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Newly discovered magnetism is a big boost for quantum computers
Until now, humanity has only known two forms of magnetism: ferromagnetism (the kind you see on your fridge) and antiferromagnetism (a sort of negative magnetism found in hard drives). However, MIT researchers just confirmed the existence of a third kind... and it could be the key to making quantum computing a practical reality. The team made and supercooled a crystal that exhibits a quantum spin liquid state, where the magnetic directions of each particle never line up. That odd behavior, in turn, leads to quantum entanglement (in which distant particles affect each other's magnetism) that would be ideal for computers.
Quantum computer revolves around just 5 atoms
It's no mean feat to find the factors of a very large number -- even a supercomputer can take years to find all the multipliers. However, MIT researchers have found a way to clear this massive hurdle. They've built a quantum computer that discovers number factors using just five atoms. Four of the atoms are turned into logic gates using laser pulses that put them into superpositions (where they maintain two different energy states at once), while the fifth atom stores and delivers answers. The result is a computer that not only calculates solutions much more efficiently than existing quantum systems, but scales relatively easily. Need to get the factors for a larger number? Introduce more atoms.
Scientists tie quantum materials into infinite knots
As if quantum physics isn't knotty enough, scientists have now figured how to tie quantum materials into literal knots. A team from Finland's Aalto University, in collaboration with Amherst College, made a very fancy sailor's hitch with a quantum gas called a Bose-Eisenstein condensate (BEC). The material only exists at near absolute zero temperatures, but the team managed to tie it into a donut-shaped mass of loops called a Hopf fibration. It's not just an amusing parlor trick -- tying quantum materials into complex shapes may accelerate the development of ultra-fast, stable quantum computers.
Google: We have proof that our quantum computer really works
Google announced a breakthrough in the field of quantum computing Wednesday. The company thinks it's found a quantum algorithm that solves problems 100 million times faster than conventional processes. If confirmed, this discovery could not only lead to iRobot-style artificial intelligence but also advance the US space program by light years.
Scientists use 'spooky action' to mail electron messages a mile
Researchers at Stanford University announced Tuesday that they had successfully leveraged the "spooky" interaction of entangled electrons to send a message between them over a span of 1.2 miles. This is by far the longest distance that scientists have managed to send entangled particles and provides the strongest evidence to date that quantum computing can have practical applications.
Scientists confirm a cornerstone of quantum computing
Quantum physics theory has an odd but fundamental quirk: atoms in a quantum state aren't supposed to move as long as you're measuring them. It sounds preposterous, but Cornell University researchers have just demonstrated that it's real. The team noticed that the atoms in an extremely cold cloud of Rubidium gas wouldn't move around as long as they were under observation. The more often scientists used a laser to measure the behavior, the less movement they saw. They had to either tone the laser down or turn it off entirely for the atoms to shuffle around freely.
Harvard creates a material that lets light go 'infinitely fast'
Researchers at Harvard University announced recently that they had successfully developed a means of manipulating light at the nanoscale, which could lead to photonic-based (rather than electronic) telecommunications. Think, ubiquitous fiber optics. The team reportedly developed an on-chip metamaterial made from silicon pillars embedded in polymer and wrapped in gold film that exhibits a refractive index of zero. In English, that means that the phase of light passing through this material can travel infinitely fast without violating the known laws of physics.
Google and NASA extend their D-Wave quantum computing contracts
D-Wave, a Canadian quantum computing firm, announced on Monday that a consortium between Google, NASA and the USRA (Universities Space Research Association) has agreed to extend its existing contract with the company for another seven years. This new agreement will see the existing 500-qubit D-Wave Two hardware remain at NASA Ames research center as well as install new quantum computers as they are invented. The Google-led consortium employs these computing platforms to study how the emerging technology could help develop AI and machine learning systems. NASA specifically uses the computer to generate better mission-control supports. [Image Credit: NASA]
Scientists shatter distance record for teleporting quantum data
Quantum teleportation, the act of reconstructing quantum data somewhere else, is impressive just by itself. However, scientists at the US' National Institute of Standards and Technology have managed to one-up that feat. They've broken the distance record for quantum teleportation by transferring the information from one photon to another across 63 miles of optical fiber. That may not sound like much, but it's an achievement just to beam that data in the first place -- 99 percent of photons would never make the complete trip. It was only possible thanks to newer detectors that could pick up the faint signal of the lone light particle.
