The universe just got a new theory. In The universe is a string-net liquid, a radical rewriting of how the universe may work is at hand whereby electrons are not considered to be elementary particles but rather are entities located at the end of strings of other elementary particles that "emerge from the deeper structure of the non-empty vacuum of space-time." like chicken soup noodles. When reality is viewed this way, it provides "a unified explanation of how both light and matter arise." as elementary particles (The building blocks of matter i.e. quarks - neutrons/protons: gluons - carrier of the strong force) are held together as contiguous strings by the space-time vacuum, thus allowing matter/energy to be expressed in an infinite number of ways depending on local conditions. (atoms, molecules, light...)
Herbertsmithite, seen in the picture above, is unique as it's electrons are configured in triangular fashion, something not seen in ordinary solids. Because of this, Herbertsmithite could be a new form of matter where it's electrons are naturally entangled, thus allowing glimpses into truly large arrays of entangled electrons to see how they interact, something that have never been done before at this level of complexity.
The implications of this research regarding quantum computing becomes very interesting as QCs use superposition (qubits can be in more than one state at the same time) and entanglement to do parallel processing but maintaining qubit superposition is a very difficult process as qubits must be kept isolated from the environment to prevent their decohering into a single state. Note: Qubits can be electrons, photons or atomes, take your pick. If qubits can be stored in naturally entangled material like Herbertsmithite, superposition stability can be achieved and development of these extraordinarily powerful systems can begin in earnest.
"God must be a bogeyman". Joni Mitchell
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