Chinese scientists have made significant progress in quantum simulation technology

Chinese scientists have made significant progress in quantum simulation technology

A Chinese research team has realized Hall’s state of fractional quantum anomalous for photons for the first time using an independently developed quantum experimental system, the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) said on Monday.

Previously, the Hall state of fractional quantum anomalies, a strange quantum phenomenon, was mostly observed in electrons. But the USTC research team used photons to simulate it.

This breakthrough in quantum simulation technology is expected to drive progress in quantum physics and quantum computing research, said Pan Jianwei, a renowned Chinese quantum physicist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), at a press conference.

A team from USTC, led by Pan and Lu Chaoyang, has developed and named a new type of superconducting qubit, Plasmonium in independent research.

This breakthrough has successfully addressed two important challenges in realizing the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect with photons, providing new means for experimental observation and quantum manipulation.

Synthetic, controlled and more powerful quantum simulation approaches, freed from the limitations of natural systems, can be used to further investigate the mysteries of quantum states and explore the realization of fault-tolerant universal quantum computation, Pan said.

The Hall effect refers to the phenomenon where a voltage is generated perpendicular to the direction of both the current and the magnetic field when the current passes through a material placed in a magnetic field. This effect was discovered by the American scientist Edwin Hall in 1879 and has been widely used in the field of electromagnetic sensing.

The anomalous Hall effect refers to the observation of an associated effect without the need for an external magnetic field. In 2013, a Chinese research team observed the anomalous integer quantum Hall effect. In 2023, a team of researchers from the United States and China independently observed the Hall effect of fractional quantum anomalies.

The conventional approach to studying the quantum Hall effect in experiments involves using the existing structure and properties of specific materials to prepare the quantum Hall state, which requires strict experimental conditions including a very low temperature environment, high purity of two-dimensional materials, and strong. magnetic field.

Furthermore, traditional methods face challenges in independently manipulating and measuring the microscopic quantum state of a system at the position of a single point, limiting its application in quantum information science.

Artificially constructed quantum systems, on the other hand, offer clear and flexible structures and provide researchers with greater control and manipulation capabilities, making them a new paradigm for studying complex quantum states, Lu said.

This system does not require an external magnetic field. Through high-precision control, it enables comprehensive measurements of the microscopic properties of highly integrated quantum systems. Furthermore, it allows for a more controlled use of these properties, Lu added.

his type of technology is known as quantum simulation and is an important component of the second quantum revolution. It is expected to be used in the near future to simulate computationally challenging quantum systems for classical computers, eventually achieving the superiority of quantum computing.

This achievement is expected to have a great impact on the future development of quantum technology, said Chang Jin, vice president of CAS, at the press conference.

“We hope that the development of quantum technology will continue to advance through the efforts of the global scientific community and international cooperation. By transforming relevant basic research achievements into key technologies that drive social progress and economic development, quantum technology will become innovative. new quality productive power and energy sources, ” said Chang.

“This is a remarkable achievement, both scientifically and technically, and achieving such a goal has been one of the holy grails of quantum simulation for many years in many laboratories around the world,” said Peter Zoller, winner of the Wolf Prize in Physics and also chair professor at the University of Innsbruck.

Frank Wilczek, a Nobel laureate in physics, hailed the study as a “very promising idea” and a “very impressive experiment” that represented an “extraordinary step” in quantum information processing.