A research team from the Japanese Institute for Molecular Science has now made a major breakthrough in quantum computing, allowing it to be done with the help of a two-qubit gate. A qubit is the quantum equivalent of a binary bit, a basic unit of information used in computing.
The team managed to successfully execute the world’s fastest two-qubit gate in just 6.5 nanoseconds. In the process, the researchers had to overcome some limitations associated with such technology. However, there is a catch – the method they used can be difficult to replicate in a less research-based environment.
Dr. Takafumi Tomita/Institute of Molecular Sciences
Quantum computing is still somewhat unknown territory, but it could be a gateway to solving problems that modern computers cannot tackle. It could also potentially accelerate high-performance computing (HPC) tasks. While the potential is certainly there and tech giants such as IBM and Intel are harnessing it, there are also limitations, and this is why research teams around the world continue to explore the topic.
The team of scientists from the Institute for Molecular Science, led by graduate student Yelai Chew, Assistant Professor Sylvain de Leselek and Professor Kenji Ohmori, conducted the research and published their findings in Nature Photonics. The two-qubit gate operation they were able to perform is an initial but important step. Tom’s Hardware was one of the first publications detailing the process after the initial article appeared online in Nature.
The researchers used lasers to drastically cool the two atomic qubits.
Qubits are the quantum equivalent of bits that we are all familiar with in day-to-day computing. However, qubits come with an advantage – they are not limited to a value of one or zero; Instead, they can both represent a And Zero. This makes them much more efficient and unlocks their ability to perform complex tasks in a much shorter time frame. Unfortunately, qubits are quickly deciphered, which means they no longer return accurate results.
A two-qubit gate operation requires entanglement of qubits, and this entanglement is affected by various factors that can accelerate decoherence. The issue of disassembly can be dealt with in two ways – operations that need to be executed very rapidly before qubit decorre, or entanglements that need to last a long time. The science team went with the first approach, which was to speed things up exponentially – and they achieved a world record in the process.
The researchers used a laser to extremely cool two atomic qubits made of the element rubidium. The temperature neared an absolute zero, dropping to as low as −273.15 °C. These atoms were secured within micrometers of each other through the use of optical tweezers. Then, they used a laser to manipulate the qubits at 10 picosecond intervals. One picosecond is equal to one trillionth of a second.
Dr. Takafumi Tomita
Through the above steps, the researchers were able to successfully execute the quantum gate in just 6.5 nanoseconds, making it the world’s fastest two-qubit gate operation. The previous record was 15 nanoseconds.
While this leap does not mean that quantum computing will suddenly become widespread, it does mean that scientists are making great progress in that direction. Unfortunately, this type of technology can be difficult to replicate in the HPC setting, where it will be most commonly used.
The rubidium-atomic qubits used by the researchers to execute this ultrafast qubit gate must be cooled to near absolute zero for this to work. Doing so may be possible in special cases, but realistically, most organizations will turn to a different solution until it becomes easier to manage. On the other hand, even if this technology may not become available one day, research is important as scientists continue to try to determine where the future of computing really lies.
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Source: www.digitaltrends.com
