Cloud Hosting

Physicists have created a remarkable, never-before-seen phase of matter in a quantum computer.

Physicists demonstrated a way of storing quantum information that is less prone to errors by subjecting a quantum computers qubits to quasi-rhythmic laser pulses based on the Fibonacci sequence.

Physicists have created a remarkable, never-before-seen phase of matter by shining a laser pulse sequence inspired by the Fibonacci sequence at atoms inside a quantum computer. Despite there still being only one singular flow of time, the phase has the benefits of two time dimensions, the physicists reported on July 20 in the journal Nature.

This mind-bending property offers a highly desirable benefit: Information stored in the phase is far more protected against errors than with alternative setups currently used in quantum computers. As a result, the information can exist for far longer without getting garbled, an important milestone for making quantum computing viable, according to study lead author Philipp Dumitrescu.

The approachs innovative use of an extra time dimension is a completely different way of thinking about phases of matter, says Dumitrescu, who worked on the project as a research fellow at the Flatiron Institutes Center for Computational Quantum Physics in New York City. Ive been working on these theory ideas for over five years, and seeing them come actually to be realized in experiments is exciting.

In this quantum computer, physicists created a never-before-seen phase of matter that acts as if time has two dimensions. The phase could help protect quantum information from destruction for far longer than current methods. Credit: Quantinuum

Together with Andrew Potter of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Romain Vasseur of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Ajesh Kumar of the University of Texas in Austin, Dumitrescu spearheaded the theoretical component of the research. A team headed by Brian Neyenhuis conducted the experiments on a quantum computer at Quantinuum in Broomfield, Colorado.

Ten atomic ions of the element ytterbium serve as the workhorses of the teams quantum computer. Each ion is individually held and controlled by electric fields produced by an ion trap and can be manipulated or measured using laser pulses.

Each of those atomic ions function as what physicists dub a quantum bit, or qubit. As opposed to conventional computers that quantify information in bits (each representing a 0 or a 1), the qubits used by quantum computers leverage the strangeness of quantum mechanics to store even more information. Just as Schrdingers cat is both dead and alive in its box, a qubit can be a 0, a 1, or a mashup or superposition of both at the same time. That additional information density and the way qubits interact with one another promise to allow quantum computers to solve computational problems far beyond the reach of traditional computers.

The Penrose tiling pattern is a type of quasicrystal, which means that it has an ordered yet never-repeating structure. The pattern, composed of two shapes, is a 2D projection of a 5D square lattice.

However, theres a big problem: Just as peeking in Schrdingers box seals the cats fate, so does interacting with a qubit. And that interaction doesnt even have to be deliberate. Even if you keep all the atoms under tight control, they can lose their quantumness by talking to their environment, heating up or interacting with things in ways you didnt plan, Dumitrescu says. In practice, experimental devices have many sources of error that can degrade coherence after just a few laser pulses.

Therefore, the challenge is to make qubits more robust. To do that, physicists can use symmetries, which are essentially properties that hold up to change. (For example, a snowflake has rotational symmetry because it looks the same when rotated by 60 degrees.) One method is adding time symmetry by blasting the atoms with rhythmic laser pulses. This approach helps, but Dumitrescu and his collaborators wondered if they could go further. So instead of just one time symmetry, they aimed to add two by using ordered but non-repeating laser pulses.

The best way to understand their approach is by considering something else ordered yet non-repeating: quasicrystals. A typical crystal has a regular, repeating structure, like the hexagons in a honeycomb. A quasicrystal still has order, but its patterns never repeat. (Penrose tiling is one example of this.) Even more mind-boggling is that quasicrystals are crystals from higher dimensions projected, or squished down, into lower dimensions. Those higher dimensions can even be beyond physical spaces three dimensions: A 2D Penrose tiling, for instance, is a projected slice of a 5D lattice.

