IBM shares suffer historic fall as it misses out on AI spending Computer group has not ‘adapted and moved quickly enough’ as its clients prioritise artificial intelligence hardware Previous Article Next Article
Imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub for advanced semiconductor technologies, and Diraq, a pioneer of silicon-based quantum computing, today announce they have demonstrated the coherent operation and readout of an eight silicon MOS spin-qubit array designed and fabricated on imec’s advanced 300 mm spin-qubit technology platform using a CMOS-compatible process. The results, published in a Nature Communications paper, mark an important step toward scalable quantum processors manufactured with the same industrial technologies used to produce today’s most advanced semiconductor chips. Silicon spin qubits are widely regarded as one of the most promising pathways to large-scale quantum computing because they can exploit the infrastructure, supply chains and manufacturing expertise already developed by the semiconductor industry. The work of this paper builds on imec and Diraq’s earlier demonstration, in a 2025 Nature paper, showing that industrially manufactured silicon spin qubits can achieve fidelity levels required for quantum error correction. While that result established the viability of individual and two-qubit building blocks, today’s work extends this and demonstrates that imec’s process can be scaled to larger arrays: an eight-qubit linear array was demonstrated, maintaining the coherence and controllability required for future large-scale quantum computers. In addition, scaling the readout architecture for this larger array does not require a significant increase in sensor count, wiring density, or thermal load; this type of favorable scaling ratio points toward arrays that remain highly compact as they grow, which is required for large scale quantum processors. The eight-qubit devices were fabricated on imec’s 300 mm silicon spin-qubit platform, which leverages CMOS-compatible manufacturing technology developed over nearly a decade of process optimization and engineering, bridging the gap between laboratory demonstrations and manufacturable quantum technologies. “The future of quantum computing depends not only on qubit quality but also on the ability to manufacture increasingly complex quantum processors with
TECHNOLOGY State, Roadrunner lure Illinois quantum startup to Albuquerque Photon Queue is getting $500,000 to grow its quantum memory tech The New Mexico Economic Development Department and Roadrunner Venture Studios awarded $500,000 in grant funding to Photon Queue, an Illinois quantum computing startup, to locate and hire in Albuquerque. Roadrunner Venture Studios is an Albuquerque firm that invests in early-stage deep technology startups such as Photon Queue, a two-year-old company, and provides them with resources to grow. Last year, the state awarded Roadrunner $25 million to create a quantum venture studio campus in Downtown Albuquerque. There, quantum computing companies and enthusiasts can test their ideas on the world’s first open-access quantum network and expensive machinery such as dilution refrigerators that run it. “Photon Queue is exactly the kind of high-growth, high-impact company New Mexico is working to attract and support,” Nora Meyers Sackett, director of the department’s Technology and Innovation Office, said in a statement. “The company’s decision to establish operations here reflects the strength of New Mexico’s emerging quantum ecosystem and our commitment to investing in the next generation of advanced technology jobs.” Photon Queue is developing memory systems for quantum computing that its co-founder and CEO, Nathan Arnold, said will bypass the need for that expensive hardware. In an interview, Arnold likened his technology to RAM, or random-access memory, used in traditional computing. “Our overall goals are to become the premier provider of this memory technology to the quantum computing field,” Arnold said. “Really, we want our memory system to be embedded into the full stack of every quantum computer out there regardless of the qubit modality.” Qubits are the units of information that make quantum computing powerful. Compared to binary bits of 1s and 0s used to transmit data in modern computing, qubits can exist in multiple
The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) USA and quantum adoption firm FormationQ have announced a first-of-its-kind, two-year research partnership to apply quantum computing to behavioral ecology. Launching on World Chimpanzee Day, the program will explore how environmental and ecological variables influence whether primate societies evolve toward cooperation or intergroup conflict. Mapping the Evolutionary Divide via Agent-Based Modeling The program, Ecology of War and Peace, leverages more than six decades of field observations gathered by Dr. Jane Goodall in Gombe, Tanzania, to solve a long-standing evolutionary puzzle. Despite sharing close genetic lineages, chimpanzees frequently engage in organized, lethal intergroup aggression, whereas bonobos peacefully socialize across community boundaries. To model this behavioral divide, researchers rely on B3GET, a highly complex agent-based model developed at the University of Minnesota. In this virtual environment, digital primates forage, migrate, reproduce, and clash across dynamic artificial terrains. - The Computational Bottleneck: Simulating how dozens of shifting ecological variables—such as localized food distribution, seasonal home ranges, and community cohesion rules—interact simultaneously