entangled dot cloud

MIT engineers develop a magnetic transistor for more energy-efficient electronics

Transistors, the building blocks of modern electronics, are typically made of silicon. Because it’s a semiconductor, this material can control the flow of electricity in a circuit. But silicon has fundamental physical limits that restrict how compact and energy-efficient a transistor can be.MIT researchers have now replaced silicon with a magnetic semiconductor, creating a magnetic transistor that could enable smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient circuits. The material’s magnetism strongly

Show HN: Net worth tracker to replace your spreadsheet, E2E, no bank logins

I started tracking my net worth when I started working in 2019 and I used a spreadsheet for that. But, having accounts in multiple currencies and updating it every month got old. I wanted to look at the numbers on my phone in a queue, but ended up rebuilding formulas at my laptop every month. Also, I didn't want to hand my bank logins to a third-party aggregator to get there. So I built the tool I've always wanted: without bank connections, syncing the same dashboard on every device, a

Quantum waves reveal one-sided motion marking elusive critical states

Sound waves, light waves and other types of waves, generally spread freely through space and over time. In 1958, physicist Philip W. Anderson first described a phenomenon via which irregularities or other sources of disorder in materials would prevent waves from propagating freely, which is now known as Anderson localization.

Fast superconducting qubit control with subharmonic drives

Increasing the fidelity of single-qubit gates requires a combination of faster pulses and increased qubit coherence. However, these requirements can be contradictory. Additionally, increasing the drive power can heat the qubit’s environment and degrade coherence. In this work, we circumvent this issue and achieve rapid gates by pumping a transmon’s native Kerr at approximately one third of the qubit’s resonant frequency. The subharmonic Rabi rate of the process is proportional to applied drive amplitude cubed, allowing for rapid gates. In addition, we demonstrate that filtering can be used to protect the qubit’s coherence while performing rapid gates. Single qubit gates as short as 37.4 ns are demonstrated with fidelity of 99.91%. We present theoretical calculations indicating that drive induced multi-photon decay will not limit qubit lifetime; calculated power absorption also indicates that this technique could reduce cryostat heating for fast gates, a vital requirement for large-scale quantum computers. There is a trade-off between achieving fast qubit control and preserving long qubit lifetimes. In this work, the authors demonstrate single qubit gates by driving a transmon qubit parametrically at 1/3 of its frequency, creating fast, high-fidelity gates while protecting the qubit lifetime and mitigating heating.

An architecture for two-qubit encoding in neutral ytterbium-171 atoms

We present an architecture for encoding two qubits within the optical “clock” transition and nuclear spin-1/2 degree of freedom of neutral ytterbium-171 atoms. Inspired by recent high-fidelity control of all pairs of states within this four-dimensional “ququart” space, we present a toolbox for intra-ququart (single-atom) one- and two-qubit gates, inter-ququart (two-atom) Rydberg-based two- and four-qubit gates, and quantum nondemolition (QND) readout. We then use this toolbox to demonstrate the advantages of the ququart encoding for entanglement distillation and quantum error correction which exhibit superior hardware efficiency and better performance in some cases since fewer two-atom operations are required. Finally, leveraging single-state QND readout in our ququart encoding, we present a unique approach to studying interactive circuits and to realizing a symmetry protected topological phase of a spin-1 chain with a shallow, constant-depth circuit.

D-Wave Quantum: The Stock Doesn't Reflect The Business, It Funds It

Just over 20 days ago, D-Wave Quantum ( QBTS) presented at the NYSE a gate-model roadmap that reaches 100 logical qubits by ...

A new paper argues Microsoft exaggerated its quantum claims a year ago

A peer-reviewed critique of Majorana 1 claims Microsoft did not conclusively demonstrate a working topological qubit. Microsoft disagrees.

A ‘direct wave’ from colliding black holes reveals signature of a whirlpool in spacetime

BoliviaInteligente / UnsplashBlack holes are some of the most mysterious objects in the universe, but they aren’t always silent. When two black holes are close enough to each other, they spiral towards one another, eventually crashing in an enormous explosion and forming a single, larger black hole from the combination. During this process they emit gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space and time that reach us here on Earth. These travel to us and change the distance between your n

A new quantum computer sets a high watermark for accuracy. Are we on the verge of a big breakthrough?

In a laboratory in Broomfield, Colorado, 98 atoms are suspended in midair, held in place by electric fields and cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero.

Mathematicians unleash multifold speed boost for supercomputer simulations of molecules

More than 20% of the workload on the world's 500 fastest supercomputers is spent simulating how atoms and molecules move—with applications ranging from material design to identifying drug interactions to understanding protein folding.

Geometric anti-spring works near absolute zero, suppressing vibrations below 0.185 hertz

Physicists and instrument makers in Leiden have succeeded in optimizing a spring that almost completely filters out vibrations at temperatures near absolute zero. This breakthrough opens the door to a new generation of highly sensitive experiments. The research is published in the journal Measurement Science and Technology.

Turning low-value diamond dust into high-performance quantum materials

Diamonds have long been coveted for their beauty. Their dazzling color and clarity make them perfect candidates for luxury jewelry. However, it's their other unique characteristics, including their hardness, thermal conductivity and chemical resistance, that make diamonds suitable for various applications in industry and advanced technologies.

The universe may be hiding conscious minds stranger than we can imagine

What if consciousness isn’t limited to brains like ours? Philosophers Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness could arise in many different forms of life, even in beings built from radically different materials than those found on Earth. Drawing on the vastness of the universe and the likely existence of countless alien civilizations, they suggest it would be surprisingly Earth-centric to assume that only Earth-like biology can support conscious experience.

Quantum squeezing sidesteps the limits on mechanical transducers

From detecting the ripples of colliding black holes to imaging individual chemical bonds, mechanical transducers have repeatedly transformed our understanding of the universe. So far, however, the sensitivity of these devices has been intrinsically limited by the laws of quantum mechanics itself.

Scientists catch classical space-time crystals moving like Majorana quasiparticles

A research team from Hiroshima University, the University of Colorado, and other collaborators have demonstrated that space-time crystals—exotic structures that, under external drive, loop endlessly through both space and time—can be created using everyday liquid-crystal materials.

Meet Jainendra K Jain: The first Indian-origin physicist to win the Wolf Prize and transform quantum physics

In the world of theoretical physics, some ideas solve a problem. Others reshape an entire field. Jainendra K. Jain's theory ...

A Quiet Quantum Revolution in Earth’s Deep Interior

A subtle change in iron ions’ electronic configuration produces a measurable difference in seismic wave speeds through mantle ...

We Can Make an Antigravity Machine—And Unlock a ‘Mind-Blowing’ Future, Oxford Physicist Says

Gravity is the force with which we’re most familiar. It’s what’s keeping you on the planet, even as you’re reading this.

Trump signs executive orders to 'supercharge' quantum computing

Quantum computing can boost capacity beyond that of a typical computer.

Bleach: The Calamity Opens June 25: Yhwach’s Omniscience Has a Quantum Physics Problem

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War — The Calamity opens in U.S. theaters June 25–29 via Fathom Entertainment before the July 25 broadcast premiere. Kubo’s final arc encodes real quantum physics: