All articles tagged with #decoherence
Philip Ball surveys Wojciech Zurek’s decoherence framework and quantum Darwinism, arguing that entanglement with the environment creates robust, observable imprints that rapidly yield a unique classical reality, potentially reconciling Copenhagen and many-worlds without invoking collapse and offering a testable path to explain the quantum-to-classical transition.
Researchers cooled and sent a sodium cluster about 8 nm in diameter (≈170,000 amu) through an interferometer to reveal wave-like interference, marking the largest object observed in quantum superposition and showing quantum mechanics applies to sizeable nanoparticles despite decoherence in larger systems.
Physicists coaxed a beam of sodium nanoparticles (~7,000 atoms each) to behave as a single quantum wave, producing an interference pattern and setting a new record for macroscopic quantum states, hinting at future experiments that could place biological molecules in quantum states.
Physicists in Vienna demonstrated the largest quantum superposition yet by placing clusters of about 7,000 sodium atoms (≈8 nm across) into spatially distinct paths that interfere, showing that sizeable objects can exhibit wave-like behavior and informing the quantum‑classical boundary for future quantum technologies.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have developed a new superconductor material by combining trigonal tellurium with a thin film of gold, potentially enhancing quantum computing reliability. This interface superconductor, which becomes superconducting through the proximity effect, shows promise due to its robust quantum qualities and ability to suppress decoherence. The material's unique properties, including enhanced spin energy and resistance to magnetic fields, make it a promising candidate for future quantum computers, although further exploration is needed to determine its practical applications.
Researchers have achieved a significant milestone in quantum computing by extending the lifetime of quantum information beyond the breakeven point using Quantum Error Correction (QEC). By successfully mitigating the effects of decoherence, scientists have demonstrated that quantum information can be preserved and processed effectively in the presence of real-world noise. This experimental achievement opens up new possibilities for quantum information processing and paves the way for high-fidelity logical operations between error-corrected qubits, addressing the challenges posed by noise in quantum systems. The experiment utilized the grid code within an electromagnetic mode and was conducted at Yale University.
Researchers at the University of Chicago and Princeton University have found that the presence of a black hole is enough to turn a particle's hazy "superposition" into a well-defined reality, suggesting that black holes are observing the universe. The effect is one of many uncovered in the past decade by physicists studying what happens when quantum theory is combined with gravity at low energies. The authors argue that there is something uniquely "insidious" about this kind of decoherence, which will occur anywhere there is a horizon that only allows information to travel in one direction, creating the potential for causality paradoxes.
Physicists from the University of Chicago have proposed that the presence of a black hole tugs at the strings of a mass in a blur of quantum states and forces it to pick a single fate. They have now presented their views on different kinds of horizons, including Rindler horizons, which could produce a similar kind of decoherence in quantum states. This could lead to objective theories on how quantum states resolve into absolute measurements, and perhaps where gravity and quantum physics meet in a single overarching theory of physics.