quickly overwhelms classical computing architectures. - The Quantum-Classical Hybrid Approach: FormationQ will work alongside the University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute to map these multi-variable simulations onto IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum computers. - Conservation Outcomes: By resolving these highly complex models, the team aims to better understand how resource scarcity and habitat loss correlate with wild primate mortality. These findings will assist conservationists in modeling population survival rates and identifying optimal habitats for targeted protection. The initiative represents a unique, non-traditional use case for quantum algorithms, demonstrating how quantum hardware can simulate highly complex, non-linear natural systems well before fault-tolerant, utility-scale devices are fully realized. Review the official joint announcement on the Jane Goodall Institute Press Room here. July 14, 2026
Quantinuum (NASDAQ: QNT), Rolls-Royce, Riverlane, and EPCC (the UK National Supercomputing Centre at the University of Edinburgh) have announced a multi-year collaboration to develop hybrid quantum-classical workflows. The partnership will focus on modeling complex computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for gas turbine design. [ Joint CFD Project Matrix ] Hardware Partner ──► Quantinuum (providing access to the 98-qubit Helios platform). Industrial Lead ──► Rolls-Royce (providing gas turbine use cases and domain expertise). Error Correction ──► Riverlane (providing QEC stack and fault-tolerant algorithms). HPC Integration ──► EPCC (managing supercomputing compiler & hybrid workflows).Transitioning from Emulation to Physical Hardware The agreement marks a shift for Rolls-Royce, Riverlane, and EPCC. For nearly five years, these three partners have co-developed and refined hybrid algorithms using classical emulators. Under this new agreement, the consortium will begin executing these algorithms on physical quantum hardware, utilizing Quantinuum’s trapped-ion Helios platform, with future scaling planned for upcoming systems like Sol and Apollo. - Addressing CFD Bottlenecks: Simulating fluid dynamics inside gas turbines is computationally intensive, frequently creating bottlenecks in classical supercomputing design cycles. - Hybrid Workflow Integration: Rather than replacing classical supercomputers, the project explores how fault-tolerant quantum computers can accelerate specific mathematical subroutines. EPCC will lead the effort to compile, emulate, and partition tasks between classical and quantum resources. - UK Quantum Strategy Alignment: The multi-year project directly supports the UK Government’s mission to field “teraQuOp” systems capable of executing one trillion error-free quantum operations. (Editor’s Note: This hardware-focused collaboration builds on Rolls-Royce’s ongoing software exploration in this domain, complementing their recent work with Classiq to integrate quantum linear solvers into iterative CFD environments.) Review the official joint announcement via the Quantinuum Pressroom here. July 14, 2026
Quantinuum (NASDAQ: QNT), Rolls-Royce, Riverlane, and EPCC (the UK National Supercomputing Centre at the University of Edinburgh) have announced a multi-year collaboration to develop hybrid quantum-classical workflows. The partnership will focus on modeling complex computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for gas turbine design. [ Joint CFD Project Matrix ] Hardware Partner ──► Quantinuum (providing access to the 98-qubit Helios platform). Industrial Lead ──► Rolls-Royce (providing gas turbine use cases and domain expertise). Error Correction ──► Riverlane (providing QEC stack and fault-tolerant algorithms). HPC Integration ──► EPCC (managing supercomputing compiler & hybrid workflows).Transitioning from Emulation to Physical Hardware The agreement marks a shift for Rolls-Royce, Riverlane, and EPCC. For nearly five years, these three partners have co-developed and refined hybrid algorithms using classical emulators. Under this new agreement, the consortium will begin executing these algorithms on physical quantum hardware, utilizing Quantinuum’s trapped-ion Helios platform, with future scaling planned for upcoming systems like Sol and Apollo. - Addressing CFD Bottlenecks: Simulating fluid dynamics inside gas turbines is computationally intensive, frequently creating bottlenecks in classical supercomputing design cycles. - Hybrid Workflow Integration: Rather than replacing classical supercomputers, the project explores how fault-tolerant quantum computers can accelerate specific mathematical subroutines. EPCC will lead the effort to compile, emulate, and partition tasks between classical and quantum resources. - UK Quantum Strategy Alignment: The multi-year project directly supports the UK Government’s mission to field “teraQuOp” systems capable of executing one trillion error-free quantum operations. (Editor’s Note: This hardware-focused collaboration builds on Rolls-Royce’s ongoing software exploration in this domain, complementing their recent work with Classiq to integrate quantum linear solvers into iterative CFD environments.) Review the official joint announcement via the Quantinuum Pressroom here. July 14, 2026 Leave A Comment
