There are thousands of small pieces of junk orbiting Earth (as well as thousands of satellites) Shutterstock/Dima Zel Sensors based on the quantum behaviour of tiny crystals could detect pieces of space debris hurtling towards satellites. The US government estimates that there are around half a million pieces of debris …
Read More »How can we prove the world is really quantum mechanical?
How can we prove the world is really quantum mechanical? Alamy Stock Vector I ALMOST didn’t write this column because I worried that it might give people the wrong impression about quantum mechanics. So let me start by saying that I wholeheartedly believe that quantum mechanics is a correct description …
Read More »Quantum computers could simulate a black hole in the next decade
Black holes hold many mysteries Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock A quantum computer capable of simulating the exotic behaviour of a black hole and answering questions at the frontier of modern physics could be possible in the next decade, according to one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists. One long-standing goal for physicists …
Read More »Weird particle that remembers its past discovered by quantum computer
A mysterious and long-sought particle that can remember its past has been created using a quantum computer. The particle, called an anyon, could improve the performance of quantum computers in the future. The anyon is unlike any other particle we know because it keeps a kind of record of where …
Read More »How we could discover quantum gravity without rebuilding space-time
Shutterstock/Sola Solandra MODERN physics has two stories to tell about our universe. The first says it is fundamentally made of space-time: a continuous, stretchy fabric that has ballooned since the dawn of time. The other says it is fundamentally made of indivisible things that can’t decide where they are, or …
Read More »Quantum computing: Superconducting qubits have passed a key quantum test
An IBM quantum computer that uses superconducting qubits IBM For the first time, a superconducting circuit has passed a Bell test, the premier test in physics to confirm a system’s quantum behaviour. These circuits are used in quantum computers, and this test proves that their quantum bits are truly entangled. When …
Read More »AI can work out how quantum computers stack up to one another
AI could help determine whether quantum computers can outpace conventional ones Shutterstock/Gorodenkoff AI can tell how similar two quantum states are, even using imperfect data about their properties. This could make it a useful tool for assessing how different quantum computers stack up against one another in the future. Quantum …
Read More »Fundamental law of physics demonstrated using quantum objects
Measuring quantum properties like the wave function of photons of light has allowed researchers to test the principle of least action at a quantum level Hui Yan A centuries-old fundamental law of physics called the principle of least action has been demonstrated using quantum objects for the first time. “A …
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