NSA wants encryption that fends off quantum computing hacks
The National Security Agency isn't just yearning for quantum computers that can break tough encryption -- it wants encryption that can protect against quantum computers, too. Officials have begun planning a transition to "quantum resistant" encryption that can't be cracked as quickly as conventional algorithms. As the NSA explains, even a seemingly exotic technique like elliptic curve cryptography "is not the long term solution" people thought it was. Quantum computing is advancing quickly enough that the NSA and other organizations could find themselves extremely vulnerable if they're not completely ready when the technology becomes a practical reality.
Basics of quantum teleportation now fit on a single chip
Until now, quantum teleportation (that is, sending quantum data from one place to another) has required a room-filling machine. That's not going to usher in a brave new era of quantum computing, is it? However, a team of British and Japanese researchers has shrunk things down to a much more reasonable size. They've stuffed the core optical circuits for quantum teleportation into a single silicon chip that's just slightly longer than a penny -- in contrast, an experimental device from 2013 was nearly 14 feet long. While scientists built the chip using "state-of-the-art nano-fabrication," it should be more practical to make than its ancestors, which took months.
'Spooky' experiment proves quantum entanglement is real
Einstein was wrong -- about the quantum mechanical phenomena known as superpositioning and wave form collapse, at least. A team from Australia's Griffith University and Japan's University of Tokyo, have proven that both are tangible phenomena, not simply mathematical paradoxes. See, back when he was still reigning "smartest guy on the planet," Einstein just couldn't wrap his massive intellect around the theory of superpositioning (or as he called it, "spooky action across distance"). That is, a particle in superposition effectively exists in both places at once (not unlike Schroedinger's Cat) until you observe it at either location. At which time the particle you aren't looking at ceases to exist (a process known as wave function collapse). What's more, the disappearing particle seems to know that its twin has been discovered through some mechanism that happens instantly, literally traveling faster than the speed of light -- a clear violation of Einstein's theory of relativity.
Entangled photons on a chip could lead to super-fast computers
Photon entanglement is one of the odder properties of quantum physics, but it promises a lot for computing -- if one photon can instantly affect another no matter how far away it is, you could make super-speedy computers and communications that aren't easily limited by physical distances. It hasn't been easy to get entanglement tech down to a manageable size, however, and that's where Italy's Università degli Studi di Pavia might just come to the rescue. Its researchers have developed a tiny emitter that could pump out entangled photons as part of an otherwise ordinary silicon chip. The device, which uses a ring shape to both rope in and emit light, measures just 20 microns across. That's hundreds of times smaller than existing devices, which are comparatively gigantic at a few millimeters wide.
Google tests the performance limits of D-Wave's quantum computers
We've long known that D-Wave's quantum computers are specialized tools rather than Swiss Army Knives, but just how good are they at their intended tasks? Google has just conducted some benchmarking to find out, and the short answer is that these systems are very good -- but they have definite limits. A current-generation D-Wave 2 is about 35,500 times faster than a generalized problem-solving computer when both are running standard software. However, some of that advantage disappears when a general-purpose computer runs code that simulates quantum computing. While D-Wave's hardware is better at dealing with structured code, it runs neck-and-neck with the "fake" system when tackling random problems. Not that Google is feeling much in the way of buyer's remorse. It believes that further tests could see the D-Wave unit come out ahead, and future quantum machines should make it harder for conventional PCs to catch up.