The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) USA and quantum adoption firm FormationQ have announced a first-of-its-kind, two-year research partnership to apply quantum computing to behavioral ecology. Launching on World Chimpanzee Day, the program will explore how environmental and ecological variables influence whether primate societies evolve toward cooperation or intergroup conflict. Mapping the Evolutionary Divide via Agent-Based Modeling The program, Ecology of War and Peace, leverages more than six decades of field observations gathered by Dr. Jane Goodall in Gombe, Tanzania, to solve a long-standing evolutionary puzzle. Despite sharing close genetic lineages, chimpanzees frequently engage in organized, lethal intergroup aggression, whereas bonobos peacefully socialize across community boundaries. To model this behavioral divide, researchers rely on B3GET, a highly complex agent-based model developed at the University of Minnesota. In this virtual environment, digital primates forage, migrate, reproduce, and clash across dynamic artificial terrains. - The Computational Bottleneck: Simulating how dozens of shifting ecological variables—such as localized food distribution, seasonal home ranges, and community cohesion rules—interact simultaneously quickly overwhelms classical computing architectures. - The Quantum-Classical Hybrid Approach: FormationQ will work alongside the University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute to map these multi-variable simulations onto IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum computers. - Conservation Outcomes: By resolving these highly complex models, the team aims to better understand how resource scarcity and habitat loss correlate with wild primate mortality. These findings will assist conservationists in modeling population survival rates and identifying optimal habitats for targeted protection. The initiative represents a unique, non-traditional use case for quantum algorithms, demonstrating how quantum hardware can simulate highly complex, non-linear natural systems well before fault-tolerant, utility-scale devices are fully realized. Review the official joint announcement on the Jane Goodall Institute Press Room here. July 14, 2026 Leave A Comment
Getty Images/tadamichi Closing the delivery gap: 3 ways to turn federal AI access into mission use Commentary Read more
About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket © 2026 Google LLC
On July 7, 2026, Oratomic, a neutral atom quantum computing company focused on building the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computers, announced that it raised $300 million in its Series A round co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Khosla Ventures, alongside Bezos Expeditions, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, Lowercarbon Capital, Bain Capital, Formation, Nebular, David and Scott Aaronson, and others. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised Oratomic on the transaction. The Wilson Sonsini team that advised Oratomic on the transaction includes Andrew Gillman, Madisyn Klein, and Patrick Begian. For more information, please see Oratomic's blog post. Additional coverage can be found on TechCrunch.
War Department Details Post-Quantum Cryptography Roadmap The Pentagon is accelerating PQC adoption across military networks, weapons systems and the defense industrial base under a new strategy. The War Department’s first enterprise-wide strategy to transition military systems to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) sets firm deadlines to secure high-impact national security systems by 2030 and the broader force by 2031 as quantum computing threatens today’s encryption. The strategy outlined how the department will deploy quantum-resistant cryptography across military networks, command-and-control systems and weapons platforms. It followed one day after President Donald Trump’s June 22 executive orders on quantum innovation and national security. “Empowering the warfighter is the relentless objective that drives every program,” Pentagon CIO Kirsten Davies said in the strategy’s accompanying fact sheet. “To deliver on Secretary [Pete] Hegseth’s vision of the most lethal and dominant military force in the world, our networks must be impenetrable.” While practical quantum computers remain years away, officials warn adversaries could already be collecting encrypted military communications with plans to decrypt them once the technology matures — a threat commonly known as “harvest now, decrypt later.” The strategy aims to replace today’s vulnerable public-key encryption with quantum-resistant algorithms before that happens. Experts say national security systems must begin the transition now because migrating cryptographic infrastructure across the Defense Department will take years. “If there are other nations that get ahead of us as far as post-quantum cryptography is concerned, they have a head start in terms of security,” Prathibha Rama, computer engineer at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, said during CyberScape: The Federal Cybersecurity Summit in April. “They won’t have to worry about it in five to 10 years down the line when quantum computers are around. We’ll be behind.” DOW’s Enterprise Migration Strategy The plan establishes five priorities for the department’s transition: - Centralized
(The Center Square) – Tennessee officials are establishing a $3 million funding commitment to attract quantum computing teams to the state, according to the governor's office. The program announced Monday would provide National Science Foundation X-Labs quantum teams up to $3 million, workforce development, and partnerships with state industries, national laboratories, universities and utilities, the governor's office said. Gov. Bill Lee added a separate $43 million to the fiscal year 2027 budget to "accelerate Tennessee’s quantum computing industry by attracting substantial federal and private-sector investment and to translate our scientific strengths into durable, high-wage job creation across advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and logistics industries." “Over the past few years, Tennessee has earned the reputation as having one of the strongest quantum ecosystems in the country,” Lee said in a statement. “This investment will help ensure that the companies developing tomorrow's quantum technologies will choose our state to grow, cultivate high-quality jobs and bring new innovations.” The state's economic arm for startups, known as LaunchTN, is giving companies that are awarded National Science Foundation X-Labs grants priority for matching state funds, according to the governor's office. “Tennessee is uniquely positioned to help quantum companies move from breakthrough research to real-world deployment,” said Deputy Governor and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter. “We’re shifting our economic development strategy from simply recruiting projects to orchestrating ecosystems where companies and innovators can access the partners, infrastructure, and talent they need to succeed, and today’s announcement signals a clear message that we’re ready to do so.” The National Science Foundation, a federal agency, defines quantum technologies as those that "make use of quantum properties (such as entanglement and superposition) found in particles of matter and energy, like atoms and photons. This allows quantum sensors to detect finer details and quantum computers to potentially solve
Researchers have developed a new quantum algorithm, the quantum Hermite transform, representing a move beyond the limited number of operations currently available for quantum computers to outperform classical systems. The collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Northeastern University, Google Quantum AI, and University of Texas at Austin addresses a critical need for more versatile “primitives,” the fundamental building blocks of quantum computation. Hermite transforms are widely used in engineering and physics to describe the energy levels of the quantum harmonic oscillator and also underpin many Gaussian systems common in machine learning and data science, suggesting broad applications for this new capability. “The quantum Hermite transform is a quantum algorithm that implements the Hermite transform on a quantum state,” said Ning Bao, an assistant professor at Northeastern University with a joint appointment in Brookhaven Lab’s Computing and Data Sciences Directorate, whose DOE-funded project initiated the work. Quantum Hermite Transform as a Novel Primitive The development of genuinely useful quantum algorithms remains a significant hurdle in realizing the promise of quantum computing; currently, the field suffers from a limited number of standardized operations, or “primitives,” capable of delivering a quantum advantage. This innovation isn’t simply a quantum analogue of a classical mathematical tool, but a structurally distinct primitive poised to expand the scope of quantum computation, particularly in areas like artificial intelligence. Historically, performing these transforms on quantum computers has been inefficient. The team overcame this obstacle by designing a quantum circuit that executes the transform with logarithmic overhead, a substantial improvement even for large quantum states. This circuit leverages precise approximations of Hermite functions and a technique to the harmonic oscillator, allowing quantum computers to rapidly calculate future states. Combined with novel methods for configuring qubits, the quantum Hermite transform emerges as a practical and precise
Useful quantum computers will require fault tolerant logical operations. Researchers are actively exploring many different quantum error correction (QEC) codes to enable this, improving the Logical Error Rates (LER) of Quantum Processing Units (QPUs). While it is well understood how to run logical operations with surface codes (which belong to the topological code family) via lattice surgery, they are qubit efficient for memory but suboptimal relative to other topological codes for performing fault-tolerant logical computation. Quantum low-density parity-check (QLDPC) codes are another type of QEC scheme that require the least physical qubits for memory due to their constant rates. However, it is still unclear how both Clifford and non-Clifford gates can be performed efficiently at the logical level with QLDPC codes. Color Codes are another type of topological code that are well understood. Although they require more physical qubits for memory than surface codes to achieve the same target logical failure rate, they can perform logical gates more efficiently than surface codes due to their ability to do all Clifford gates transversally and the symmetry of their representation resulting in simpler lattice surgery operations. With fast and accurate decoders, it is likely that parameter regimes exist where logic with color codes could be more efficient than logic with surface codes. Given that decoding color codes is much harder than decoding surface codes, color codes have historically been shelved due to a lack of fast and accurate decoders, which enable users to leverage these codes in real time. NVIDIA Ising Decoder ColorCode 1 Fast is designed to accelerate and improve the LER of color code decoders, enabling more than 347.7x better LER, and 7.3x faster runtime compared with the state of the art color code decoder Chromobius for d=31 and physical error rate of 0.3%. Such results bring color codes back
