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May 29, 2026 · via ft.com
Newsroom Scientists have developed a quantum-classical computational framework to study many-fermion response and structure. The new approach, published in Physics Letters B, integrates quantum computing with classical computing techniques to resolve the long-standing bottleneck that has limited ab initio calculations of strongly interacting systems. Response functions are fundamental physical observables for probing the structural and dynamical properties of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems, with extensive applications in nuclear physics, quantum chemistry and other fields. But there is a major challenge: the Hilbert space for such strongly correlated quantum many-body problems grows exponentially with the number of particles. This makes ab initio calculations for systems larger than a moderate size impossible even for the most powerful classical computers. Quantum computing, which is well-suited for large-scale computations in quantum many-body physics, offers a promising avenue to overcome this bottleneck. The development of quantum computing technologies, as well as theories and algorithms tailored for quantum many-body problems, is currently one of the leading research focuses in the interdisciplinary field of nuclear physics and quantum computing worldwide. Researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators have built an efficient and scalable quantum-classical hybrid framework to solve large-scale many-fermion problems. The framework includes a low-overhead quantum encoding scheme independently developed by the team. As a result, it significantly reduces the cost of circuit compilation. It also performs a unified self-consistent calculation of the full bound-state spectra and response functions of many-fermion systems under realistic nuclear interactions. To check whether the new framework works, the researchers performed precise calculations of the excitation energy spectra of oxygen-19. The results showed that the calculations from this framework matched those obtained from classical computations. The researchers said this adaptable framework opens a new path for ab initio studies of
May 29, 2026 · via english.cas.cn
QBTS or RGTI: Which Quantum Stock Stands Out on $2B Federal Fund? Pure-play quantum computing stocks received a strong boost on May 21 after the U.S. Department of Commerce announced letters of intent totaling approximately $2.013 billion in proposed CHIPS and Science Act incentives for nine quantum-related companies, including seven quantum-computing developers. Among the pure-play quantum companies selected, D-Wave Quantum QBTS and Rigetti Computing RGTI each received up to $100 million in proposed federal funding. The announcement triggered a sharp rally across quantum stocks and has reignited investor interest in the sector. Following the announcement, shares of QBTS and RGTI surged 14.6% and 22.6%, respectively, compared with the S&P 500’s 1% gain. The key question now is, which stock offers the better opportunity following this landmark government endorsement? Let’s find out. QBTS: Federal Support to Expand Market Reach D-Wave received a Letter of Intent from the U.S. Department of Commerce for $100 million in proposed CHIPS and Science Act funding, making it one of only seven quantum-computing companies selected for federal support. The funding supports D-Wave's strategy of combining its established annealing systems with emerging gate-model quantum capabilities. What differentiates D-Wave from many quantum peers is its focus on commercial deployment today. The company recently secured a $10 million, two-year quantum-computing-as-a-service agreement with a Fortune 100 customer. D-Wave's annealing systems are already being used to tackle complex optimization challenges across logistics, manufacturing, scheduling and supply-chain management. This can lead to a clearer path to near-term revenue generation than many of its competitors that are focused primarily on long-term research milestones. RGTI: Another Key Beneficiary of America's Quantum Push Rigetti also received a Letter of Intent for up to $100 million in proposed CHIPS and Science Act funding to accelerate R&D aimed at addressing key technical challenges in scaling and advancing
May 29, 2026 · via tradingview.com
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) presented on Thursday the third computer dedicated to quantum computing, the EuroQCS-Spain, co-financed with an investment of 9.8 million euros by the European Commission EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the Government of Spain, through the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Public Function, which contributes 4.8 million euros. Digital Transformation reported that, thanks to an analog encoding of information, the new system provides a complementary quantum technology to that previously installed at the center and will be available to researchers across Europe. With this addition, installed in the renovated chapel of Torre Girona, MareNostrum 5 becomes one of the first