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| The google sycamore chip used in the creation of time crystal |
Quantum
computers will transform the way computers work because they are far faster
than our existing systems. We don't yet have a quantum computer, but numerous
prototypes are on their way and can accomplish some pretty amazing things.
According to new study published in Nature, this includes forming new phases of
matter, such as a time crystal.
Let's
start with an explanation of how a quantum computer operates. Quantum bits,
also known as qubits, are bits made up of zeros and ones that harness the power
of quantum mechanics. They can exist in superposition and be entangled, both of
which are quantum features that allow for extremely fast calculations.
Computations get increasingly faster when more qubits are linked together.
The
problem is that quantum systems are frequently fragile. They must be preserved
at very low temperatures, in a vacuum, and so on. These conditions aren't ideal
for a portable quantum computer, but they're perfect for studying strange
phases of matter.
This
is when the time crystal enters the picture. A regular crystal is a collection
of particles (molecules, atoms, and so on) that have a repeating spatial
structure. The structure of a time crystal is similar, but it does not repeat
in space. It repeats itself over and over again.
They've
only lately been discovered, and there's still a lot we don't know about them.
To make a time crystal, this latest method employs Google's Sycamore quantum
computing technology.
The
broader picture is that we're thinking of the devices that will be the quantum
computers of the future as complicated quantum systems in and of themselves,
according to Matteo Ippoliti, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford and co-lead
author of the paper. We're using the computer as a new experimental platform to
realize and detect new phases of matter, rather than computing.
A
time crystal varies with time, but it always returns to the same precise
structure. Because the system's entropy remains constant and no energy is
gained or lost, a perfect time crystal is predicted to persist perpetually.
The
time crystal could only be detected for a few hundred cycles since quantum
devices are imperfect. However, using new protocols and simulations, the team
was able to investigate its features, which not only educated them about time
crystals but also revealed significant insights into quantum computers.
Roderich
Moessner, co-author of the research and head of the Max Planck Institute for
Physics of Complex Systems, remarked, "We were able to exploit the quantum
computer's adaptability to help us examine its own constraints." It
basically told us how to adjust for its own faults such that we could deduce
the fingerprint of perfect time-crystalline behaviour from finite time
observations.
This
is a remarkable breakthrough. Quantum computers may be crucial in answering
some of science's most pressing issues due to their processing capability, but
they may also be able to answer some questions simply by being quantum devices.
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