Microsoft is one of the tech giants that pursue the Holy Grail of modern technology which is a functional quantum computer. Its team at Station Q quantum laboratory at the University of Sydney is on to something. They are ready to write a brand new chapter in quantum computing thanks to a 1937 discovery of a strange type of particles.
The New Chapter in Quantum Computing Will Be Written with a 1937 Discovery of a New Particle
The Microsoft team is closer than ever to creating the next generation of ‘quantum-engineered devices.’ They will eventually play a core part in the first practical topological quantum computers. This type of equipment can control qubits through the manipulation of some strange subatomic particles entitled Majorana fermions.
These units were actually first discovered in 1937 by a physics pioneer called Ettore Majorana. Unfortunately, this brilliant mind didn’t have enough time to expand his theories and ideas on paper in their entirety. That’s because, on March 25, 1938, the scientist embarked from Palermo to Naples to never to appear again on the face of the Earth. His disappearance put an end on an extremely promising lead.
However, today’s brilliant minds picked up this study from where it was left to find a groundbreaking solution to quantum computing. So far, experts managed to build such complex computers. However, their performance is impaired by interference from electromagnetic ‘noise.’
Majorana Fermions Are Key to Developing the Perfect Environment for Qubits
Microsoft team published a paper in journal Nature where they explain how the Majorana fermions can be a solution to the failed first-generation of quantum devices. They have not only written the theory for creating the perfect environment for qubits without noise, but they are already creating equipment following the new concept.
Evidence for the existence of Majorana fermions appeared in 2012. However, many experts sought the explanation for such a strange particle someplace else. The new paper is the first concrete proof that attests such a presence. As a result, Microsoft might be the first creator of a practical topological quantum computer.
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