supercomputers in the world to combine classical computing (with general-purpose and accelerated partitions) and digital and analog quantum computing (with the two quantum computers installed by the Quantum Spain project and the State Secretariat for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence and this latest one, respectively). Of the total investment of this project, 8.5 million euros corresponded to the installation of the machines, with a 50% co-financing between EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the Government of Spain, and the rest, to the combination of the quantum machine with the classical infrastructure. Creation of technology This new quantum system will be part of the European network of interconnected quantum computers in the infrastructure of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU). To date, it has acquired six quantum computers located throughout Europe, three of which (Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany) are already inaugurated. The portfolio led by Óscar López emphasized that these technologies are key in the Quantum Europe Strategy, which seeks to make Europe a world leader in this field by 2030 and consolidate technological sovereignty, industrial competitiveness, and Europe's security. The new quantum computer was presented at an event in the chapel of Torre
May 29, 2026 · via escudodigital.com
As the race to lead the nation in quantum technology heats up, lawmakers and others are vying to make Massachusetts a front-runner. State leaders are committing millions of dollars for a new quantum center and lawmakers are also considering new legislation to create a public quantum center and investment fund. On Thursday, Gov. Maura Healey joined MIT leaders to announce a commitment of up to $25 million in state matching funds to help establish the Quantum Systems Laboratory, or QSL, at the university. The lab, which is expected to get under construction this summer, is set to become the home of the MIT Quantum Initiative. QSL is meant to be a shared-use facility and expected to be the first in the world to bring quantum computers together with quantum sensors and peripherals through physical channels that transfer information, according to MIT. “This facility will serve those at the edges of our wildest imaginations in physics and quantum computing, yes,” said MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “But it will also equip the talent in our region — and ultimately, our nation — to push our knowledge to new limits, and new innovations.” The project is expected to create 164 construction jobs along with up 100 jobs in supply chain and professional services, according to Healey’s office. QSL is expected to create 220 permanent jobs once it’s open. State funding for the project comes from the Commonwealth Federal Match and Debt Reduction Fund, according to Healey’s office. The fund is supported by interest earned on the state Stabilization Fund, with expenses permitted to pursue federal funding and pay off debt. Massachusetts’ contribution matches a portion of federal funding for quantum research that’s already underway at MIT, the governor’s office said. “This is a major economic development opportunity for Massachusetts that will strengthen our
May 29, 2026 · via bostonherald.com
Somewhere in Oxfordshire, a computer chip the size of a fingernail sits close to ten millikelvin in temperature — one hundredth of a degree above absolute zero. The cold matters; quantum effects are fragile, and heat shakes them apart. Chill the chip that far and it performs calculations no classical computer can match. Calculations like simulating a new drug molecule atom by atom; designing a battery material that doesn't yet exist; cracking the encryption today's banks rely on. This is a quantum computer, and for the first time, it is nearly here. Britain's stake in that race is the National Quantum Computing Centre. Founded in 2020, its job is to build the science and ready the country for what comes next. And at the 2026 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, the work goes public as part of FOS Future Lab presented by Randox. Daisy Shearer is NQCC's quantum computing outreach and education lead, and has spent considerable time persuading children, parents and the occasional dinner party guest that quantum is not, in fact, code for ‘we don't really know’. "Quantum is all about the things that we see at the really tiny scale of life. And actually, everything around us in the world is quantum mechanical. It's just that we're too big and noisy to see those effects," says Shearer. It sounds a bit like The Force in Star Wars, but we're the wrong size to notice it. Where a regular computer thinks in ones and zeros — the binary running every screen you've ever looked at — a quantum computer thinks in qubits. A qubit is a one and a zero at the same time, until you measure it. Shearer explains with a coin. "Rather than having to use heads or tails, one or zero, we can now
May 29, 2026 · via goodwood.com
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May 29, 2026 · via youtube.com
