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Researchers from the University of Basel and the NCCR SPIN have achieved the first controllable interaction between two hole spin qubits in a conventional silicon transistor. The breakthrough, reported in Nature Physics (“Anisotropic exchange interaction of two-hole spin qubits”), opens up the possibility of integrating millions of these qubits on a single chip using mature manufacturing processes.

Two interacting hole-spin qubits: As a hole (magenta/yellow) tunnels from one site to the other, its spin rotates due to spin-orbit coupling, leading to anisotropic interactions represented by the surrounding bubbles. (Image: NCCR SPIN)

The race to build a practical quantum computer is well underway. Researchers around the world are working on a huge variety of qubit technologies. So far, there is no consensus on what type of qubit is most suitable for maximizing the potential of quantum information science.

A proposed experiment shows that quantum entanglement is not the only way to test whether gravity has a quantum nature.

Gravity is part of our everyday life. Still, the gravitational force remains mysterious: to this day we do not understand whether its ultimate nature is geometrical, as Einstein envisaged, or governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Until now, all experimental proposals to answer this question have relied on creating the quantum phenomenon of entanglement between heavy, macroscopic masses. But the heavier an object is, the more it tends to shed its quantum features and become ‘classical’, making it incredibly challenging to make a heavy mass behave as a quantum particle. In a study published in Physical Review X, researchers from Amsterdam and Ulm propose an experiment that circumvents these issues.

Classical or Quantum?

Scaling up quantum systems is essential for advancing quantum computing, as their benefits become more apparent with larger systems. Researchers at TU Darmstadt have made significant progress in achieving this goal. The results of their research have now been published in the prestigious journal Optica.

Quantum processors based on two-dimensional arrays of optical tweezers, which are created using focussed laser beams, are one of the most promising technologies for developing quantum computing and simulation that will enable highly beneficial applications in the future. A diverse range of applications from drug development through to optimizing traffic flows will benefit from this technology.

The advance offers a way to characterize a fundamental resource needed for quantum computing.

Entanglement is a form of correlation between quantum objects, such as particles at the atomic scale. This uniquely quantum phenomenon cannot be explained by the laws of classical physics, yet it is one of the properties that explains the macroscopic behavior of quantum systems.

Because entanglement is central to the way quantum systems work, understanding it better could give scientists a deeper sense of how information is stored and processed efficiently in such systems.

Researchers from the High Magnetic Field Center of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Science and Technology of China recently introduced the concept of the “Topological Kerr Effect” (TKE). This new concept was developed using the low-temperature magnetic field microscopy system and magnetic force microscopy imaging system available at the steady-state high magnetic field experimental facility.

The findings, published in Nature Physics, hold significant promise for advancing our understanding of topological magnetic structures.

TURKU, Finland — Beam me up, Scotty! In a study that seems straight out of a “Star Trek” episode, an international team of researchers has achieved a remarkable feat in the realm of quantum teleportation. They have successfully conducted near-perfect quantum teleportation despite the presence of noise that typically disrupts the transfer of quantum states.

Quantum teleportation is a process in which the state of a quantum particle, or qubit, is transferred from one location to another without physically sending the particle itself. This transfer requires quantum resources, such as entanglement between an additional pair of qubits.

Imagine you have a secret message written on a piece of paper. You want to send this message to someone far away without anyone else seeing it. In quantum teleportation, instead of physically sending the paper, you would make an exact copy of the message at the other location while the original message gets destroyed. This requires some special resources like entanglement, which is like a mysterious connection between two qubits.