NSA wants to make a quantum computer that cracks tough encryption
While the NSA can inflitrate many secure systems without breaking a sweat, there are still some encryption methods that it just can't crack. That may not be a problem in the long term, however. The Washington Post has published documents from Edward Snowden which reveal that the agency is researching a "cryptologically useful" quantum computer. The dramatically more powerful hardware could theoretically decode public encryption quickly enough to be useful for national defense; conventional PCs can take years, even when clustered together. That kind of decrypting power is potentially scary, but you won't need to worry about the privacy of your secure content just yet. It's not clear that the NSA is anywhere close to reaching its goal, and any success could eventually be thwarted by quantum-based encryption that's impossible to break by its very nature. Still, the leak is a friendly reminder that we shouldn't take existing security methods for granted.
World record setting experiment brings quantum computing a step closer to reality
Despite recent successes in the field, creating a quantum computer is really hard. For one thing quantum bits in a super positioned state (or qubits, the basic unit of data for quantum computing) have a hard time surviving at room temperature. Typically, these superposition states last for only a few seconds, but in a recent experiment at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby , researchers were able to keep a quantum system alive for a full 39 minutes. "These lifetimes are at least ten times longer than those measured in previous experiments," explained Stephanie Simmons from the University of Oxford's Department of Materials. "Having such robust, as well as long-lived, qubits could prove very helpful for anyone trying to build a quantum computer." Even so, they aren't particularly active ones - all of the qubits in the experiment shared the same quantum state. To perform actual calculations (and thus build a functioning quantum computer), a system would need to put multiple qubtis in different quantum states. Sound complicated? It sure is, but it's a significant step forward to building the ultrafast computing platforms of tomorrow. Eager to learn more? Check out the official press release at the source link below. [Image Credit: Stephanie Simmons, University of Oxford]
D-Wave's quantum computer overcomes key math challenge, doesn't silence skeptics
D-Wave has long wanted to show that its quantum computing technology is the real deal, and it may have just come closer to proving its case. The company now says that its computer has calculated Ramsey numbers, or solutions to optimization-based math problems that are sometimes difficult to find using traditional systems. The computation represented one of the biggest-ever implementations of an algorithm, according to researchers. However, the feat isn't necessarily proof of quantum computing at work. As Wired explains, we've seen all of these numbers in previous experiments; the challenge wasn't difficult enough to require the involvement of a quantum computer. However, D-Wave may have better evidence in the future. Its third-generation system, due in 2015, should have enough power to find Ramsay numbers that are theoretically impossible to calculate today.
Toshiba's quantum access networking promises spy-proof encryption for groups
Quantum cryptography is crack-proof by its nature -- you can't inspect data without changing it -- but the available technology is currently limited to one-on-one connections. Toshiba has developed a quantum access networking system that could bring this airtight security to groups as large as 64 people. The approach gives each client a (relatively) basic quantum transmitter, and routes encrypted data through a central, high-speed photon detector that returns decryption keys. Such a network would not only secure entire workgroups, but lower the cost of encrypting each user. Quantum access networks won't be useful across internet-scale distances until researchers improve the signal integrity, but there may be a time when surveillance agencies will run out of potential targets.
Alt-week 8.17.13: Fukushima's permafrost plan, the rodent afterlife and quantum teleportation
Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days. Two years on, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown is still causing problems, and the Japanese government is looking at a particularly cool way (literally) to address them. Similarly chilling is the prospect that 'dead' rats aren't quite as lifeless as you might think. Do rodents go to heaven? That, we can't answer, but what we can tell you is that new research shows we're edging ever closer to a quantum-computing future. This is alt-week.
USC finds that D-Wave's quantum computer is real, maybe
D-Wave has had little trouble lining up customers for its quantum computer, but questions have persisted as to whether or not the machine is performing quantum math in the first place. University of Southern California researchers have tested Lockheed Martin's unit to help settle that debate, and they believe that D-Wave's computer could be the real deal -- or rather, that it isn't obviously cheating. They've shown that the system isn't based on simulated annealing, which relies on traditional physics for number crunching. The device is at least "consistent" with true quantum annealing, although there's no proof that this is what's going on; it may be using other shortcuts. Whether or not D-Wave built a full-fledged quantum computer, the resulting output is credible enough that customers won't feel much in the way of buyer's remorse.