Scroll Top

UK and US accelerate Quantum Computing research after China advances

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Quantum computers have to run at almost Absolute Zero temperatures and China’s new breakthroughs mean one day we could see quantum computers that run at room temperature.

 

Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trendsconnect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog.

Scientists and lawmakers in the UK, US, and Europe are ramping up efforts to advance quantum computing in the West after scientists in China observed what appears to be the world’s first room-temperature time crystals.

 

RELATED
Scientists have smashed the record for the world's most powerful magnet

 

A team of physicists hailing primarily from Tsinghua University in China, with contributions from scientists in Denmark and Austriapublished peer-reviewed research earlier last month detailing the creation and observation of room-temperature time crystals.

In the month since the paper was published, quantum research labs in the West have announced numerous initiatives to extend existing efforts in the field of quantum computing and to create new research partnerships.

Time crystals are a unique state of matter originally proposed by physicist Frank Wilczek in 2012. They work similarly to other crystals, such as snowflakes or diamonds, which are created when specific molecules form lattice-like bonds that repeat through space.

 

RELATED
New research would allow cyborgs and human organs to join computer networks

 

In time crystals, however, the molecules bond in time. Instead of locking into a crystalline structure that repeats, a time crystal’s molecules flicker back and forth between different configurations like an animated GIF on a loop.

Back in 2021, an international team of scientists working with Google’s quantum computing lab simulated time crystals using a quantum computer. This breakthrough demonstrated the potential for quantum computers to explore exotic states of matter and set the stage for the convergence of quantum tech and time crystals.

Now, in July 2024, the Tsinghua team appears to have created time crystals at room temperature. This, theoretically, allows time crystal technology to be employed in non-laboratory equipment and could serve as a massive accelerator for the development of useful quantum computers.

 

RELATED
Researchers new breakthrough computer chip transfers data at light speed

 

The realization of room temperature time crystals could solve one of the biggest problems in the field: figuring out how to create stable qubits – a sort of the quantum version of classical computer bits – that don’t require massive amounts of power and infrastructure to form and maintain.

While perhaps not directly related to the China team’s work, labs and governments around the world — especially in the US, UK and Europe — have signalled renewed interest in quantum computing since the room-temperature time crystals paper was published.

In the US, new initiatives have taken place at the national and state levels, with federal defense department think tank DARPA and the state of Illinois both recently agreeing to commit $140 million each to the development of a new quantum computing center in Chicago.

 

RELATED
Russian researchers have created a 'Quantum safe' blockchain

 

Across the pond, on July 31, the UK government announced plans to invest approximately $127 million dollars in the development of five quantum computing research hubs to be led by Oxford University. And, on the same day, MIT announced a multimillion-dollar partnership with the University of Copenhagen to share research and co-develop quantum computing solutions.

Related Posts

Leave a comment

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This