BiotechMashup

(University of Innsbruck) A team of physicists headed by Christian Roos and Rainer Blatt from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences realize a quantum walk in a quantum system with up to 23 steps. It is the first time that this quantum process using trapped ions is demonstrated in detail.

Raising prospects for building a practical quantum computer, physicists have demonstrated sustained, reliable information processing operations on electrically charged atoms (ions). The new work overcomes significant hurdles in scaling up ion-trapping technology from small demonstrations to larger quantum processors.

Physicists in Germany have developed a quantum interface which connects light particles and atoms. The interface is based on an ultra-thin glass fiber and is suitable for the transmission of quantum information. This is an essential prerequisite for quantum communication which shall be used for secure data transmission via quantum cryptography.

Physicists have demonstrated an ion trap with a built-in optical fiber that collects light emitted by single ions, allowing quantum information stored in the ions to be measured. The advance could simplify quantum computer design and serve as a step toward swapping information between matter and light in future quantum networks.

Physicists have made an important advance in electrically controlling quantum states of electrons, a step that could help in the development of quantum computing.

Physicists have, for the first time, tracked individual atoms in a gas cooled to extreme temperatures as the particles reorganized into a crystal, a process driven by quantum mechanics. The research opens new possibilities for particle-by-particle study and engineering of artificial quantum materials.

(National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) Physicists at NIST have demonstrated an ion trap with a built-in optical fiber that collects light emitted by single ions, allowing quantum information stored in the ions to be measured. The advance could simplify quantum computer design and serve as a step toward swapping information between matter and light in future quantum networks.

Physicists have developed an experiment to investigate the random motion of quantum particles. They have used polarized light -- light waves which oscillate in a particular plane -- to design a simple model for a quantum physical random walk. Their experiments could provide new insights into statistical processes such as photosynthesis, and help to accelerate search algorithms.

Physicists have demonstrated the first "universal" programmable quantum information processor able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics -- the rules governing the submicroscopic world -- using two quantum bits (qubits) of information. The processor could be a module in a future quantum computer, which theoretically could solve some important problems that are intractable today.