China breakthrough could make ‘fault-tolerant’ quantum computing a reality
- Chinese researchers advance quantum simulation technology with clear and flexible system that ‘deserves to be included in textbooks’
- The development will make it easier to manipulate and observe simulated quantum systems and solve intractable physics problems, they said
Leading quantum physicist Pan Jianwei and his team at the University of Science and Technology of China have developed an artificial quantum system that has groundbreaking implications for physics and could pave the way for fault-tolerant quantum computing.
The researchers used photons to simulate an interaction between charged particles known as the fractional anomalous quantum Hall effect, previously observed only in electrons, according to a paper published this month by the journal Science.
Several international experiments have attempted to replicate the Hall effect at the quantum level by putting specific materials through stringent conditions, including strong magnetic fields and extremely low temperatures.
The Chinese researchers developed a new quantum bit – the Plasmonium qubit – to create a clear and flexible artificial system that replicates the phenomenon at normal temperatures without magnetic fields, according to the paper.
The researchers isolated single photons – elementary particles that carry no electrical charge and are also known as quantum light – by boxing them in with a Plasmonium array, making them easier to manipulate and observe.
Chang Jin, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said the team’s achievement in quantum simulation is expected to have a significant impact on the development of quantum technology.
Pan, who is also a CAS academician, said the experiment “demonstrates for the first time that quantum computing can … tackle significant issues in physics. It also significantly advances the development of fault-tolerant quantum computing”.