Second of two parts (read part 1)
If you want to understand gravity, it makes sense to study black holes. Nowhere else can you find so much gravity so conveniently compacted into such a relatively small space.
In a way, in fact, black holes are nothing but gravity. As Einstein showed, gravity is just the warping of spacetime, and black holes are big spacetime sinks. All the matter falling in gets homogenized into nothingness, leaving behind nothing but warped spacetime geometry.
Quantum computing and networking company IonQ has delivered a data center-ready trapped-ion quantum computer to the uptownBasel innovation campus in Arlesheim, Switzerland.
The IonQ Forte Enterprise quantum computer is the first of its kind to operate outside the United States and Switzerland’s first quantum computer designed for commercial use.
According to IonQ, Forte Enterprise is now online, servicing compute jobs while performing at a record algorithmic qubit count of #AQ36. The number of algorithmic qubits (#AQ) is a tool for showing how useful a quantum computer is at solving real problems for users by summarizing its ability to run benchmark quantum algorithms often used for applications.
Anchored by next-generation IBM Quantum System Two in Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, new initiative will advance useful quantum applications as industries move towards quantum-centric supercomputing.
Researchers have developed a technique called “atomic spray painting” using molecular beam epitaxy to strain-tune potassium niobate, enhancing its ferroelectric properties.
This method allows precise manipulation of material properties, with potential applications in green technologies, quantum computing, and space exploration.
Material Strain Tuning
Posted in energy, mapping, quantum physics
After forty years, the creator of scar theory has observed the phenomenon in real time.
Quantum scarring is a phenomenon in which traveling electrons end up following the same repeating path.
Scars of Chaos: Visualizing Mysteries in Graphene Dots probabilities cluster along the paths of unstable orbits from their classical counterparts. These scars, while predicted, have remained elusive to direct observation—until now.
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Using an innovative combination of graphene dot fabrication and advanced wavefunction mapping via scanning tunneling microscopy, researchers captured stunning images of scars. Within stadium-shaped GQDs, they observed striking lemniscate (∞-shaped) and streak-like probability patterns. These features recur at equal energy intervals, aligning with theoretical predictions for relativistic scars—a fascinating blend of mechanics and relativity.
The researchers further confirmed that these patterns are connected to two specific unstable periodic orbits within the GQD, bridging the chaotic motion of classical systems with the world. Beyond providing the first visual proof of scarring, this work lays the foundation for exploring other exotic scar phenomena, such as those induced by perturbations, chirality, or antiscarring effects.
This sets the stage for new discoveries in [#mechanics](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/mechanics?__eep__=6&__cft__[0]=AZXPCRQF-knoMxWsHdGuAINl_hxSgWpjd9vUPszcDQDED9B4XtpXqPPhvcrED0NuOfXnWgthLMzgHmb5MWHbg6_KCiMiM3QaLJM2p6zXDiZd5oSUVWZeKR8qhHn2bevNFEnZj4T-bvc595A_jLYg-RLGWJOGrgLefEZI-7CDt6hSLX7CskI28RIoWnxvrZR2Xks&__tn__=*NK-R), [#chaos](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/chaos?__eep__=6&__cft__[0]=AZXPCRQF-knoMxWsHdGuAINl_hxSgWpjd9vUPszcDQDED9B4XtpXqPPhvcrED0NuOfXnWgthLMzgHmb5MWHbg6_KCiMiM3QaLJM2p6zXDiZd5oSUVWZeKR8qhHn2bevNFEnZj4T-bvc595A_jLYg-RLGWJOGrgLefEZI-7CDt6hSLX7CskI28RIoWnxvrZR2Xks&__tn__=*NK-R) theory, and material science, with potential applications ranging from technologies to our understanding of fundamental physical laws.
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Google’s latest quantum computer chip, which the team dubbed Willow, has ignited a heated debate in the scientific community over the existence of parallel universes.