For the qubits, Dumitrescu, Vasseur, and Potter proposed in 2018 the creation of a quasicrystal in time rather than space. Whereas a periodic laser pulse would alternate (A, B, A, B, A, B, etc.), the researchers created a quasi-periodic laser-pulse regimen based on the Fibonacci sequence. In such a sequence, each part of the sequence is the sum of the two previous parts (A, AB, ABA, ABAAB, ABAABABA, etc.). This arrangement, just like a quasicrystal, is ordered without repeating. And, akin to a quasicrystal, its a 2D pattern squashed into a single dimension. That dimensional flattening theoretically results in two time symmetries instead of just one: The system essentially gets a bonus symmetry from a nonexistent extra time dimension.

Actual quantum computers are incredibly complex experimental systems, though, so whether the benefits promised by the theory would endure in real-world qubits remained unproven.

Using Quantinuums quantum computer, the experientialists put the theory to the test. They pulsed laser light at the computers qubits both periodically and using the sequence based on the Fibonacci numbers. The focus was on the qubits at either end of the 10-atom lineup; thats where the researchers expected to see the new phase of matter experiencing two time symmetries at once. In the periodic test, the edge qubits stayed quantum for around 1.5 seconds already an impressive length given that the qubits were interacting strongly with one another. With the quasi-periodic pattern, the qubits stayed quantum for the entire length of the experiment, about 5.5 seconds. Thats because the extra time symmetry provided more protection, Dumitrescu says.

With this quasi-periodic sequence, theres a complicated evolution that cancels out all the errors that live on the edge, he says. Because of that, the edge stays quantum-mechanically coherent much, much longer than youd expect.

Though the findings demonstrate that the new phase of matter can act as long-term quantum information storage, the researchers still need to functionally integrate the phase with the computational side of quantum computing. We have this direct, tantalizing application, but we need to find a way to hook it into the calculations, Dumitrescu says. Thats an open problem were working on.

Reference: Dynamical topological phase realized in a trapped-ion quantum simulator by Philipp T. Dumitrescu, Justin G. Bohnet, John P. Gaebler, Aaron Hankin, David Hayes, Ajesh Kumar, Brian Neyenhuis, Romain Vasseur and Andrew C. Potter, 20 July 2022, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04853-4

Original post:

Physicists Create Mind-Bending New Phase of Matter That Acts Like It Has Two Time Dimensions - SciTechDaily

Posted on Jul 26, 2022 in Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Consciousness, Cosmology, Cosmos, Extraterrestrial Life, James Webb Space Telescope, NASA, quantum physics, Science News, Space News, Universe

Todays stories from our amazing Universe range from Two Weeks In, the Webb Space Telescope Is Reshaping Astronomy to How did Earth avoid a Mars-like fate? to We are Not the First Technological Civilization, and much more.

Could we use quantum communication to talk to aliens? asks Big Think. Quantum communication offers a surer path to sending an interstellar message, as well as receiving one. But can we do it? We have yet to hear from any civilization outside planet Earth. Maybe theres nothing out there. But maybe we are not listening in the right way. Quantum communication uses the quantum nature of light to send a message. Whether we can use such a communication method remains to be seen.

Schrdinger and the conscious universe. The total number of minds in the universe is one, reports iAi. Most assume that matter is fundamental, and that consciousness arises out of the complexity of matter. But Nobel Prize winning quantum physicist Erwin Schrdinger does not share that assumption. For him, the universe contains a single mind, writes Robert Prentner and Donald D. Hoffman.

Two Weeks In, the Webb Space Telescope Is Reshaping Astronomy In the days after the mega-telescope started delivering data, astronomers reported exciting new discoveries about galaxies, stars, exoplanets and even Jupiter, reports Quanta.

The Extraterrestrials Before Us We are Not the First Technological Civilization (Or, are We?) reports The Daily Galaxy. Are we an aberration, an evolutionary accident, or are we one of millions of evolving beings scattered throughout the distant reaches of the cosmos?

James Webb telescope finds oldest galaxy in the universe -The James Webb Telescope has hit upon another marvel in the universe the oldest galaxy that ever existed, reports India Today. The light from GLASS-z13 took 13.4 billion years to hit the mirrors of James Webb Telescope.

Could Ultra-Massive Black Holes Threaten Their Host Galaxies? asks The Daily Galaxy. We do know that black holes are extraordinary phenomena, said Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo, professor in the Department of Physics at Universit de Montral about the ultra-massive behemoths lurking at most galaxy centers. So its no surprise that the most extreme specimens defy the rules that we have established up until now.

