New State of Matter Boosts Quantum Computation

Matthew Sparkes writes "In theory, quantum computers can be superior to classical computers for some kinds of problems; in practice their building blocks, qubits, are extremely fragile. Even a slight knock can destroy information. A radical solution to this problem was proposed in the 80's — instead of storing qubits in properties of particles, such as an electron's spin, it was suggested that qubits could be encoded into properties shared by the whole material, and so would be harder to disrupt. Unfortunately, no material with the needed properties existed. Scientists now think they have made a material in the lab, thought to be an example of a new state of matter, that might do the trick. It's an ultra-purified form of a mineral, herbertsmithite, first discovered in Chile in 1972. Its electrons are arranged in a triangular lattice. Researchers say it could become the silicon of the quantum computing era."

Comments

Very cool material

[Gr8Apes]

Unfortunately, while TFA is descriptive and informative, it reads more like a PR than a scientific paper. It sounds like everything still needs to be verified. The headline is certainly misleading, as no experiments of any sort have been done to prove that they can do any of the manipulations that are required to advance quantum computing.

This is merely the very very early stages of basic research. Very interesting none the less.