Harvard scientists have developed a groundbreaking photon router that creates an optical interface between light signals and superconducting microwave qubits, potentially solving a major quantum computing challenge by enabling different quantum systems to communicate efficiently without bulky wires, thus bringing distributed, fiber-optic-based quantum computers closer to reality.
Researchers have achieved a major quantum computing breakthrough by using a 56-qubit quantum computer to generate certifiably random numbers verified by classical supercomputers, marking a shift from theoretical quantum advantage to practical application with significant implications for cryptography, security, and fairness.
Princeton physicists accidentally discovered and directly visualized Hofstadter’s butterfly—a theoretical fractal pattern of electron energy levels predicted in 1976—using scanning tunneling microscopy on twisted bilayer graphene, revealing not only the long-sought fractal energy spectrum but also new quantum phenomena driven by electron interactions beyond Hofstadter’s original calculations.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. has achieved the world’s first demonstration of quantum computational supremacy on a useful real-world problem, using their Advantage2 prototype quantum annealer to perform complex magnetic materials simulations in minutes that would take a classical supercomputer nearly one million years and consume more than the world’s annual electricity.
Researchers at China’s USTC have developed Zuchongzhi-3, a groundbreaking 105-qubit quantum computer that processes calculations 10^15 times faster than the most powerful supercomputers and one million times faster than Google’s latest quantum systems, marking a significant advancement in quantum supremacy.
Researchers report the synthesis of semiconductor ‘giant’ core-shell quantum dots with record-breaking emissive lifetimes. In addition, the lifetimes can be tuned by making a simple alteration to the material’s internal structure.
An extreme-scale nanoscope is beginning to collect data about how pulses of light at trillions of cycles per second can control supercurrents in materials. The instrument could one day help optimize superconducting quantum bits, which are at the heart of quantum computing, a new and developing technology.
Researchers have developed an integrated electro-optic modulator that can efficiently change the frequency and bandwidth of single photons. The device could be used for more advanced quantum computing and quantum networks.
Water that simply will not freeze, no matter how cold it gets — a research group has discovered a quantum state that could be described in this way. Experts have managed to cool a special material to near absolute zero temperature. They found that a central property of atoms — their alignment — did not ‘freeze’, as usual, but remained in a ‘liquid’ state. The new quantum material could serve as a model system to develop novel, highly sensitive quantum sensors.
Scientists have, for the first time, developed a quantum experiment that allows them to study the dynamics, or behavior, of a special kind of theoretical wormhole. The experiment has not created an actual wormhole (a rupture in space and time), rather it allows researchers to probe connections between theoretical wormholes and quantum physics, a prediction of so-called quantum gravity. Quantum gravity refers to a set of theories that seek to connect gravity with quantum physics, two fundamental and well-studied descriptions of nature that appear inherently incompatible with each other.
It’s easy to control the trajectory of a basketball: all we have to do is apply mechanical force coupled with human skill. But controlling the movement of quantum systems such as atoms and electrons is much more challenging, as these minuscule scraps of matter often fall prey to perturbations that knock them off their path in unpredictable ways. Movement within the system degrades — a process called damping — and noise from environmental effects such as temperature also disturbs its trajectory.
New research demonstrates a 20x improvement in resetting a quantum bit to its ‘0’ state, using a modern version of the ‘Maxwell’s demon’.
Researchers have successfully extended the quantum phase difference estimation algorithm, a general quantum algorithm for the direct calculations of energy gaps, to enable the direct calculation of energy differences between two different molecular geometries. This allows for the computation, based on the finite difference method, of energy derivatives with respect to nuclear coordinates in a single calculation.
Researchers have demonstrated a way to entangle atoms to create a network of atomic clocks and accelerometers. The method has resulted in greater precision in measuring time and acceleration.
Researchers have successfully demonstrated the transport of two-photon quantum states of light through a phase-separated Anderson localization optical fiber.
Physicists have experimentally demonstrated for the first time that there is a negative correlation between the two spins of an entangled pair of electrons from a superconductor.
Quantum computers promise significantly shorter computing times for complex problems. But there are still only a few quantum computers worldwide with a limited number of so-called qubits. However, quantum computer algorithms can already run on conventional servers that simulate a quantum computer. A team has succeeded in calculating the electron orbitals and their dynamic development using an example of a small molecule after a laser pulse excitation.
Researchers at Penn Engineering have created a chip that outstrips the security and robustness of existing quantum communications hardware. Their technology communicates in “qudits,” doubling the quantum information space of any previous on-chip laser.
NIST researchers created atom-sized quantum dot grids to study electron behavior in controlled environments, observing wave-like properties in closely-spaced configurations and localized behavior in distant arrangements, with potential applications for quantum simulation and the development of exotic materials that exceed the modeling capabilities of conventional supercomputers.
Researchers have discovered new waves with picometer-scale spatial variations of electromagnetic fields which can propagate in semiconductors like silicon.
A new study illustrates how substrates affect electronic interactions in 2D metal-organic frameworks. With electronic properties tuneable by electrical charge, mechanical strain, and hybridization, such structures can be ‘switched’ off and on, allowing potential applications in future energy-efficient electronics.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed highly efficient blue quantum dots using a novel bottom-up, self-organizing chemical approach, solving a critical challenge in display technology while requiring advanced “cinematic chemistry” imaging techniques to visualize the precisely structured 2.4-nanometer nanocrystals.
Australian scientists have developed a groundbreaking quantum microscope that uses atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride layers instead of traditional bulky crystals, enabling unprecedented imaging of electric currents, magnetic fields, and single molecules while simultaneously mapping temperature distributions under ambient conditions.
Researchers at the University of Groningen led by Professor Maria Antonietta Loi have successfully created a highly conductive optoelectronic metamaterial by developing a method for quantum dots to self-organize into a three-dimensional superlattice that maintains their unique optical characteristics while achieving unprecedented electron mobility.
Computing power of quantum machines is currently still very low. Increasing it is still proving to be a major challenge. Physicists now present a new architecture for a universal quantum computer that overcomes such limitations and could be the basis of the next generation of quantum computers soon.
A new way to combine two materials with special electrical properties — a monolayer superconductor and a topological insulator — provides the best platform to date to explore an unusual form of superconductivity called topological superconductivity. The combination could provide the basis for topological quantum computers that are more stable than their traditional counterparts.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed two hybrid quantum systems—an electron-superconducting circuit and an electron-ion coupled system—that successfully demonstrated control over trapped electrons’ temperature and movement, potentially solving key limitations in qubit stability for quantum computing.
A research team has developed an efficient method to measure high-dimensional qudits (advanced versions of qubits that can hold more information and are more noise-resistant) encoded in quantum frequency combs on a single optical chip, marking a significant advancement for quantum networks and communication systems.
A groundbreaking collaboration between the University of Michigan and the University of Regensburg has captured electron movement at the attosecond scale (one quintillionth of a second) using a novel two-pulse light system, potentially enabling quantum computing speeds up to a billion times faster than current capabilities while providing crucial insights into many-body physics.
Physicists have discovered how to switch topological states on and off in a strongly correlated metal using magnetic fields, a breakthrough made possible by the collective behavior of electrons that dramatically amplifies the material’s response to external magnetic fields and could enable new applications in quantum computing and sensor technology.