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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.

Any technology with the word “quantum” in the name is by nature impossible for lay people to understand and even difficult for scientists to get their arms fully around. However, though its workings are mysterious, quantum science offers very useful everyday tools.

There has been a race for quantum computing for years. Part of the reason is that these devices will leave today’s computers in the dust. The other element is that planners see that current computing technology is reaching its growth limits. Quantum computing is the key to the future to them, not science fiction.

Microsoft, which Computerworld says has been researching quantum computing for more than a decade, is expanding its quantum computing efforts. It has put Todd Holmdahl, one of the people involved in the development of Kinect, HoloLens and Xbox, in charge of developing quantum hardware and software. It’s also hired professors from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands; the University of Copenhagen; ETH Zurich and University of Sydney in Australia.

Scientists are manipulating light with quantum dots advancing into quantum based light technology.

DAILY VIDEO: Microsoft Starts Quantum Computer Development Program; Cerber Ransomware Expands Database Encryption Attacks; IBM Debuts Watson Internet of Things Services Practice; and there’s more.

Today’s topics include Microsoft’s plan to build a Quantum computer, Trend Micro’s find that the Cerber malware is seeking out database files to encrypt and hold for ransom, IBM’s new Watson internet of things services for the automotive, electronics and insurance industries, and the release of the Microsoft Office Online Server update.

Microsoft is on a mission to build a quantum computer, and the company has appointed Todd Holmdahl to manage the project. Holmdahl is the corporate vice president of Microsoft Quantum, a unit dedicated to turning the company’s quantum computing research into real-world products.

Continue reading “Microsoft Sets Sights on Building Practical Quantum Computer” »

How does one prevent hacking from a QC system? Easy, on board to QC first before others do.

Quantum computers have the potential to perform calculations faster than ever possible before, inviting a significant rethink in how we approach cyber security.

Given the amount of research being ploughed into this area, we are likely to see a commercially viable machine in the near future, so cryptographers and the cyber security industry in general should work to have a clear view on the implications way ahead of that achievement.

Continue reading “How will quantum computing impact security processes?” »

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?” »

Microsoft is accelerating its efforts to make a quantum computer as it looks to a future of computing beyond today’s PCs and servers.

Microsoft has researched quantum computing for more than a decade. Now the company’s goal is to put the theory to work and create actual hardware and software.

To that effect, Microsoft has put Todd Holmdahl—who was involved in the development of Kinect, HoloLens, and Xbox—to lead the effort to create quantum hardware and software. The company has also hired four prominent university professors to contribute to the company’s research.

Continue reading “Microsoft ‘doubles down’ on quantum computing hardware focus” »

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.

Physicists split and twirled light to generate the most entangled photons to date. Cathal O’Connell reports.