Hidden Symmetry Could Be Key To More Robust Quantum Systems, Researchers Find (phys.org) 14
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Researchers have found a way to protect highly fragile quantum systems from noise, which could aid in the design and development of new quantum devices, such as ultra-powerful quantum computers. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, have shown that microscopic particles can remain intrinsically linked, or entangled, over long distances even if there are random disruptions between them. Using the mathematics of quantum theory, they discovered a simple setup where entangled particles can be prepared and stabilized even in the presence of noise by taking advantage of a previously unknown symmetry in quantum systems.
Their results, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, open a new window into the mysterious quantum world that could revolutionize future technology by preserving quantum effects in noisy environments, which is the single biggest hurdle for developing such technology. Harnessing this capability will be at the heart of ultrafast quantum computers. [...] Now, Dutta and his co-author Professor Nigel Cooper have discovered a robust quantum system where multiple pairs of qubits remain entangled even with a lot of noise. They modeled an atomic system in a lattice formation, where atoms strongly interact with each other, hopping from one site of the lattice to another. The authors found if noise were added in the middle of the lattice, it didn't affect entangled particles between left and right sides. This surprising feature results from a special type of symmetry that conserves the number of such entangled pairs.
They showed this hidden symmetry protects the entangled pairs and allows their number to be controlled from zero to a large maximum value. Similar conclusions can be applied to a broad class of physical systems and can be realized with already existing ingredients in experimental platforms, paving the way to controllable entanglement in a noisy environment. The researchers are hoping to confirm their theoretical findings with experiments within the next year.
Their results, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, open a new window into the mysterious quantum world that could revolutionize future technology by preserving quantum effects in noisy environments, which is the single biggest hurdle for developing such technology. Harnessing this capability will be at the heart of ultrafast quantum computers. [...] Now, Dutta and his co-author Professor Nigel Cooper have discovered a robust quantum system where multiple pairs of qubits remain entangled even with a lot of noise. They modeled an atomic system in a lattice formation, where atoms strongly interact with each other, hopping from one site of the lattice to another. The authors found if noise were added in the middle of the lattice, it didn't affect entangled particles between left and right sides. This surprising feature results from a special type of symmetry that conserves the number of such entangled pairs.
They showed this hidden symmetry protects the entangled pairs and allows their number to be controlled from zero to a large maximum value. Similar conclusions can be applied to a broad class of physical systems and can be realized with already existing ingredients in experimental platforms, paving the way to controllable entanglement in a noisy environment. The researchers are hoping to confirm their theoretical findings with experiments within the next year.
Kinda disappointing (Score:3)
Some searching later:
Paper behind a paywall, here's [aps.org] the link to the abstract & article.
Re: (Score:2)
-'Remember us? We are in need of more moneys.'
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Reading the captions on the diagrams, it seems like they're describing some kind of "harmonic distance(s)", where coherence is stronger at certain periodic distances. Way over *my* head, but if there's some previously undiscovered kind of symmetry out there, I'd like to know more about it.
Re: Kinda disappointing (Score:2)
Well, if they really found a new symmetry, no amount of money isn't well-invested with them. It would be a bit like arguing financing Einstein or Feynman might be a waste of money.
Re:Kinda disappointing (Score:5, Informative)
still delivering (Score:2)
Re: still delivering (Score:2)
Seconded. One of the, if not the most important insight in all of science, and nobody seems to even know simply because it is so abstract. When that's exactly why it's such a powerful idea.
For the unintroduced, I highly suggest watching the PBS SpaceTime video on the subject ("Emmy Noether" symmetries). It explains it very well.
Noether's Thorem (Score:2)
You beat me to it!
Information and Hub (Score:1)
*WHICH symmetry?!* (Score:2)
Jesus Christ on a stick, a new symmetry is HUGE for all pf physics and you're not even talkong about it, like "who cares?"!
If this is really a new symmetry, quantum computers working better is a resulting effect that is almost negiligible compared to how much this means as a whole!
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"Ultra powerful" = finally somewhat useful? (Score:2)
Well, maybe. So far QCs are completely useless. And that is likely to stay this way for a long, long time.