Accidental Progress and Potential Quantum Breakthrough
Magnetic Manipulation and Quantum Mechanics
Following on from a mention of quantum advancement in my short Maxwell equations exploration, an interesting development in the realm of quantum computing has manifested this month. A helpful accident by scientists down under has helped to make a breakthrough. Computer science is a fascinating space and the next step in this space looks to step away from just 1’s and 0’s. Quantum mechanics will drastically change the world of computing through use of multiple number states. Referencing Maxwell equations once more, manipulation and control of magnetic fields hold the key to developing quantum computing solutions.
Superior Over Supremacy
A short while back, Google announced their quantum supremacy project, it’s an exciting time. Yet there is a little dispute over whether what they claim to have is truly a breakthrough with respect to quantum mechanics. IBM, Google and others have been seen to use supercomputers that make use of 53 quantum bits (qubits), think super binary bits or something similar. Configuration and arrangement of these qubit clusters is posed to be the direction that some companies take to build powerful computing solutions. This new discovery is a breakthrough at a foundation level that enhances magnetic field control. Researchers accidentally discovered a method of control through yet another unrelated venture.
Experimentation for curious minds can sometimes to lead to findings that can be applied to other use cases. Researchers zapped a silicon chip housing an “antimony nucleus” resulting in a break, out of the chaos emerged electric field with oscillating behaviour. In short, this discovery may lead to more qubits being controlled in the nucleus, a method that could be superior to current quantum computing methods.
Society Stays Curious
Quantum computing is exciting but I wanted to highlight that once again, accidental discoveries and sharing of information is truly valuable in the scientific world. If you enjoy a drink of Gin and Tonic now and then, the bitter taste of tonic water is due to Quinine which has been found to combat malaria. This was also discovered accidentally and has been used in tasty beverages and medicinal purposes. Other accidental discoveries include microwaves, X-rays and many more. I think it’s amazing how breakthroughs can be made in entirely different places and I’ve noticed this happen more and more as of late. Let’s hope a few more accidents lead to more breakthroughs for society.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubit
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/google-quantum-supremacy-claim-controversy-top-science-stories-2019-yir
https://www.sciencealert.com/these-eighteen-accidental-scientific-discoveries-changed-the-world
Interesting. Thanks for the article. On a slightly related note, I recently came across the article Industrial giant Honeywell says it’s built the world’s best quantum computer that I covered in Curating the Internet: Science and technology digest for March 4, 2020. In that article I learned that Honeywell has been using "ion traps" which are electromagnetic fields that hold ions in place as qubits for its own quantum computer.
It seems like Honeywell is using some sort of crystal, not silicon, so I'm not sure how closely the two concepts tie together, but it definitely seems clear that magnetic fields have a foundational role to play in quantum computing.
I came across this piece recently too, I'm very interested in this computational freezing effect. I'll take a look at your curation post in a moment :)
It'll be interesting if industry moves away from silicon onto something new entirely, there are bound to be novel configurations as these big firms pump more into R&D. It's certainly exciting to see other companies have another "spin" on things in the early days of quantum computing.