Developing technology that allows quantum information to be both stable and accessible is a critical challenge in the development of useful quantum computers that operate at scale. Research published in the journal Nature provides a pathway for scaling the number of quantum transistors (known as qubits) on a chip from current numbers under 100 to the millions needed to make quantum computation a practical reality. The result is enabled by new cryogenic control electronics that operate at close to absolute zero, developed at the University of Sydney.

Lead researcher Professor David Reilly from the University of Sydney Nano Institute and School of Physics said, “This will take us from the realm of quantum computers being fascinating laboratory machines to the stage where we can start discovering the real-world problems that these devices can solve for humanity.”

The paper is the result of industry cooperation between the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales through the respective quantum tech spin-out companies Emergence Quantum and Diraq. Professor Reilly’s company, Emergence Quantum, was established this year to commercialize quantum control technologies and other advanced electronics like the chip presented in this Nature paper.

Dark matter, although not visible, is believed to make up most of the total mass of the universe. One theory suggests that ultralight dark matter behaves like a continuous wave, which could exert rhythmic forces that are detectable only with ultra-sensitive quantum instrumentation.

New research published in Physical Review Letters and led by Rice University physicist Christopher Tunnell and postdoctoral researcher Dorian Amaral, the study’s first author and lead analyst, sees the first direct search for ultralight dark matter using a magnetically levitated particle.

In collaboration with physicists from Leiden University, the team suspended a microscopic neodymium magnet inside a superconducting enclosure cooled to near absolute zero. The setup was designed to detect subtle oscillations believed to be caused by dark matter waves moving through Earth.

Landauer’s principle is a thermodynamics concept also relevant in information theory, which states that erasing one bit of information from an information system results in the dissipation of at least a specific amount (i.e., k_BTln2) of energy. This principle has so far been primarily considered in the context of classical computers and information processing systems.

Yet researchers at TU Vienna, the Freie Universität Berlin, the University of British Columbia, the University of Crete and the Università di Pavia recently extended Landauer’s principle to quantum many-body systems, systems made up of many interacting quantum particles.

Their paper, published in Nature Physics, introduces a viable approach to experimentally probe this crucial principle in a quantum regime and test theoretical predictions rooted in quantum thermodynamics.

Caltech professor of chemistry Sandeep Sharma and colleagues from IBM and the RIKEN Center for Computational Science in Japan are giving us a glimpse of the future of computing. The team has used quantum computing in combination with classical distributed computing to attack a notably challenging problem in quantum chemistry: determining the electronic energy levels of a relatively complex molecule.

The work demonstrates the promise of such a quantum–classical hybrid approach for advancing not only quantum chemistry, but also fields such as materials science, nanotechnology, and drug discovery, where insight into the electronic fingerprint of materials can reveal how they will behave.

“We have shown that you can take classical algorithms that run on high-performance classical computers and combine them with quantum algorithms that run on quantum computers to get useful chemical results,” says Sharma, a new member of the Caltech faculty whose work focuses on developing algorithms to study quantum chemical systems. “We call this quantum-centric supercomputing.”

For over a decade, researchers have considered boson sampling—a quantum computing protocol involving light particles—as a key milestone toward demonstrating the advantages of quantum methods over classical computing. But while previous experiments showed that boson sampling is hard to simulate with classical computers, practical uses have remained out of reach.

Now, in Optica Quantum, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) present the first practical application of boson sampling for image recognition, a vital task across many fields, from forensic science to medical diagnostics. Their approach uses just three photons and a linear optical network, marking a significant step towards low energy quantum AI systems.

Quantum computers can solve extraordinarily complex problems, unlocking new possibilities in fields such as drug development, encryption, AI, and logistics. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a highly efficient amplifier that activates only when reading information from qubits. The study was published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

Thanks to its smart design, it consumes just one-tenth of the power consumed by the best amplifiers available today. This reduces qubit decoherence and lays the foundation for more powerful quantum computers with significantly more qubits and enhanced performance.

Bits, which are the building blocks of a conventional computer, can only ever have the value of 1 or 0. By contrast, the common building blocks of a quantum computer, quantum bits or qubits, can exist in states having the value 1 and 0 simultaneously, as well as all states in between in any combination.

IN A NUTSHELL MIT researchers have developed a superconducting diode-based rectifier that converts AC to DC on a single chip. This innovation could streamline power delivery in ultra-cold quantum systems, reducing electromagnetic noise and interference. The technology is crucial for enhancing qubit stability and could significantly impact dark matter detection circuits at

Quantum computers have been hyped as machines that can solve almost any problem. Yet it is becoming clearer that their near-term utility will be narrower

For over 100 years, two theories have shaped our understanding of the universe: quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general relativity. One explains the tiny world of particles; the other describes gravity and the fabric of space. But despite their individual success, bringing them together has remained one of science’s greatest unsolved problems.

Now, a team of researchers at University College London has introduced a bold new idea. Rather than tweaking Einstein’s theory to fit into quantum rules, they suggest flipping the script. Their model, called a “postquantum theory of classical gravity,” aims to rethink the deep link between gravity and the quantum world.

Quantum mechanics thrives on probabilities, uncertainty, and the strange behavior of subatomic particles. It’s helped explain the structure of atoms and power modern technology. Meanwhile, general relativity offers a grand view of the universe, where planets and stars bend spacetime and create what we feel as gravity.

A concept based on an exotic effect in periodic structures may be useful for developing future photonic devices.

A new way to marshal light within optical devices has been demonstrated experimentally by researchers in China. They have been able to induce light to organize itself into specific patterns of pulses as it circulates within a pair of optical fiber loops using a version of a phenomenon—called the non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE)—that has been predicted but not observed previously [1]. The effect could be used to control light signals in photonic devices such as switches and routers.

In the standard theory for electron behavior in a metallic crystal, the periodic atomic structure leads to so-called Bloch waves—electron quantum states that spread across the entire crystal. But in recent years, theorists have found surprising results for a scenario in which one assumes that a particle such as an electron hops between neighboring sites in a periodic lattice asymmetrically—say, rightward hopping is more probable than leftward hopping. The particle’s quantum states become localized at the edge or surface of the lattice rather than spreading across it. This localization is the NHSE.