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Do you want to know whether a very large integer is a prime number or not? Or if it is a “lucky number”? A new study by SISSA, carried out in collaboration with the University of Trieste and the University of Saint Andrews, suggests an innovative method that could help answer such questions through physics, using some sort of “quantum abacus.”

By combining theoretical and experimental work, scientists were able to reproduce a quantum potential with energy levels corresponding to the first 15 prime numbers and the first 10 lucky numbers using holographic laser techniques. This result, published in PNAS Nexus, opens the door to obtaining potentials with finite sequences of integers as arbitrary quantum energies, and to addressing mathematical questions related to number theory with quantum mechanical experiments.

“Every physical system is characterized by a certain set of energy levels, which basically make up its ID,” explains Giuseppe Mussardo, theoretical physicist at SISSA—International School for Advanced Studies. “In this work, we have reversed this line of reasoning: is it possible—starting from an arithmetic sequence, for example that of prime numbers—to obtain a quantum system with those very numbers as energy levels?”

Physicists using advanced muon spin spectroscopy at Paul Scherrer Institute PSI found the missing link between their recent breakthrough in a kagome metal and unconventional superconductivity. The team uncovered an unconventional superconductivity that can be tuned with pressure, giving exciting potential for engineering quantum materials.

A year ago, a group of physicists led by PSI detected evidence of an unusual collective electron behavior in a kagome metal, known as time-reversal symmetry-breaking charge order—a discovery that was published in Nature.

Although this type of behavior can hint towards the highly desirable trait of unconventional superconductivity, actual evidence that the material exhibited unconventional superconductivity was lacking. Now, in a new study published in Nature Communications, the team have provided key evidence to make the link between the unusual charge order they observed and unconventional superconductivity.

Trapped ions have previously only been entangled in one and the same laboratory. Now, teams led by Tracy Northup and Ben Lanyon from the University of Innsbruck have entangled two ions over a distance of 230 meters.

The nodes of this network were housed in two labs at the Campus Technik to the west of Innsbruck, Austria. The experiment shows that trapped ions are a promising platform for future quantum networks that span cities and eventually continents.

Trapped ions are one of the leading systems to build quantum computers and other quantum technologies. To link multiple such quantum systems, interfaces are needed through which the quantum information can be transmitted.

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Written by Joseph Conlon.
Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford.
Author, Why String Theory? https://www.amazon.com/Why-String-Theory-Joseph-Conlon/dp/14…atfound-20
Edited and Narrated by David Kelly.
Thumbnail Art by Ettore Mazza.
Animations by Jero Squartini https://fiverr.com/freelancers/jerosq.
Huge thanks to Jeff Bryant for his Calabi-yau animation.

Continue reading “Have We Really Found The Theory Of Everything?” »

Weirdness of quantum entanglement is explained by hidden variables? If so, we have never found them.

The big bang theory explains the beginning of our universe. But could the entirety of our universe be inside a black hole?
Theoretical physicist Brian Greene explains this bizarre hypothesis in cosmology.

The idea that our universe may be entirely contained within a black hole is a mind-bending concept that has been explored by physicists for decades.

Continue reading “Brian Greene — Did The Universe Emerge Inside a Black Hole?” »

Physicists have invented a new type of analog quantum computer that can tackle hard physics problems that the most powerful digital supercomputers cannot solve.

New research published in Nature Physics by collaborating scientists from Stanford University in the U.S. and University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland has shown that a novel type of highly-specialized analog computer, whose circuits feature quantum components, can solve problems from the cutting edge of quantum physics that were previously beyond reach. When scaled up, such devices may be able to shed light on some of the most important unsolved problems in physics.

For example, scientists and engineers have long wanted to gain a better understanding of superconductivity, because existing superconducting materials —such as those used in MRI machines, high speed train and long-distance energy-efficient power networks—currently operate only at extremely low temperatures, limiting their wider use. The holy grail of materials science is to find materials that are superconducting at room temperature, which would revolutionize their use in a host of technologies.

As the field of Quantum Computing continues to grow, the need for University and advanced educated individuals to make up the Quantum Computing workforce has grown as well. Below is a list of Master’s Degree Programs in the Quantum Computing Field offered by Universities around the world, featuring programs that range from onsite to online, and from one to two years in duration.

University College London (UCL)

UCL offers an MSc. degree in Quantum Technologies, with a robust curriculum that features compulsory modules in Advanced Quantum Theory, Quantum Computation and Communication, Quantum Technologies, and an Individual Research Project, among other non-compulsory optional modules. Optional modules include Astronomical Spectroscopy, Materials and Energy Materials, Physics of the Earth, Physics of Advanced Materials, Theoretical Condensed Matter, Advanced Topics in Statistical Mechanics, and more.

For the first time, physicists have achieved quantum mechanical entanglement of two stable light sources.

Called “spooky action at a distance” by Einstein, quantum entanglement is a seemingly magical phenomenon. Entangled particles, for example light particles called “photons”, share a physical state. Changes to the physical state of one particle in an entangled pair instantaneously causes the same change to occur in its partner – no matter how far apart they are separated.

While quantum mechanical theory is clear on the existence of this effect in the universe, creating entangled pairs of particles is no trivial feat.