How a Chinese group tracked electrons on the superconductor path using quantum technology
How a Chinese group tracked electrons on the superconductor path using quantum technology
The capacity of a Chinese team to model the flow of electrons in a solid-state material could serve as a basis for applications that are well beyond the capabilities of the fastest supercomputers in the world.
Many scientific topics, including the nature of magnetism, depend on the tracking of such subatomic particles. By deciphering this basic physics, we may be able to develop high-temperature superconducting materials, which could transform the transportation and transmission of power.
Team leader Pan Jianwei stated in a statement released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Thursday that "our achievement demonstrates the capabilities of quantum simulators to exceed those of classical computers, marking a milestone in the second stage of China's quantum computing research."
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On Wednesday, the study was published in Nature. Co-authors of the research with USTC colleagues Chen Yuao and Yao Xingcan were Pan from the University of Science and Technology of China.
The work was deemed "an important step forward for the field" by the Nature reviewers.
In general, there are three phases in the development of quantum computing.
First, when quantum computers outperform traditional supercomputers on particular tasks, this is referred to as "quantum supremacy." Innovations like Google's Sycamore CPU and China's quantum prototypes from the Jiuzhang and Zu Chongzhi series have achieved this aim.
The second, which is currently the subject of scholarly investigation, entails developing specialized quantum simulators that are capable of handling significant scientific issues that are outside the scope of classical computers.
Using quantum error correction, the third stage will strive for fault-tolerant, universal quantum computing.
By replicating the fermionic Hubbard model, a condensed description of electron mobility in lattices put forth by British physicist John Hubbard in 1963, Pan's team was able to go to the second step.
High-temperature superconductivity is explained well by this paradigm, and superconductivity has applications in the transportation, information technology, and power transmission industries. However, supercomputers find it difficult to replicate.
Chen stated in the CAS statement, "Simulating the movement of 300 electrons using classical computers would require storage space... exceeding the total number of atoms in our universe."
Three main obstacles had to be overcome by Pan and his team in order to accomplish their goal: building an optical lattice with a uniform intensity distribution, reaching low enough temperatures, and creating new measurement methods to precisely characterize the states of the quantum simulator. Pan is best known for overseeing the construction of the first quantum satellite in history.
In order to do this, the scientists prepared degenerate Fermi gases at ultra-low temperatures by combining machine-learning optimisation approaches with their previous work on homogeneous Fermi superfluids in box-shaped optical traps.
This made it possible for the researchers to see a material's transition from a paramagnetic to an antiferromagnetic state, or from having a weak attraction to a magnet to being essentially indifferent to one.
The study establishes a foundation for a more profound comprehension of the mechanics underlying high-temperature superconductivity.
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