Lifeboat Foundation

How can quantum information be stored as long as possible? An important step forward in the development of quantum memories has been achieved by a research team of TU Wien.

Conventional memories used in today’s computers only differentiate between the bit values 0 and 1. In quantum physics, however, arbitrary superpositions of these two states are possible. Most of the ideas for new quantum technology devices rely on this “Superposition Principle.” One of the main challenges in using such states is that they are usually short-lived. Only for a short period of time can information be read out of quantum memories reliably, after that it is irrecoverable.

A research team at TU Wien has now taken an important step forward in the development of new quantum storage concepts. In cooperation with the Japanese telecommunication giant NTT, the Viennese researchers lead by Johannes Majer are working on quantum memories based on nitrogen atoms and microwaves. The nitrogen atoms have slightly different properties, which quickly leads to the loss of the quantum state. By specifically changing a small portion of the atoms, one can bring the remaining atoms into a new quantum state, with a lifetime enhancement of more than a factor of ten. These results have now been published in the journal “Nature Photonics.”

Physicists at the University of Bath have developed a technique to more reliably produce single photons that can be imprinted with quantum information.

The invention will benefit a variety of processes which rely on photons to carry quantum information, such as quantum computing, secure quantum communication and precision measurements at low light levels.

Photons, particles of light, can be imprinted with information to be used for things like carrying out calculations and transmitting messages. To do this you need to create individual photons, which is a complicated and difficult process.

The mere mention of “quantum consciousness” makes most physicists cringe, as the phrase seems to evoke the vague, insipid musings of a New Age guru. But if a new hypothesis proves to be correct, quantum effects might indeed play some role in human cognition. Matthew Fisher, a physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, raised eyebrows late last year when he published a paper in Annals of Physics proposing that the nuclear spins of phosphorus atoms could serve as rudimentary “qubits” in the brain — which would essentially enable the brain to function like a quantum computer.

Isher’s hypothesis faces the same daunting obstacle that has plagued microtubules: a phenomenon called quantum decoherence. To build an operating quantum computer, you need to connect qubits — quantum bits of information — in a process called entanglement. But entangled qubits exist in a fragile state. They must be carefully shielded from any noise in the surrounding environment. Just one photon bumping into your qubit would be enough to make the entire system “decohere,” destroying the entanglement and wiping out the quantum properties of the system. It’s challenging enough to do quantum processing in a carefully controlled laboratory environment, never mind the warm, wet, complicated mess that is human biology, where maintaining coherence for sufficiently long periods of time is well nigh impossible.

Continue reading “Qubits in brain can make it a quantum computer?” »

Experiments with ultracold magnetic atoms reveal liquid-like quantum droplets that are 20 times larger than previously observed droplets.

Ultracold atoms can exhibit quantum behavior that mimics superfluids and superconductors. Tuning the atom-atom interactions can also reveal never-before-seen phases of matter. Following this approach, researchers working with magnetic atoms in a cigar-shaped trap have generated a single liquid-like macrodroplet, containing 20 times more atoms than in previously observed droplets. The experiment demonstrates that the stability of these droplets is due to quantum fluctuations.

When trapped atoms are cooled to near absolute zero, they form a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), in which their wave functions become coherent. The BEC is a macroscopic quantum object, but some of its quantum behaviors (such as quantum fluctuations) are difficult to observe because their effects are small compared to the mean-field interaction energy in this dilute system. For this reason, researchers are eager to reach parameter regimes where quantum fluctuations reveal themselves.

There is much to be learned from this process for other areas of technology.

Rethink electron microscopy to build quantum materials from scratch, urge Sergei V. Kalinin, Albina Borisevich and Stephen Jesse.

Quantum and Crystalize formations for data storage.

How can you store quantum information as long as possible? A team from the Vienna University of Technology is making an important step forward in the development of quantum storage.

The memory that we use today for our computers differs only between 0 and 1. However, quantum physics also allows arbitrary superimpositions of states. On this principle, the “superposition principle”, ideas for new quantum technologies are based. A key problem, however, is that such quantum-physical overlays are very short-lived. Only a tiny amount of time you can read the information from a quantum memory reliably, then it is irretrievably lost.

Continue reading “New Quantum States For Better Quantum Storage” »

Nice.

Kenji Ohmori (Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan) has collaborated with Matthias Weidemüller (University of Heidelberg), Guido Pupillo (University of Strasbourg), Claudiu Genes (University of Innsbruck) and their coworkers to develop the world’s fastest simulator that can simulate quantum mechanical dynamics of a large number of particles interacting with each other within one billionths of a second.

Quantum computing is heralded as the next revolution in terms of global computing. Google, Intel and IBM are just some of the big names investing millions currently in the field of quantum computing which will enable faster, more efficient computing required to power our future computing needs.

Now a researcher and his team at Tyndall National Institute in Cork have made a ‘quantum leap’ by developing a technical step that could enable the use of quantum computers sooner than expected.

Conventional digital computing uses ‘on-off’ switches, but quantum computing looks to harness quantum state of matters – such as entangled photons of light or multiple states of atoms – to encode information. In theory, this can lead to much faster and more powerful computer processing, but the technology to underpin quantum computing is currently difficult to develop at scale.

Continue reading “Tyndall Technology Lights the way for Quantum Computing” »

I told folks that we would find that crystalized formations is truly making a difference in the future of QC. There is so much more for us to learn how impactful the formations are in some many areas of communications and technology.

It does make one step back and ponder that perhaps we truly are connected in so many ways as John Wheeler has described many times.

Zinc selenide is a crystal in which atoms are precisely organized, and it is considered a well-known semiconductor material, conducive to introducing tellurium impurities, which can effectively trap positively-charged “holes.” Electron holes are not physical particles like negatively-charged electrons, but can be thought of as the absence of an electron in a particular place in an atom.

Continue reading “Creating Ultrafast Qubits In Zinc Selenide Crystal” »