We're edging closer to quantum.
A team of scientists just experimentally proved the existence of a new kind of quasiparticle, which could bring us one substantial step closer to the metamaterials needed to run quantum computers, according to a recent study published in the journal Physical Review B.
We're not there yet, but using artificial matter like this could help fill in even more "theoretical gaps" for real-world quantum computers.
If we're going to build quantum computers, we'll likely do so with superconducting qubits. But the next-gen computer tech is highly affected by decoherence, which snubs the lifespan of qubits, leading to computational errors. Additionally, large qubit arrays are remarkably difficult to control. This is why metamaterial quantum simulators offer a unique perspective to researching and developing quantum computing, since they aren't needed in large quantities to exercise control of electronics. The metamaterial quantum simulator method involves creating artificial matter from qubits, and these synthetic ones still follow the same governing laws described in equations that real-life matter does. On the other hand, scientists can program the simulator such that a simulator may embody matter with novel properties that no one has ever seen in nature.
Superconducting qubit arrays are described by the Bose-Hubbard model, which presents bound boson pairs, also called doublons, and these are the result of strong quantum nonlinearity. "The topological physics of doublons has been extensively explored in a series of recent theoretical works," read a blog post on Russia's National University of Science and Technology (NUST) official website. "However, the experimental investigation of topological properties of bound photon pairs is still lacking." The team of scientists, stemming from NUST MISIS, the Russian Quantum Center, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, ITMO University, Dukhov Automatics Research Institute (VNIIA), and Ioffe Institute, together employed a superconducting array of qubits to design and build a quantum simulator.
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