the old concept of ‘Maxwell’s demon’, an omniscient being that can separate a gas into hot and cold by watching the speed of the individual molecules.

“Here we used a much more modern ‘demon’—a fast digital voltmeter—to watch the temperature of an electron drawn at random from a warm pool of electrons. In doing so, we made it much colder than the pool it came from, and this corresponds to a high certainty of it being in the ‘0’ computational state,” says Professor Andrea Morello of UNSW, who led the team.

“Quantum computers are only useful if they can reach the final result with very low probability of errors. And one can have near-perfect quantum operations, but if the calculation started from the wrong code, the final result will be wrong too. Our digital ‘Maxwell’s demon’ gives us a 20x improvement in how accurately we can set the start of the computation.”

Engineers use quantum computing to develop transparent window coating that blocks heat

Cooling accounts for about 15 percent of global energy consumption. Conventional clear windows allow the sun to heat up interior spaces, which energy-guzzling air-conditioners must then cool down. But what if a window could help cool the room, use no energy and preserve the view?

Tengfei Luo, the Dorini Family Professor of Energy Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and postdoctoral associate Seongmin Kim have devised a transparent coating for windows that does just that (ACS Energy Letters, “High-Performance Transparent Radiative Cooler Designed by Quantum Computing”).

The coating, or transparent radiative cooler (TRC), allows visible light to come in and keeps other heat-producing light out. The researchers estimate that this invention can reduce electric cooling costs by one-third in hot climates compared to conventional glass windows.

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