Perimeter Institute exploring interplay of quantum mechanical laws and information processing The promise of quantum computing points to a future where highly complex problems that would have taken months, even years, to tackle with classic computers can be solved at staggering speeds and with greater precision. Think molecule simulation for drug development, traffic analysis for optimized urban planning or environmental modelling to reverse climate change – all happening in days, hours or minutes. But for this envisioned future to become reality, researchers must first resolve a persistent issue that plagues today’s quantum computer prototypes: errors triggered by causes ranging from temperature changes and electromagnetic field disruptions to imperfections in quantum circuits and algorithms. “If everything works nicely in the quantum world, we could have very powerful quantum computers capable of performing certain large-scale, complex tasks very quickly,” explains Beni Yoshida, a quantum information scientist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ont. “But errors are everywhere – things like signal loss or temperature changes in the room, or even cosmic rays coming from the sky can affect the quantum information.” Dr. Yoshida is among a highly specialized group of quantum information scientists at Perimeter conducting world-class research into how quantum mechanical laws of nature affect information processing. For example, in quantum mechanics, atoms can be in a quantum “superposition” or, essentially, in multiple states simultaneously until the system is measured. In a quantum computer, this translates into the ability to process the same information multiple ways at the same time using quantum bits – or qubits for short – that can represent the binary codes zero and one simultaneously. But these ultra-fast, parallel computations can’t happen when errors get in the way – a problem that’s currently stalling the development of large-scale quantum computers. The solution lies in
May 29, 2026 · via theglobeandmail.com
This supercomputer, located at Barcelona's BSC-CNS centre, can combine classical computing with both digital and analogue quantum computing. Spain has unveiled its third quantum supercomputer, a 9.8-million-euro investment aimed at speeding up research and artificial intelligence (AI). The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) has added a third quantum computer, which will be integrated into the MareNostrum 5 system, capable of combining classical supercomputing, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The new machine has been designed and built by Barcelona-based company Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech and funded by the European Commission and Spain’s Secretariat of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence. It is an analogue quantum computer, unlike the two previously installed quantum computers, which are digital. While classical computers work with bits – which at any given moment can only be 0 or 1 – quantum computing uses qubits, which can represent both states at once. This capability makes it possible to develop far more powerful algorithms and tackle problems that conventional computers can barely solve. MareNostrum Ona: 53 research projects The BSC’s three quantum computers are housed in the chapel of Torre Girona, the same space that hosted the first four versions of the MareNostrum supercomputer between 2005 and 2023. The quantum partition of MareNostrum 5 is known as MareNostrum Ona. Its first two machines, brought online in February 2025, have already clocked up 4,200 computing hours since their launch. This time has been shared among 53 research projects selected through official calls by the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES). 100% European technology This new quantum computer will be integrated into the European quantum computing network promoted by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), the programme through which the European Union aims to strengthen its supercomputing capabilities and develop its own technological infrastructure. To date, EuroHPC JU has acquired six
May 29, 2026 · via euronews.com
A third quantum computer lands in Barcelona to lead Europe's technological revolution The Barcelona Supercomputing Center reaffirms its commitment to leading the EU's "technological sovereignty" BarcelonaNew scientific milestone for Barcelona, which continues to take steps to consolidate itself as one of the European capitals of knowledge, research and innovation. This Thursday, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) has officially presented its third quantum computer, the EuroQCS-Spain, which with a cost of 9.8 million euros makes the institution one of the few centers in the world that combine supercomputing and quantum technology. "It is the only one with three quantum computers connected to a classic supercomputer," claimed the director of the BSC, Mateo Valero, during the presentation of the new technology, which has been co-financed by the European Commission and the Spanish government. Currently, supercomputers like the one