Claim: Schrodinger's cat used in the real world, results in 'holy grail' for quantum computing

Most people are left confounded and flummoxed when presented with the most basic concepts of quantum mechanics. That’s because they make no sense to any rational mind, so please don’t take this statement as any type of slight.

This is especially true when discussing something called “superposition” – where a particle can exist in multiple states at the same time until someone actually measures it.

One of the most memorable thought experiments used to explain superposition is through the story of Schrödinger’s cat, which paints a picture of a hypothetical feline that is simultaneously alive and dead inside a box.

When someone opens the box to observe the cat, the superposition is broken, and the cat definitively becomes one or the other: alive or dead.

Schrödinger’s cat explains quantum strangeness

Of course, we never encounter boxes containing real animals in that type of bizarre dual state, yet researchers continually explore and test superpositions of much smaller particles.

They do this for many reasons, but for the purposes of this research, a team of scientists focused on particle superposition because they believe it holds the secret to error-free quantum computing.

Quantum computers display processing power that monumentally eclipses anything that modern traditional computers or supercomputers can manage.

Andrea Morello from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has been at the forefront of turning these quantum properties into a secure and efficient way to store and process information.

Antimony as the quantum cat

Xi Yu, a researcher in the same UNSW group, describes their latest feat as creating a quantum atomic take on this cat story.

“In our work, the ‘cat’ is an atom of antimony,” explains Xi Yu, who was lead author of the paper.

Antimony is no ordinary atom. It has a nuclear spin with eight possible directions, unlike simpler two-state systems called qubits.

That larger range protects the encoded data from sudden changes that would normally disrupt more fragile qubits.

A typical qubit can flip if anything nudges it, and one flip may turn a zero into a one, foiling any crucial calculation. The antimony approach helps avoid that vulnerability.

“As the proverb goes, a cat has nine lives. One little scratch is not enough to kill it,” says Xi Yu.

Each small error leaves most of the data intact, making it easier to notice and fix any trouble before it gets worse.

Schrödinger’s cat inside a silicon chip

Dr. Danielle Holmes at UNSW built a silicon chip that can hold this single antimony atom. It grants full control over the spin state, and it is fashioned with the same material found in typical consumer electronics.

This opens the door for large-scale production methods that already exist.

The prospect of connecting many atoms on a chip may allow quantum devices to be assembled using machinery that has served the regular semiconductor industry for decades.

Error correction with quantum cats

“A single, or even a few errors, do not immediately scramble the information,” says Morello, a professor at UNSW. Quantum error correction is a central challenge, since even minute glitches can cascade and ruin complicated tasks. 

By using antimony’s expanded spin space, the design does not topple when faced with a small slip. That extra buffer slows down error accumulation, so there is a higher chance of fixing mistakes in time.

Each quantum bit, or qubit, remains stable under minor disturbances that would derail simpler systems. Once a disturbance shows up, the device can often preserve the right values.

This relieves some of the burden from correction algorithms. With fewer surprises to manage, researchers hope these extra-robust qubits will lead to larger, more complex quantum circuits that can solve problems outside the reach of standard computers.

Next steps in quantum computing

Scientists plan to refine their tools for spotting and fixing errors the moment they pop up. They aim to push reliability high enough for lengthy computing tasks.

Morello notes that this “Schrödinger’s cat” analogy shows how quantum systems can be both delicate and sturdy.

By improving this technology, the team hopes to overcome one of the toughest hurdles to a fully fledged quantum computer.

Why does any of this matter?

Quantum machines could support safer cryptography, simulate large-scale phenomena, and sift through colossal data sets.

Engineers foresee a hybrid model where single-atom components work alongside today’s circuits, taking advantage of industrial processes that are already in place.

Though it may take time to perfect, early results suggest these unusual, cat-like states might boost the resilience of quantum hardware, and pave the way for a new era of computing.

Rewriting quantum rules

Teams worldwide keep testing different spins and elements, hunting for ways to control errors without overloading hardware resources. High-dimensional nuclear spins may be a vital stepping stone in this pursuit.

By letting these spins act like sturdy bits, researchers cut down the complicated fixes usually required. The hope is that robust qudit-based strategies will open the door to leaner and more powerful quantum machines.

Experts from UNSW Sydney, the University of Melbourne, Sandia National Laboratories, NASA Ames, and the University of Calgary joined forces for this research. They tackled materials growth, device engineering, and advanced theoretical modeling.

Together, they turned a classic thought experiment into a workable unit that might, someday soon, accelerate quantum technology to the point where we achieve error-free quantum computing at mass scale.

The study is published in Nature Physics.

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