Alongside developing a quantum computer, one group of scientists is selling its components to other researchers.
Category: quantum physics – Page 570
Scientists create matter from nothing in groundbreaking experiment
We’ve probably all heard the phrase you can’t make something from nothing. But in reality, the physics of our universe isn’t that cut and dry. In fact, scientists have spent decades trying to force matter from absolutely nothing. And now, they’ve managed to prove that a theory first shared 70 years ago was correct, and we really can create matter out of absolutely nothing.
The universe is made up of several conservation laws. These laws govern energy, charge, momentum, and so on down the list. In the quest to fully understand these laws, scientists have spent decades trying to figure out how to create matter – a feat that is far more complex than it even sounds. We’ve previously turned matter invisible, but creating it out of nothing is another thing altogether.
There are many theories on how to create matter from nothing – especially as quantum physicists have tried to better understand the Big Bang and what could have caused it. We know that colliding two particles in empty space can sometimes cause additional particles to emerge. There are even theories that a strong enough electromagnetic field could create matter and antimatter out of nothing itself.
In a first, researchers capture fleeting ‘transition state’ in ring-shaped molecules excited by light
Using a high-speed “electron camera” at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and cutting-edge quantum simulations, scientists have directly imaged a photochemical “transition state,” a specific configuration of a molecule’s atoms determining the chemical outcome, during a ring-opening reaction in the molecule α-terpinene. This is the first time that scientists have precisely tracked molecular structure through a photochemical ring-opening reaction, triggered when light energy is absorbed by a substance’s molecules.
The results, published in Nature Communications, could further our understanding of similar reactions with vital roles in chemistry, such as the production of vitamin D in our bodies.
Transition states generally occur in chemical reactions which are triggered not by light but by heat. They are like a point of no return for molecules involved in a chemical reaction: As the molecules gain the energy needed to fuel the reaction, they rearrange themselves into a fleeting configuration before they complete their transformation into new molecules.
Fractons as information storage: Not yet tangible, but close
Excitations in solids can also be represented mathematically as quasiparticles; for example, lattice vibrations that increase with temperature can be well described as phonons. Mathematically, also quasiparticles can be described that have never been observed in a material before. If such “theoretical” quasiparticles have interesting talents, then it is worth taking a closer look. Take fractons, for example.
Fractons are fractions of spin excitations and are not allowed to possess kinetic energy. As a consequence, they are completely stationary and immobile. This makes fractons new candidates for perfectly secure information storage. Especially since they can be moved under special conditions, namely piggyback on another quasiparticle.
“Fractons have emerged from a mathematical extension of quantum electrodynamics, in which electric fields are treated not as vectors but as tensors—completely detached from real materials,” explains Prof. Dr. Johannes Reuther, theoretical physicist at the Freie Universität Berlin and at HZB.
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‘Fluxonium’ is the longest lasting superconducting qubit ever
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A fluxonium qubit can keep its most useful quantum properties for about 1.48 milliseconds, drastically longer than similar qubits currently favoured by the quantum computing industry.
Using nuclear spins neighboring a lanthanide atom to create Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger quantum states
Researchers have experimentally demonstrated a new quantum information storage protocol that can be used to create Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) quantum states. There is a great deal of interest in these complex entangled states because of their potential use in quantum sensing and quantum error correction applications.
Chun-Ju Wu from the California Institute of Technology will present this research at the Optica Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition, as a hybrid event June 18–22 in Denver, Colorado.
Quantum-based technologies store information in the form of qubits, the quantum equivalent of the binary bits used in classical computing. GHZ states take this a step further by entangling three or more qubits. This increased complexity can be used to store more information, thus boosting precision and performance in applications such as quantum sensing and networking.
Quantum scientists accurately measure power levels 1 trillion times lower than usual
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Scientists in Finland have developed a nanodevice that can measure the absolute power of microwave radiation down to the femtowatt level at ultra-low temperatures—a scale trillion times lower than routinely used in verifiable power measurements. The device has the potential to significantly advance microwave measurements in quantum technology.
Quantum science takes place mostly at ultra-low temperatures using devices called dilution refrigerators. The experiments also have to be done at tiny energy levels—down to the energy level of single photons or even less. Researchers have to measure these extremely low energy levels as accurately as possible, which means also accounting for heat—a persistent problem for quantum devices.
To measure heat in quantum experiments, scientists use a special type of thermometer called a bolometer. An exceptionally accurate bolometer was recently developed at Aalto University by a team led by Mikko Möttönen, associate professor of quantum technology at Aalto and VTT, but the device had more uncertainty than they had hoped for. Although it enabled them to observe the relative power level, they couldn’t determine the absolute amount of energy very accurately.