at the BSC, MareNostrum 5, do not have enough capacity to tackle challenges of "great computational complexity", as they "would take too long" to process the information requested, explained Valero. This is where quantum computers like the one inaugurated this Thursday come into play, which in the future must be capable of solving problems that are unassailable for classic supercomputing. In this aspiration, Catalonia wants to establish itself as a global reference hub. With this Thursday's incorporation, the BSC now has two digital quantum computers and one analog. What differentiates them is how they process information: the digital system is more suitable for solving mathematical and cryptographic problems and search algorithms, and the analog allows tackling physical phenomena, optimizing the resolution of logistical problems, and training AI models. Valero explained that all the algorithms they are currently developing have some part of artificial intelligence. "For example, we are undertaking a major challenge which is the simulation of the future European combat aircraft. Without artificial
May 29, 2026 · via en.ara.cat
Infleqtion Expands UK Quantum Operations with New Oxford Innovation Centre and Manufacturing Hub Infleqtion Expands UK Quantum Operations with New Oxford Innovation Centre and Manufacturing Hub Rhea-AI Impact (Moderate) Rhea-AI Sentiment (Very Positive) Tags Key Terms optical atomic clockmedical An optical atomic clock is an ultra-precise timekeeper that uses the rapid vibrations of electrons in atoms, measured by light frequencies, to count time with far greater accuracy than conventional atomic clocks. For investors, this matters because such extreme precision improves synchronization for high-speed trading, telecommunications, navigation and measurement standards, opening markets for next‑generation timing infrastructure and products much like upgrading from a wristwatch to a scientific-grade stopwatch. inertial navigationtechnical A self-contained system that estimates an object’s position, speed and direction by measuring its own motion with internal sensors—like keeping track of your steps and turns to know where you are without a map. It matters to investors because it enables vehicles, drones, missiles and industrial equipment to operate where satellite signals are weak or blocked, affecting product value, market opportunity, safety claims and competitive advantage for companies that make or use the technology. rydberg-atomtechnical A Rydberg atom is an atom whose outer electron has been pushed into a very distant orbit, making the atom unusually large and extremely sensitive to electric and magnetic fields—think of a tiny sun with a moon in a very wide circle. Investors care because those exaggerated properties allow new types of precision sensors, secure communications, and components for quantum computers; advances here can create commercial opportunities and influence valuations in high-tech and defense-related companies. rf sensingtechnical RF sensing uses radio waves—similar to the signals your phone or Wi‑Fi sends—to detect or measure the presence, motion, distance or basic characteristics of objects and people without physical contact. Investors care because it can turn common wireless hardware
May 29, 2026 · via stocktitan.net
Guest Post by Zeynep Koruturk, Dr. Kris Naudts, and Donald Harmitt of Firgun Ventures For years, the headline metric in quantum computing has been a simple one: how many qubits can a company fit onto a single chip. Qubits are the basic units of quantum information, and increasing their number signals that the field is moving beyond laboratory prototypes. The race produced steadily larger processors, but it is widely believed that increasingly fitting a significant number of qubits onto a single chip will eventually run into a wall that physics and manufacturing impose together. Beyond a certain size, fabricating a flawless monolithic chip becomes punishingly difficult, and wiring every qubit to every other qubit grows harder with each addition. The path to a genuinely useful machine, one capable of solving commercially meaningful problems, runs through a different strategy. Rather than building one enormous processor, the field has turned toward linking many smaller ones together. This is the logic of modular quantum computing, in which multiple smaller processors, or modules, are interconnected so that they behave as a single, larger machine. Keeping every qubit on one chip is not impossible, but the smarter route is to scale outwards through connection rather than upwards through density. There are two modularity angles worth exploring here. The first is the homogeneous view, where a single qubit modality is scaled by networking many identical modules. The second is heterogeneous, where several different qubit hardware types, e.g. superconducting, trapped ions and others, are combined so each contributes what it does best. Both point toward the same destination: a future in which quantum computing lives less in a single exotic device and more in something resembling a high-performance computing centre. Scaling One Modality By Connecting Many Modules Industrial technologies often move from heroic single machines to networked
