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Category: quantum physics – Page 439

A new strategy for making and manipulating higher-temperature superconductors

Superconductors have intrigued physicists for decades. But these materials, which allow the perfect, lossless flow of electrons, usually only exhibit this quantum-mechanical peculiarity at temperatures so low—a few degrees above absolute zero—as to render them impractical.

A research team led by Harvard Professor of Physics and Applied Physics Philip Kim has demonstrated a new strategy for making and manipulating a widely studied class of higher-temperature superconductors called cuprates, clearing a path to engineering new, unusual forms of superconductivity in previously unattainable materials.

Using a uniquely low-temperature device fabrication method, Kim and his team report in the journal Science a promising candidate for the world’s first high-temperature, superconducting diode—essentially, a switch that makes current flow in one direction—made out of thin crystals.

IBM’s Quantum System Two will help it unlock the ‘full power of quantum computing’

“Even now, quantum systems can serve as scientific tools,” Oliver Dial, IBM Quantum CTO told IE in an interview. Quantum utility might already be here, but will we soon see a company achieve quantum advantage?

But what exactly does that mean?

Oliver Dial, IBM Fellow and CTO, IBM Quantum walked us through some of these updates. In doing so, he highlighted the fact that “even now, quantum systems can serve as scientific tools to explore utility-scale classes of problems in chemistry, physics, and materials beyond brute force classical simulation of quantum mechanics.”

Quantum-inspired tech teleports data with light, like ‘Star Trek’

“Now, it is possible to teleport information so that it never physically travels across the connection — a “Star Trek” technology made real,” said researcher.

Scientists have been making discoveries in the quantum computing realm. In another leap, researchers successfully deployed the principles of quantum physics and transported information in the form of light patterns without physically moving the image itself.

According to a statement by the researchers, scientists demonstrated the quantum transport of the highest dimensionality of information to date. Particularly highlighting, the use of a teleportation-inspired configuration so that the information does not physically travel between the two communicating parties.

Entangling photons and nonlinear optical detector

Researchers used a special method that involved entangled photons and a nonlinear optical detector.

New technique could make modeling molecules much easier

Much like the humans that created them, computers find physics hard, but quantum mechanics even harder. But a new technique created by three University of Chicago scientists allows computers to simulate certain challenging quantum mechanical effects in complex electronic materials with far less effort.

By making these simulations more accurate and efficient, the scientists hope the technique could help discover new molecules and materials, such as new types of solar cells or quantum computers.

“This advance holds immense potential for furthering our understanding of molecular phenomena, with significant implications for chemistry, , and related fields,” said scientist Daniel Gibney, a University of Chicago Ph.D. student in chemistry and first author on the paper, published Dec. 14 in Physical Review Letters.

IBM demonstrates useful Quantum computing within 133-qubit Heron, announces entry into Quantum-centric supercomputing era

At its Quantum Summit 2023, IBM took the stage with an interesting spirit: one of almost awe at having things go their way. But the quantum of today – the one that’s changing IBM’s roadmap so deeply on the back of breakthroughs upon breakthroughs – was hard enough to consolidate. As IBM sees it, the future of quantum computing will hardly be more permissive, and further improvements to the cutting-edge devices it announced at the event, the 133-qubit Heron Quantum Processing Unit (QPU), which is the company’s first utility-scale quantum processor, and the self-contained Quantum System Two, a quantum-specific supercomputing architecture, are ultimately required.

But each breakthrough that afterward becomes obsolete is another accelerational bump against what we might call quantum’s “plateau of understanding.” We’ve already been through this plateau with semiconductors, so much so that our latest CPUs and GPUs are reaching practical, fundamental design limits where quantum effects start ruining our math. Conquering the plateau means that utility and understanding are now enough for research and development to be somewhat self-sustainable – at least for a Moore’s-law-esque while.

IBM’s Juan Bernabé-Moreno: ‘Understanding nature using traditional computers is impossible’

Juan Bernabé-Moreno is IBM’s director of research for Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Spanish computer scientist is also responsible for IBM’s climate and sustainability strategy, which is being developed by seven global laboratories using artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. He believes quantum computing is better suited to understanding nature and matter than classical or traditional computers.

Question. Is artificial intelligence a threat to humanity?

Answer. Artificial intelligence can be used to cause harm, but it’s crucial to distinguish between intentional and malicious use of AI, and unintended behavior due to lack of data control or governance rigor.

Study: Physicists create giant trilobite Rydberg molecules

Kaiserslautern physicists in the team of Professor Dr. Herwig Ott have succeeded for the first time in directly observing pure trilobite Rydberg molecules. Particularly interesting is that these molecules have a very peculiar shape, which is reminiscent of trilobite fossils. They also have the largest electric dipole moments of any molecule known so far.

The researchers used a dedicated apparatus that is capable of preparing these fragile at ultralow temperatures. The results reveal their chemical binding mechanisms, which are distinct from all other chemical bonds. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

For their experiment, the physicists used a cloud of rubidium that was cooled down in an to about 100 microkelvin—0.0001 degrees above absolute zero. Subsequently, they excited some of these atoms into a so-called Rydberg state using lasers. “In this process, the outermost electron in each case is brought into far-away orbits around the atomic body,” explains Professor Herwig Ott, who researches ultracold quantum gases and quantum atom optics at University of Kaiserslautern-Landau.

‘Teleporting’ images across a network securely using only light

Nature Communications published research by an international team from Wits and ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences, which demonstrates the teleportation-like transport of “patterns” of light—this is the first approach that can transport images across a network without physically sending the image and a crucial step towards realizing a quantum network for high-dimensional entangled states.

Quantum communication over long distances is integral to and has been demonstrated with two-dimensional states (qubits) over very long distances between satellites. This may seem enough if we compare it with its classical counterpart, i.e., sending bits that can be encoded in 1s (signal) and 0s (no signal), one at a time.

However, quantum optics allow us to increase the alphabet and to securely describe more in a single shot, such as a unique fingerprint or a face.

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