Lifeboat Foundation

While the idea of a quantum internet has a huge amount of potential, getting it hooked up to the regular old internet has its challenges.

Now a new study hints at how existing and future networks could be combined.

An experiment conducted by researchers from Leibniz University Hannover in Germany show how quantum information and the classic 1s and 0s of conventional data could be beamed down the same optical fiber.

Quantum magnets are materials that realize a quantum superposition of magnetic states, bringing quantum phenomena from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale. These materials feature exotic quantum excitations–including fractional excitations where electrons behave as if they were split into many parts–that do not exist anywhere outside of this material.

To manipulate how the atoms behaved inside the quantum material the researchers had assembled, they poked each individual atom with a tiny needle. This technique allows for the accurate probing of qubits at the atomic level. The needle, in reality an atomically sharp metal tip, served to excite the atoms’ local magnetic moment, which resulted in topological excitations with enhanced coherence.

“Topological quantum excitations, such as those realized in the topological quantum magnet we now built, can feature substantial protection against decoherence. Ultimately, the protection offered by these exotic excitations can help us overcome some of the most pressing challenges of currently available qubits,” Lado says.

In the development of particle physics, researchers have introduced an innovative particle encoding mechanism that promises to improve how information in particle physics is digitally registered and analyzed. This new method, focusing on the quantum properties of constituent quarks, offers unprecedented scalability and precision. It paves the way for significant advancements in high-energy experiments and simulations.

Researchers have developed a technique to trap light within an organic material, forming a hybrid quantum state that gives rise to novel physical and chemical properties.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Ottawa has gone back to the kitchen cupboard to create a recipe that combines organic material and light to create quantum states.

Professor Jean-Michel Ménard, leader of the Ultrafast Terahertz Spectroscopy group at the Faculty of Science, coordinated with Dr. Claudiu Genes at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (Germany), and with Iridian Spectral Technologies (Ottawa) to design a device which can efficiently modify properties of materials using the quantum superposition with light.

A recent study led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers provides fundamental insight into how light, electrons, and crystal vibrations interact in materials. The research has implications for developing on-chip architectures for quantum information processing, significantly reducing fabrication constraints, and thermal management.

Researchers have engineered a new technique to trap ions in 3D structures using modified electric fields in Penning traps, forming stable bilayer crystals.

This innovation paves the way for more complex quantum devices and could revolutionize quantum computing and sensing by utilizing space more efficiently.

Quantum Device Challenges

India has edged past the United Kingdom by delivering more cutting-edge critical technology research during the period between 2019 and 2023, data published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Wednesday (August 28) showed.

The institute updated its critical technology tracker this week by focusing on high-impact research or 10 per cent of the most highly cited papers, as a “leading indicator of a country’s research performance, strategic intent, and potential future science and technology capability”

The tracker covers 64 critical technologies and crucial fields spanning defence, space, energy, the environment, artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, robotics, cyber, computing, advanced materials, and key quantum technology areas.

A unique quantum effect in biology could be the key to understanding a common marker of Alzheimer’s, raising questions about current assumptions of the disease and informing the search for a cure.

In February, four computer scientists set out to develop an algorithm for simulating quantum systems.

While devising a new quantum algorithm, four researchers accidentally established a hard limit on the “spooky” phenomenon.