Communications of the ACM
Quantum on Quantum
Researchers at Harvard University and Australia's University of Queensland have designed and constructed a quantum computer capable of simulating and calculating the behavior of a molecular quantum system. The two photons that function as qubits in a quantum device are entangled, meaning that their states are linked and consistent over distance, thus augmenting the quantum computer's ability to explore all possible solutions to a complex problem at once.
The researchers tasked the computer with calculating the energy levels of the hydrogen molecule. Through simulation of the quantum forces inherent in the electrons of atomic bonds themselves, the computer's photons accurately nailed the energy levels to within 6 parts per million.
This milestone is "great, a proof of principle, more evidence that [a quantum computer] is not pie in the sky or cannot be built," says University of California, Berkeley professor Birgitta Whaley.
From Science News
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