NSF to bar research collaborations with restricted foreign entities The National Science Foundation announced last week that it plans to introduce a new policy prohibiting the use of NSF funds for research in collaboration with entities that the Department of Defense and other agencies have flagged as national security risks. The policy refers to lists of entities that include many Chinese companies, such as telecommunications giant Huawei, and some Chinese universities. The forthcoming policy, which NSF plans to implement in fiscal year 2027, alongside the agency’s new financial assistance guidance, would also prohibit leading researchers on NSF awards from holding appointments with, or receiving research support from, any restricted entities. When the policy goes into effect, institutions submitting NSF proposals will be required to certify compliance with the new requirements and will be responsible for ensuring researchers are informed of the changes. NSF’s current research security risk mitigation measures are “not sufficient,” the agency said in the Dear Colleague Letter announcing the policy. The agency also said that aligning its approach with the Department of Defense’s research collaboration rules (which were introduced earlier this year) would promote consistency and reduce administrative burden. Republicans on the House Committee on the CCP, who have pushed for tighter restrictions on research collaboration, welcomed NSF’s announcement, with Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) describing the changes as “commendable and commonsense” policy reforms. “Prohibiting federal funding from being used to collaborate with Chinese entities that are national security risks or human rights abusers is straightforward and all federal agencies should follow the lead of the Pentagon and NSF,” Moolenaar said. In his statement, Moolenaar called on Congress to pass the Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries Act – a bill he introduced in May that would codify similar rules and apply them across the federal government. The
US quantum computing needs a national buyer Subscribe to unlock this article Try unlimited access Only $1 for 4 weeksThen $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Cancel anytime during your trial. Explore more offers. Standard Digital $45 per month Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Pay a year upfront and save 20%. Premium Digital Complete coverage $75 per month Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. Pay a year upfront and save 20%. Premium & FT Weekend Print $79 per month FT Weekend newspaper delivered Saturday plus complete digital access. Check whether you already have access via your university or organisation. Terms & Conditions apply Explore our full range of subscriptions. For individuals Discover all the plans currently available in your country For multiple readers Digital access for organisations. Includes exclusive features and content. Why the FT? See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times.
Containing multitudes: SLAC scientist collaborates to create scalable qubits Developing quantum dots for next-generation science News Room Studying an object with zero dimensions takes serious creativity. Consider the singularity — a point packed with infinite energy that sparked the Big Bang. Or the humble mathematical point, an abstract but indispensable fixture in space-time. Grasping a thing that has no size or shape demands imagination and rigor. Or take qubits. Manipulating these zero-dimensional, information-carrying ripples in quantum space requires mental and manual dexterity. Yet those who work on qubits seldom tout the rich set of skills they bring to bear on their research. The scientific endeavor’s many creative dimensions are what drew Shannon Harvey to the work of finessing these dimensionless bits of information. “What I love about working in quantum information is that we can use today’s technologies to play with nature’s quantum features, something that until recently would have seemed incredible,” said Harvey, a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. “I really thrive on the multifaceted nature of this research, solving and coming up with problems by embedding myself in the experimental details and trying to understand how they all fit together. For me, scientific exploration involves reading and writing papers, solving math problems, even soldering and welding. Often within the same day.” Harvey brings her multifaceted set of skills to Q-NEXT, a DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Center led by DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory in partnership with SLAC. A national research hub, Q-NEXT aims to coax nature’s quantum features into sharing information over distances large and small. It’s a collaborative effort that’s helped by a knack for futzing with particles. The particle of Harvey’s attention is a type of qubit called a quantum dot. Picture an electron, a tiny ripple bopping
