quantumspinliquid
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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.
MIT demos new form of magnetism that could lead to quantum communication, storage
It's not often that researchers can verify a discovery that could change how we approach basic principles of technology, not just build on what we know. Nonetheless, MIT might have accomplished just such a feat in demonstrating a new state of magnetism. They've shown that a synthetically grown sample of herbertsmithite crystal (what you see above) behaves as a quantum spin liquid: a material where fractional quantum states produce a liquid-like flux in magnetic orientations, even if the material is solid. The behavior could let communications and storage take advantage of quantum entanglement, where particles can affect each other despite relatively long distances. MIT warns us that there's a wide gap between showing quantum spin liquids in action and developing a complete theory that makes them useful; we're not about to see Mass Effect's quantum entanglement communicator, if it's even possible. To us, realizing that there may be a wholly untapped resource is enough reward for now.