Following an eye-opening achievement in computational problem-solving, claims have surfaced that the chip’s success aligns with the theory of a multiverse, a concept that suggests our universe is one of many coexisting in parallel dimensions. In this piece, we’ll examine both sides of this argument that seems to have opened up a parallel universe of its own — with one universe of scientists suggesting the Willow experiments offer evidence of a multiverse and the other suggesting it has nothing to do with the theory at all.
According to Google, Willow solved a computational problem in under five minutes — a task that would have taken the world’s fastest supercomputers approximately 10 septillion years. This staggering feat, announced in a blog post and accompanied by a study in the journal Nature, demonstrates the extraordinary potential of quantum computing to tackle problems once thought unsolvable within a human timeframe.
SpinMagIC, a spin-off from the University of Stuttgart that is developing a palm-sized quantum sensor, secured two years of funding.
Physicist Christian Schneider has been awarded a prestigious Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his groundbreaking research into two-dimensional materials and their optical properties. Schneider, a professor at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, will receive approximately two million euros in funding over the next five years to support his “Dual Twist” project.
This research focuses on a novel class of atomically thin materials and their remarkable properties, which hold significant promise for advancing optical technologies.
Together with his team, Schneider will develop experimental set-ups specially designed to study the unique properties of the materials under investigation using light, and pave the way for their application in novel quantum technologies. ERC Consolidator Grants aim to support excellent scientists conducting innovative research in Europe and help them to consolidate their scientific independence. Out of a total of 2,313 applications, the ERC has now selected 328 projects for funding, 67 of which are based in Germany.
Posted in computing, quantum physics
In the future we can envision FASQ* machines, Fault-Tolerant Application-Scale Quantum computers that can run a wide variety of useful applications, but that is still a rather distant goal. What term captures the path along the road from NISQ to FASQ? Various terms retaining the ISQ format of NISQ have been proposed[here, here, here], but I would prefer to leave ISQ behind as we move forward, so I’ll speak instead of a megaquop or gigaquop machine and so on meaning one capable of executing a million or a billion quantum operations, but with the understanding that mega means not precisely a million but somewhere in the vicinity of a million.
Naively, a megaquop machine would have an error rate per logical gate of order 10^{-6}, which we don’t expect to achieve anytime soon without using error correction and fault-tolerant operation. Or maybe the logical error rate could be somewhat larger, as we expect to be able to boost the simulable circuit volume using various error mitigation techniques in the megaquop era just as we do in the NISQ era. Importantly, the megaquop machine would be capable of achieving some tasks beyond the reach of classical, NISQ, or analog quantum devices, for example by executing circuits with of order 100 logical qubits and circuit depth of order 10,000.
- John Preskill.
[#excerpt](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/excerpt?__eep__=6&__cft__[0]=AZXa9ueYXttmfVEwzQ4GVekAZVQop7Zhgkor5jA_vB_hwHN4tj73lg-rThDgKBiPSpLhF7zjAlitfcoy74S8m0I2_VTeMl5LfR2Iy9fAsd5Y9hsrZvFvD0zaYNMgiSqjej22oVy1MJZdG12EXGSwzpMBCIeIJ52AotdeXkKOIklHyEUqwFUxAFf8GQfiarLm4odTgsHClmDYc7kUFL3A6AZ-&__tn__=*NK-R) transcript of his talk at the [#Q2B](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/q2b?__eep__=6&__cft__[0]=AZXa9ueYXttmfVEwzQ4GVekAZVQop7Zhgkor5jA_vB_hwHN4tj73lg-rThDgKBiPSpLhF7zjAlitfcoy74S8m0I2_VTeMl5LfR2Iy9fAsd5Y9hsrZvFvD0zaYNMgiSqjej22oVy1MJZdG12EXGSwzpMBCIeIJ52AotdeXkKOIklHyEUqwFUxAFf8GQfiarLm4odTgsHClmDYc7kUFL3A6AZ-&__tn__=*NK-R) Conference.
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