May 29, 2026 · via quantumcomputingreport.com
Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech has officially inaugurated a new analog quantum computer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS). The newly deployed system will integrate directly with BSC’s existing digital quantum infrastructure and the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer. Together, these technologies form MareNostrum-Ona, a unified, hybrid computing environment that stands as one of the most advanced of its kind in Europe. The EuroQCS-Spain Initiative This inauguration marks the first major milestone of the EuroQCS-Spain contract, an €8.5 million project co-financed by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and Spain’s State Secretariat for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence (SEDIA). Under this agreement, full-stack quantum provider Qilimanjaro and HPC-QC integrator Do IT Now are tasked with delivering three generations of Adiabatic Quantum Processing Units (AQPUs). The newly inaugurated system features a 10 analog qubit configuration, with two subsequent generations scheduled for delivery across 2026 and 2027 to progressively scale performance. Capabilities and Target Applications Unlike purely digital systems that require complex fault-tolerant error correction to be effective, Qilimanjaro’s analog architecture is error-resilient by design. This allows researchers and industry partners to explore practical quantum applications immediately. The analog platform is highly optimized for specific workloads, including: - Optimization: Logistics, financial modeling, and energy networks. - Simulation: Molecular and materials science modeling for chemistry and physics. - Artificial Intelligence: Quantum-enhanced AI workloads. By pairing these analog capabilities with the digital quantum system previously installed by Qilimanjaro and GMV in 2025 (under the Quantum Spain national program), BSC provides users with a comprehensive, unified computational toolkit. Open Access and Ecosystem Impact The new hybrid infrastructure will be accessible to the wider European research and industrial communities through access calls via EuroHPC and the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES). To ensure users can maximize the utility of the system, the contract includes comprehensive training and ongoing technical support provided by Do IT
May 28, 2026 · via quantumcomputingreport.com
Quantum computers could soon solve battlefield problems to help US win war: Report Quantum computers are rapidly approaching the point where they will be able to outperform classical computers for solving certain battlefield problems. Quantum technology company Q-CTRL has published a whitepaper illustrating that quantum computing systems are rapidly maturing to begin addressing battlefield problems in areas like contested logistics, defense industrial resilience, missile defense and counter unmanned aerial systems. The company states that quantum-enhanced solutions to these problems are either already validated with its defense clients or are extended from cross-sector problems into defense contexts. These solutions translate into battlefield information advantages for the military planners. The paper also provides forecasts (based on the IBM quantum computing roadmap) on the rate of current advancements and the timeline of maturity of these computational solutions. Company deep dive Q-CTRL is headquartered in Chippendale, New South Wales, Australia. Its area of expertise is in developing software tools for quantum error suppression and quantum navigation. The error suppression comprises a set of techniques that reduce the likelihood of hardware error while quantum bits are being manipulated or used for memory storage. Use cases for battlefield problems The whitepaper highlights four use cases, where quantum enhanced solutions provided faster processing and better solutions (relative to classical computers) to complicated battlefield problems. These include: Convoy routing, with an aim of providing logistics solutions that deliver materials on time while minimizing risk and showing resilience against enemy disruption. The study indicates 2027 as the estimated timeline for availability of quantum enhanced solutions, requiring 4.6x increase in qubit capacity from the current state of the art (up to 156 qubit IBM quantum computer). Strategic airlift, with an objective of efficiently supplying a wide range of front-line commands with materiel specific to their operational needs over multiple domains
May 28, 2026 · via interestingengineering.com
