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Researchers from NYU discovered that classical computers could keep up with or even surpass quantum computers in certain circumstances. Classical computers can get a boost in speed and accuracy by adopting a new innovative algorithmic method, which could mean that they still have a future in a world of quantum computers.

Many experts believe that quantum computing is the future, and that we are veering away from classical computing, primarily because classical computers are significantly slower and weaker than their quantum-based counterparts. However, turns out that quantum computers are delicate and prone to information loss, and even if information is preserved it is difficult to convert it to classical information necessary for practical computation.

Earlier this week I went to a roundtable in London hosted by the UK government’s Office for Quantum to gather views from industry and academia about adapting the UK workforce to quantum technologies. The Quantum Skills Taskforce Workshop was co-hosted with techUK, a UK-based trade organization for the technology sector. Featuring 60 participants from academia and industry, the day featured lively discussion and debate about what the next decade has in store for the UK quantum sector.

All major economies around the world now seem to have their own quantum plan and the UK is no exception. In fact, the UK is onto its second National Quantum Strategy, which was launched in March 2023 by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Setting goals for the UK to become a “quantum-enabled economy” by 2033, it also established an Office for Quantum within the DSIT.

The advance will allow researchers to transform everyday materials into conductors for use in quantum computers. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and Los Alamos National Laboratory, publishing in the latest issue of Nature Communications, describe the discovery of a new method that transforms everyday materials like glass into materials scientists can use to make quantum computers.

“The materials we made are substances that exhibit unique electrical or quantum properties because of their specific atomic shapes or structures,” said Luis A. Jauregui, professor of physics & astronomy at UCI and lead author of the new paper.

“Imagine if we could transform glass, typically considered an insulating material, and convert it into efficient conductors akin to copper. That’s what we’ve done.”

Future quantum electronics will differ substantially from conventional electronics. Whereas memory in the latter is stored as binary digits, the former is stored as qubits, which can take many forms, such as entrapped electrons in nanostructures known as quantum dots. However, challenges in transmitting this information to anything further than the adjacent quantum dot have limited qubit design.

Now, in a study recently published in Physical Review Letters, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo are solving this problem, They developed a new technology for transmitting quantum information over perhaps tens to a hundred micrometers. This advance could improve the functionality of upcoming quantum electronics.

How can researchers transmit quantum information, from one quantum dot to another, on the same quantum computer chip? One way might be to convert electron (matter) information into light (electromagnetic wave) information—by generating light–matter hybrid states.

Lee Smolin joins TOE to discuss his work in theoretical physics, the dynamic nature of the laws of physics and the concept of time.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 — Intro.
00:04:13 — Doubly Special Relativity and Violation of Lorentz Invariance.
00:09:15 — The Concept of Thick Time.
00:19:11 — Duality Between String Theory and Loop Quantum Gravity.
00:23:50 — Condensed Matter Theory.
00:28:35 — Approximating by a Continuum and Discrete Sets.
00:34:11 — Misapprehensions about Loop Quantum Gravity.
00:38:43 — Defining Complexity and the View of the Universe by One Observer.
00:43:52 — Causal Energetic: The Relationship Between Varieties and Kinetic Energy.
00:48:38 — Varying Parameters in the Universe.
00:53:35 — The Bomes Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.
00:58:30 — Causality and Relativity.
01:03:15 — Different Styles in Mathematics and Chess.
01:07:55 — The Fundamental Questions in Biology.
01:12:49 — Marrying Outside Your Field.
01:18:04 — Discussion on Authors and Novels.
01:23:35 — Conversations with Fire Robin.
01:28:39 — Being Sincere and Ambitious.
01:33:39 — A Visit from BJ
01:38:34 — Outro.

Continue reading “Time and Quantum Mechanics SOLVED? | Lee Smolin” »

An international research group has identified a novel state of matter, characterized by the presence of a quantum phenomenon known as chiral current.

These currents are generated on an atomic scale by a cooperative movement of electrons, unlike conventional magnetic materials whose properties originate from the quantum characteristic of an electron known as spin and their ordering in the crystal.

Atomic clocks are a class of clocks that leverage resonance frequencies of atoms to keep time with high precision. While these clocks have become increasingly advanced and accurate over the years, existing versions might not best utilize the resources they rely on to keep time.

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology recently explored the possibility of using quantum computing techniques to further improve the performance of atomic clocks. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, introduces a new scheme that enables the simultaneous use of multiple atomic clocks to keep time with even greater precision.

“Atomic clocks are decades old, but their performance improves every year,” Adam Shaw, co-author of the paper, told Phys.org.

Devices that exhibit electrical resonance, have a nominally infinite number of quantum levels.

Over the past few decades, quantum physicists and engineers have been trying to develop new, reliable quantum communication systems. These systems could ultimately serve as a testbed to evaluate and advance communication protocols.

Researchers at the University of Chicago recently introduced a new quantum communication testbed with remote superconducting nodes and demonstrated bidirectional multiphoton communication on this testbed. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, could open a new route towards realizing the efficient communication of complex quantum states in superconducting circuits.

Continue reading “Researchers demonstrate multi-photon state transfer between remote superconducting nodes” »

GHZ states are crucial for pushing the boundaries of quantum physics and enhancing quantum computing and communication technologies. However, they become increasingly unstable as more qubits are entangled, with past experiments demonstrating the challenges of preserving their unique properties amidst minor disturbances. By employing a discrete time crystal, the team was able to construct a “safe house” to protect the GHZ state, achieving a less fragile configuration of 36 qubits, compared to the previously unstable larger state that included up to 60 qubits.

The application of microwave pulses to the qubits not only induced their quantum properties to oscillate and form a time crystal but also minimized disturbances that would typically disrupt the GHZ state. This could mark the first practical use of a discrete time crystal, according to Biao Huang, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.