Chinese scientists create super stable building block for quantum computers

Chinese physicist Pan Jianwei and his team have created a “quantum Lego block” that refuses to fall apart – even when shaken.

Using a programmable quantum processor named Zuchongzhi 2, Pan’s team has simulated an exotic new state of matter where quantum effects are locked into the corners of a material, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday. These corner states are protected by the deep laws of topology – a kind of quantum armour against errors and noise.

This achievement marks the first experimental realisation of what scientists call non-equilibrium higher-order topological phases. These offer a new way to store quantum information that does not easily break down, which has been a major challenge for quantum computers.

Pan, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) was once called the “father of quantum” by the journal Nature. He is now taking one of the boldest steps yet in the tech race against the US towards building practical, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

In the paper, Pan, along with other researchers from USTC and Shanxi University, showed a way to simulate and detect the strange and extremely complex matter states with super stable corners or hinges instead of surfaces or edges.

This new kind of matter, which does not exist in nature, could allow for quantum computers to operate correctly even in the presence of errors or noise, which is a current limitation on machine complexity owing to the sensitivity of quantum bits – the fundamental units of quantum information, also known as qubits – to their environment.

South China Morning Post