Abstract While simple spin-boson models have been realized on quantum hardware, simulating extended electronic networks with local vibrational environments remains a fundamental challenge in the presence of non-equilibrium, long-lived electronic-vibrational (vibronic) coherence. We present a framework for the digital-analog simulation of open quantum systems governed by Hamiltonians with linear-vibronic coupling (LVC) and structured vibrational environments. Our approach exploits the intrinsic dissipation of qubits in near-term quantum hardware as a resource to emulate vibrational relaxation, combined with a model-specific error mitigation scheme to filter out noise sources incompatible with the target open system. We validate our strategy by resolving the vibronic transfer spectra of a one-dimensional donor-acceptor chain on IBM superconducting processors, reproducing non-Markovian dynamics and scaling the chain length up to 10 electronic sites, an unprecedented scale for chemical dynamics on quantum computers. Our model of vibronic electron transfer offers a portable, application-oriented benchmark for simulating long-lived entangled states on NISQ computers. Similar content being viewed by others Introduction The transformation of the energy and mobility sectors demands the development of novel and powerful simulation tools such as quantum computers, supporting the design of new materials operating across a wide range of environmental conditions. Kinetic theories at thermal equilibrium fail to accurately capture transfer rates in relevant scenarios, such as the inverted region in the Marcus theory of electron transfer1,2. This regime is for example relevant for batteries with large overpotentials, indicative of high reorganization energies and complex solvation shells3,4 that are linked to dissipative processes. A proper understanding of heat loss at the microscopic scale is crucial in the engineering of next-generation devices for energy storage and production. Nonequilibrium processes on the picosecond scale (10−12 s) are coming into focus thanks to the increasing time resolution of spectroscopic techniques5,6. Nonequilibrium quantum effects are a promising route to increase the
May 28, 2026 · via nature.com
The new DST Task Force report on making India’s digital ecosystems quantum-safe is a product of contemplating a threat that is both long-term and urgent. Today, public-key cryptography underpins online identity protection and secure communications. Its protective ability rests on mathematical problems that conventional computers cannot solve efficiently; thus, the information is ‘hidden’ behind a lock whose key is the solution to such a problem. However, a sufficiently capable quantum computer could use, say, Shor’s algorithm to open this lock in minutes or hours. Symmetric cryptography, such as AES encryption, is less threatened by the advent of quantum computers but the existential exposure is nonetheless concentrated in public-key infrastructure, which secures everything from HTTPS to telecommunication networks. The shorter-term problem is the possibility of a bad actor harvesting encrypted data today and decrypting them later using quantum computers. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is software that can run on conventional computers but with the added benefit of resisting attacks from quantum computers. The DST report recommends three post-quantum standards finalised in 2024 to plan India’s efforts on the post-quantum effort and that it begin migrating to this architecture. This prudent advice must be followed, especially vis-à-vis critical infrastructure, financial services, power grids, and defence. The migration must continue even if “Q-day” — when quantum computers practically endanger public-key cryptography — is pushed back from the report’s expected 2029. Indeed, experts disagree on this point, although the mainstream view is that both “Q-day” and migration will take at least a decade. Cryptography is in practice a set of dependencies often spread across — within, say, a ministry — databases, legacy hardware, vendor software, authentication protocols, and control systems. Thus, the challenges of the sprawling organisational transition must not be underestimated. Moreover, since advanced AI can autonomously compromise the software layer today and quantum
May 28, 2026 · via thehindu.com
In a new podcast, scientists demystify quantum, separate hype from reality, and explore potential applications—from cybersecurity to medical sensors to computers.
Quantum technology is at a pivotal moment. No longer the faraway dream of scientists, the field is rapidly developing across the world, fueled by major investments from governments, industry, and universities racing to lead its promising future.
But what exactly is quantum technology? And how will it affect our lives today—and in the coming decades?
In a new episode of the Big Brains podcast, three renowned scientists—Professor David Awschalom, Fred Chong, and Nadya Mason—discuss how the University Chicago is leading innovative research, in partnership with its affiliated labs Argonne and Fermilab, as well as other universities across the Midwest.
They explain how quantum has the potential to revolutionize our world—from creating unhackable communications to supercharging quantum computers to detecting disease at the cellular level.
They discuss the challenges as well as the opportunities, especially for the next generation of quantum engineers and scientists needed to make these dreams a reality.
