Weird vibrations poised to control quantum computers

Alessio Benavoli, Alessandro Facchini, Marco Zaffalon A

Abstract We argue that there is a simple, unique, reason for all quantum paradoxes, and that such a reason is not uniquely related to quantum theory. It is rather a mathematical question that arises at the intersection of logic, probability, and computation. We give our ‘weirdness theorem’ that characterises the conditions under which the weirdness will show up. It shows that whenever logic has bounds due to the algorithmic nature of its tasks, then weirdness arises in the special form of negative probabilities or non-classical evaluation functionals. Weirdness is not logical inconsistency, however. It is only the expression of the clash between an unbounded and a bounded view of computation in logic. We discuss the implication of these results for quantum mechanics, arguing in particular that its interpretation should ultimately be computational rather than exclusively physical. We develop in addition a probabilistic theory in the real numbers that exhibits the phenomenon of entanglement, thus concretely showing that the latter is not specific to quantum mechanics.

Amy Navarathna, Warwick P. Bowen

Thomás Fogarty

Quantum mechanics is the physics of the very small and the very cold. When particles are small and cold they take on wave properties and thus act differently to anything you can imagine in the world you see around you. Throwing tennis balls through brick walls, walking through two adjacent doors at the same time, even having a cat that is both dead and alive at the same time might seem weird to you, but in quantum mechanics this is quite normal. It is this strange playground of physics that has attracted people to quantum mechanics, and the advent of cold atom technologies allows us to, not only theoretically but physically, study these weird systems. In recent years, cold atoms have provided an excellent testbed for investigating these quantum effects. As the system is cold, it is incredibly clean and noise-free due to the lack of thermal vibrations and collisions ...

Tzyh‐Jong Tarn

Peter Alexander Earls Davis, Mateo Aboy, Timo Minssen

Abstract By extending export controls to quantum hardware, cryogenic systems, and advanced semiconductors, the EU has opened a major new front in the “Chip Wars,” with direct consequences for how next-generation quantum computers are developed, shared, and scaled across global research and industry. These measures are poised to reshape collaborations, procurement, and innovation pathways throughout the quantum computing research ecosystem.

Konrad W. Lehnert