Beyond computation ...

 

A new system developed by researchers at the University of Rochester allows them to conduct quantum simulations in a synthetic space that mimics the physical world by controlling the frequency, or color, of quantum entangled photons as time elapses.
Credit: University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw

Everybody talks about quantum computing from the code-breaking and factoring side of things due to the fact the compute power of said systems goes beyond computation because qubits can be 0s AND 1s at the same time, thus exponentially increasing the ability to solve difficult problems beyond the kin of serial processing via bits - 0s OR 1s, the way every non-QC system in the world crunches data. With this said, the real power of QC may be its ability to recreate reality in finite space, a concept discussed in detail by Seth Lloyd in his seminal book titled Programming the Universe.

Recreating reality was just a conjecture, until now.

Scientists have made an important step toward developing computers advanced enough to simulate complex natural phenomena at the quantum level. While these types of simulations are too cumbersome or outright impossible for classical computers to handle, photonics-based quantum computing systems could provide a solution.

A team of researchers from the University of Rochester’s Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences developed a new chip-scale optical quantum simulation system that could help make such a system feasible. The team, led by Qiang Lin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and optics, published their findings on June 22 in the journal Nature Photonics.

Lin’s team ran the simulations in a synthetic space that mimics the physical world by controlling the frequency, or color, of quantum entangled photons as time elapses. This approach differs from the traditional photonics-based computing methods in which the paths of photons are controlled, and also drastically reduces the physical footprint and resource requirements.

“For the first time, we have been able to produce a quantum-correlated synthetic crystal,” says Lin. “Our approach significantly extends the dimensions of the synthetic space, enabling us to perform simulations of several quantum-scale phenomena such as random walks of quantum entangled photons.”

The researchers say that this system can serve as a basis
for more intricate simulations in the future.

Channeling the monolith ...