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Category: quantum physics – Page 476

Quantum Mechanics Effect Appears To Prove We Are Not Living In A Simulation

From René Descartes to the Wachowskis (directors of the Matrix trilogy, amongst others) to Elon Musk, many have envisioned that our existence is just part of the scheme of a superior intelligence and our lives are merely part of a simulated reality. There’s obviously no evidence for it and there are actually many arguments against it, and now researchers think they have found a physical property that occurs in metals that cannot be simulated, telling us once and for all that our lives, good or bad, are actually real.

Quantum Supremacy

We’re hearing this week from two very different parts of the string theory community that quantum supremacy (quantum computers doing better than classical computers) is the answer to the challenges the subject has faced.

New Scientist has an article Quantum computers could simulate a black hole in the next decade which tells us that “Understanding the interactions between quantum physics and gravity within a black hole is one of the thorniest problems in physics, but quantum computers could soon offer an answer.” The article is about this preprint from Juan Maldacena which discusses numerical simulations in a version of the BFSS matrix model, a 1996 proposal for a definition of M-theory that never worked out. Maldacena points to this recent Monte-Carlo calculation, which claims to get results consistent with expectations from duality with supergravity.

Maldacena’s proposal is basically for a variant of the wormhole publicity stunt: he argues that if you have a large enough quantum computer, you can do a better calculation than the recent Monte-Carlo. In principle you could look for quasi-normal modes in the data, and then you would have created not a wormhole but a black hole and be doing “quantum gravity in the laboratory”.

Imperfection is not a problem for artificial synapses

Using a strategy that mimics the encoding of information in our brains, a trio of researchers in China has proposed a new platform for artificial intelligence (AI) that could be far more robust than existing architectures. The approach, which has yet to be implemented in the lab, exploits the inevitable non-uniformity of artificial neurons that are a result of defects in real magnetic materials.

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The research was done by Zhe Yuan, Ya Qiao and Yajun Zhang at the Center for Advanced Quantum Studies and Department of Physics at Beijing Normal University.

Beyond Moore’s Law: Innovations in solid-state physics include ultra-thin 2D materials and more

In the ceaseless pursuit of energy-efficient computing, new devices designed at UC Santa Barbara show promise for enhancements in information processing and data storage.

Researchers in the lab of Kaustav Banerjee, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, have published a new paper describing several of these devices, “Quantum-engineered devices based on 2D materials for next-generation information processing and storage,” in the journal Advanced Materials. Arnab Pal, who recently received his doctorate, is the lead author.

Each device is intended to address challenges associated with conventional computing in a new way. All four operate at very low voltages and are characterized as being low leakage, as opposed to the conventional metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) found in smartphones that drain power even when turned off. But because they are based on processing steps similar to those used to make MOSFETs, the new devices could be produced at scale using existing industry-standard manufacturing processes for semiconductors.

Turning Your Smartphone into a Quantum Sensor: The Power of OLEDs

UNSW Sydney researchers have developed a chip-scale method using OLEDs to image magnetic fields, potentially transforming smartphones into portable quantum sensors. The technique is more scalable and doesn’t require laser input, making the device smaller and mass-producible. The technology could be used in remote medical diagnostics and material defect identification.

Smartphones could one day become portable quantum sensors thanks to a new chip-scale approach that uses organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) to image magnetic fields.

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science at UNSW Sydney have demonstrated that OLEDs, a type of semiconductor material commonly found in flat-screen televisions, smartphone screens, and other digital displays, can be used to map magnetic fields using magnetic resonance.

Quantum Ghosts: Atoms Become Transparent to Certain Frequencies of Light

Researchers at Caltech have discovered a new phenomenon, “collectively induced transparency” (CIT), where light passes unimpeded through groups of atoms at certain frequencies. This finding could potentially improve quantum memory systems.

A newly discovered phenomenon dubbed “collectively induced transparency” (CIT) causes groups of atoms to abruptly stop reflecting light at specific frequencies.

CIT was discovered by confining ytterbium atoms inside an optical cavity—essentially, a tiny box for light—and blasting them with a laser. Although the laser’s light will bounce off the atoms up to a point, as the frequency of the light is adjusted, a transparency window appears in which the light simply passes through the cavity unimpeded.

Physicists identify new quantum state called “magic”

It was Arthur C. Clarke who famously said that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (although I’d argue that Jack Kirby and Jim Starlin rather perfected the idea). Now, a group of real-life scientists at the RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences in Japan have taken it a step further: by identifying a new quantum property to measure the weirdness of spacetime, and officially calling it “magic.” From the scientific paper “Probing chaos by magic monotones,” recently published in the journal Physical Review D:

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