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Quantum technologies operate by leveraging various quantum mechanical effects, including entanglement. Entanglement occurs when two or more particles share correlated states even if they are distant.

When two particles are spin entangled, the (i.e., spin) of one particle can influence that of its entangled partner. This would suggest that the energy of the second particle can be altered via a nonlocal correlation, without enabling faster-than-light communication.

Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Hefei National Laboratory recently carried out a study aimed at testing this theoretical prediction experimentally using two .

A research team led by Professor Sun Qing-Feng in collaboration with Professor He Lin’s research group from Beijing Normal University has achieved orbital hybridization in graphene-based artificial atoms for the first time.

Their study, titled “Orbital hybridization in graphene-based artificial atoms” has been published in Nature. The work marks a significant milestone in the field of quantum physics and , bridging the gap between artificial and real atomic behaviors.

Quantum dots, often called artificial atoms, can mimic but have not yet been used to simulate orbital hybridization, a crucial process in real atoms. While quantum dots have successfully demonstrated artificial bonding and antibonding states, their ability to replicate orbital hybridization remained unexplored.

A new type of time crystal could represent a breakthrough in quantum physics.

In a diamond zapped with lasers, physicists have created what they believe to be the first true example of a time quasicrystal – one in which patterns in time are structured, but do not repeat. It’s a fine distinction, but one that could help evolve quantum research and technology.

“They could store quantum memory over long periods of time, essentially like a quantum analog of RAM,” says physicist Chong Zu of Washington University in the US. “We’re a long way from that sort of technology. But creating a time quasicrystal is a crucial first step.”

Quantum computers, devices that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could outperform classical computers in some complex optimization and computational tasks. However, before these systems can be adopted on a large-scale, some technical challenges will need to be overcome.

One of these challenges is the effective connection of qubits, which operate at cryogenic temperatures, with external controllers that operate at higher temperatures. Existing methods to connect these components rely on coaxial cables or optical interconnects, both of which are not ideal as they introduce excessive heat and noise.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently set out to overcome the limitations of these approaches for connecting qubits and controllers, addressing common complaints about existing connecting cables. Their paper, published in Nature Electronics, introduces a new wireless terahertz (THz) cryogenic interconnect based on complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, which was found to minimize heat in while effectively transferring .

Quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems that would be impossible for the most powerful classical supercomputer to crack.

Just like a has separate yet interconnected components that must work together, such as a memory chip and a CPU on a motherboard, a quantum computer will need to communicate between multiple processors.

Current architectures used to interconnect superconducting quantum processors are “point-to-point” in connectivity, meaning they require a series of transfers between , with compounding error rates.

A study led by the University of Portsmouth has achieved unprecedented precision in detecting tiny shifts in light displacements at the nanoscale. This is relevant in the characterization of birefringent materials and in high-precision measurements of rotations.

The quantum sensing breakthrough is published in the journal Physical Review A, and has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of daily life, industry, and science.

Imagine two photons, massless particles of light, that are intertwined in a unique way, meaning their propagation is connected even when they are separated. When these photons pass through a device that splits the particles of light into two paths—known as a beam-splitter—they interfere with each other in special patterns. By analyzing these patterns, researchers have developed a highly precise method to detect even the tiniest initial spatial shifts between them.