The event also included a Q&A with audience members. Watch video of the full event or listen below:
Source: University of Chicago
May 28, 2026 · via futurity.org
Physicists at the University of Vienna have discovered magnons with lifespans that are one hundred times longer. Magnons are tiny waves of magnetization that move through solid magnetic materials, similar to ripples spreading across water after a stone falls in. Unlike photons, which can move through empty space or optical fibers, magnons travel inside magnetic solids. Their wavelengths can shrink to the nanometer scale, which means magnonic circuits could, in theory, fit onto chips as small as those used in modern smartphones. Because magnons are excitations within a solid, they can naturally interact with many other fundamental quasiparticles, including phonons and photons, making them promising components for hybrid quantum systems and quantum metrology. The main limitation has been their extremely short lifetime. Until now, magnons could reliably carry quantum information for only a few hundred nanoseconds at best, which is far too brief for practical quantum computing. The team led by Wiener has now reported a major advance, measuring magnon lifetimes of up to 18 microseconds, almost one hundred times longer than any previous observation, paving the way for a quantum computer the size of a 1-cent coin. At that scale, magnons stop behaving like short-lived signals and begin to resemble dependable carriers of quantum information, comparable to the superconducting qubits used in today’s leading quantum processors. The findings were recently published in the journal Science Advances. Colder crystals revealed the limit The advance came from combining two strategies. First, instead of using conventional uniform magnons, the team generated short wavelength magnons, which are naturally less affected by defects on the crystal surface. Those surface defects had limited magnon lifetimes in earlier experiments. Second, the researchers placed extremely pure spheres of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) inside a mixed phase cryostat and cooled them to just 30 millikelvin, only a tiny
May 28, 2026 · via scitechdaily.com
Massachusetts will contribute $25 million to help MIT build a new quantum computing lab, as the state seeks to nurture a research and business ecosystem in one of the hottest emerging areas in tech. The Boston area is already a leading hub of academic research into quantum computing, which could revolutionize the tech industry by using atomic or subatomic particles to solve vastly more complicated problems than the silicon transistors in traditional computers. The efforts attracted AI chip giant Nvidia to open a quantum research center here last year and led to the founding of several startups in the field, including QuEra and Atlantic Computing, which was acquired by Google last year. “This is an opportunity, quantum, to really put a stake in the ground and become the global hub for quantum research, and all that comes from that,” Governor Maura Healey said on Thursday after she announced the investment at a monthly MIT board meeting on the school’s Cambridge campus. The new MIT facility, called the Quantum Systems Laboratory, will include early versions of quantum computers, along with compatible sensors and other hardware. After construction is finished, expected by the end of 2027, the facility will provide about 220 permanent jobs and be open to researchers from other schools and the private sector. The state’s investment will come out of a fund Healey approved in 2024 to match federal grants. MIT said it would use another $25 million of federal money plus an undisclosed amount of its own and donated funds to build the lab. Despite the state’s investment in the MIT lab and a few other quantum-related projects, the effort pales in comparison to a $500 million quantum computing center that the state of Illinois is funding on a 128-acre campus in Chicago. (Illinois also won $140 million
May 28, 2026 · via bostonglobe.com
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using finely tuned nanoscale building blocks, researchers from Brown University and the University of Michigan College of Engineering have stabilized a fleeting structural phase of matter that had been predicted theoretically but never before stabilized in a physical material. The new nanoparticle superlattice, described in the journal Science, freezes an elusive intermediate state between two of nature’s most common crystal metallic arrangements. Beyond describing new details about how this transition works, the new structure exhibits extraordinary optical properties that could be useful in quantum computing or other quantum information systems. More broadly, the work provides a new recipe for using custom-shaped nanoparticles to engineer entirely new classes of materials with tailored properties. “Our work is a little bit like kids playing with LEGO blocks,” said Ou Chen, an associate professor of chemistry at Brown and a corresponding author of the research. “We synthesize unique nanoscale building blocks and stack them into interesting structures. In this case, we were able to stabilize these theorized transitional structures and demonstrate important quantum optical properties.” The crystal structures of many metals fall into one of two categories: face-centered cubic (FCC) or body-centered cubic (BCC). FCC is the tightest packing arrangement for spherical particles. When stacked together, spherical particles tend to arrange themselves into a repeating cubic pattern, with on particle at each corner and one particle in the center of each cube face. BCC is somewhat less tightly packed: Particles are present in each corner of a cube, with one particle at the center of the cube’s body (rather than on each face). Loosely speaking, these are the arrangements that atoms form in metallic crystals. With heating, some metals transition between the two structures. Iron, for example, goes from BCC to FCC when heated to 912 degrees Celsius. There
May 28, 2026 · via brown.edu