The Aspirations Of HPE And Dell In The Quantum-Classical HPC Datacenter There are any number of ways to track the expanding development of quantum computing, from the strides being made in error-corrected qubits – logical qubits – and fault-tolerant systems to the software and algorithms cropping up around them. Another way is look at the work traditional hardware OEMs are putting into collaborating with quantum computing vendors and getting the necessary infrastructure in order for hybrid quantum-classical HPC datacenters. Such hybrid datacenters going to be what will bridge the gap between theoretical vision of quantum computing and the practical use by enterprises. As we have previously covered, Cisco Systems is accelerating its work in creating the vendor-neutral networking layer for quantum computing, from developing the architecture to its Universal Quantum Switch prototype, unveiled in April. Nvidia clearly sees a quantum future where QPUs share the stage with GPUs and CPUs, along with the quantum-focused product lineup it’s putting together. “We don’t build quantum computers, and yet we are deeply integrated into the quantum computing industry and we create libraries,” Nvidia co-founder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang said last year. “CUDA-Q is the programming model for hybrid classical accelerated quantum. We have cuQuantum, libraries that help you simulate quantum circuits, and DGX-Quantum, to do error correction in quantum computers. We partner with them, we support them, we help them in any possible way.” More recently, at their respective user conferences, both HPE and Dell gave quantum computing a greater presence than in past events, putting a spotlight on everything from partnerships to architecture for the hybrid datacenters as well as the cloud to expectations of how quantum computing will roll out. At its Discover 2026 show last month, HPE announced partnerships with Intel, IQM Quantum Computers, Quantinuum, QuEra, and Rigetti,
Researchers have developed an algorithm that reduces the computational demands of simulating complex, real-world quantum systems on current quantum hardware. The team reports a method for simulating Lindbladian dynamics, the behavior of open quantum systems subject to environmental noise, by compressing the quantum circuits needed to represent these systems. For open quantum systems with Pauli dissipations, the algorithm utilizes a depth-adaptive parameterized quantum circuit trained to replace computationally expensive steps, effectively shortening the simulation time. This training procedure offers an advantage for near-term, resource-constrained devices, providing a practical route toward ancilla-free and depth-reduced simulation of open quantum systems. Pauli dissipations present a specific challenge in modeling open quantum systems, and researchers have devised an algorithm to address this mechanism with a compact mixed-unitary adjoint channel. This approach allows for ancilla-free implementation through trajectory sampling, a significant advantage given the limited qubit availability on current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. The team reports deriving a stable approximation to accurately represent the dissipative dynamics inherent in these systems. This compression strategy minimizes the circuit depth needed to simulate quantum trajectories, addressing a key bottleneck for NISQ-era quantum simulation. The training process for this compression framework can be completed, bypassing the need for additional quantum resources often required by other algorithms. Numerical simulations using the dissipative quantum XY model demonstrate both the accuracy and efficiency gains of this new method, offering a practical route toward simulating complex open quantum systems. The challenge of modeling open quantum systems on near-term devices continues to drive algorithmic innovation; current limitations stem from both the non-unitary nature of dissipation and the finite resources of available quantum processors. Researchers are now focusing on methods to efficiently simulate these systems, specifically targeting Pauli dissipations with a newly developed algorithm that utilizes a compact and stable mixed-unitary adjoint channel to
A 200-year-old physics experiment could help build future computers A 200-year-old light phenomenon has given scientists a surprisingly simple way to create futuristic light structures that could help shape tomorrow's computing technologies. - Date: - July 13, 2026 - Source: - Nanyang Technological University - Summary: - Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have discovered a surprisingly simple way to create exotic light structures called optical skyrmions using a 200-year-old optical effect known as the Poisson spot. Instead of relying on expensive, highly engineered materials, they simply shine a laser at a tiny circular disc, producing stable swirling patterns in light that researchers believe could one day help power advanced data storage, communications, and computing technologies. - Share: Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have found a much simpler way to produce unusual light structures known as optical skyrmions by reviving a classic optics experiment that dates back more than 200 years. Optical skyrmions are tiny, stable swirling patterns formed within the properties of light. Their structure has often been compared to the spines of a hedgehog. Because they can potentially encode and store information, researchers see them as promising building blocks for future data storage, communications, and computing technologies. Instead of relying on expensive, highly engineered metamaterials that have traditionally been needed to generate optical skyrmions, the NTU team created them by shining a laser at a small circular disc. The approach provides a far simpler way to produce, study, and control these complex light structures. The findings, published in the journal Optica, were led by Nanyang Assistant Professor Shen Yijie from NTU's School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. "What is remarkable is that optical skyrmions can now be generated using a simple effect where light bends around an