JWST finds galaxies may adopt Milky Way-like shape faster than thought Astronomers thought that galaxies in the early universe would mostly be shapeless blobs, but an analysis of data from the James Webb Space Telescope suggests around half are disc-shaped like the Milky Way, reports New Scientist.

Alien hunters should look for city lights from urbanized planets, study suggests, reports Leonard David for Space.com. Lights from alien cities are an intriguing potential technosignature. For example, sharp-eyed aliens scrutinizing Earths nightside might be able to deduce our presence via the emissions from city lights here, even though such emissions are relatively concentrated. And advanced civilizations on exoplanets may have built cities over significantly more of their planets surfaces.

Earths black hole police discover gravitational singularity near Milky Way The team behind the discovery describe finding the aftermath of a star that vanished without any sign of a powerful explosion as like finding a needle in a haystack, reports Sky News.

Will the James Webb Space Telescope Reveal Unknown, Hidden Objects at the Milky Ways Center? asks The Daily Galaxy. NASAs recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), designed to view the universe in infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, but is very important for looking at astronomical objects hidden from our view, obscured by vast swaths of interstellar dust at the galactic center in unprecedented detail.

Astronomers have found an especially sneaky black hole The discovery of VFTS 243, a binary system, sheds light on star death, black hole formation and gravitational waves, reports Idan Ginsburg for The Conversation.

TRAPPIST-1 Star System is the Ultimate James Webb Space Telescope Target, reports The Daily Galaxy. How frequently is life found elsewhere? asked the research teams at the University of Cambridge and the University of Lige in Belgium. This simple change of words means that we should also be investigating planetary systems unlike the solar system. It would be disappointing and surprising if Earth were the only template for habitability in the Universe.

How did Earth avoid a Mars-like fate? Ancient rocks hold clues, reports The University of Rochester. New paleomagnetic research suggests Earths solid inner core formed 550 million years ago and restored our planets magnetic field.

Uranus: 15 amazing facts about the bulls eye planetThink you know about the planet Uranus? Think again, reports Interesting Engineering. The seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus is one of the strangest and least understood planets in the Solar System. Four times bigger than Earth, this planet has both short days and incredibly long years.

Disco-ball satellite will put Einsteins theory to strictest test yet A newly launched satellite aims to measure how Earths rotation drags the fabric of space-time around itself an effect of Einsteins general theory of relativity ten times more accurately than ever before. The Laser Relativity Satellite 2 (LARES-2) launched from the European Space Agencys (ESA) spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 13 July, reports Davide Castelvecchi for Nature.

Mars rocks photographed today give a glimpse into a fascinating world. The red planet is finally coming into clear view, reports Interesting Engineering. Thanks to instruments aboard NASAs Perseverance rover, we finally have images of the Martian landscape to see how an intrepid hiker might see it. And its beautiful.

Russia Says It Will Quit the International Space Station After 2024. The announcement could lead to the end of two decades of post-Cold War cooperation in space between the United States and Russia, which built the station together and operate it jointly, reports The New York Times.

50,000-year-old meteorite could revolutionize electronics and fast-charging The Diablo Canyon meteorite is a gift from the past, reports Interesting Engineering.

New Phase of Matter Opens Portal to Extra Time DimensionPhysicists have devised a mind-bending error-correction technique that could dramatically boost the performance of quantum computers, reports Scientific American.

How Earths 23.4 tilt makes life beautiful -Many of humanitys cultural traditions are based upon the movement of our planet around the Sun. The summer and winter solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes take on special significance, reports this Big Think audio.

Curated by The Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff

The Galaxy Report newsletter brings you twice-weekly news of space and science that has the capacity to provide clues to the mystery of our existence and add a much needed cosmic perspective in our current Anthropocene Epoch.

Yes, sign me up for my free subscription.

Recent Galaxy Reports:

More here:

The Universe Contains a Single Mind to Could We Use Quantum Communication to Talk to Aliens? (The Galaxy Report) - The Daily Galaxy --Great...