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#Microsoft Says It Has Created a New State of #Matter to Power #Quantum #Computers
Microsoft’s new “topological qubit” is not based on a solid, liquid or gas. It is another phase of matter that many experts did not think was possible.
#tech #science #physics #TopologicalQubit
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/technology/microsoft-quantum-computing-topological-qubit.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
#Microsoft now says it has created a new state of #matter in its quest to make a powerful machine, called a #quantum #computer, that could accelerate the development of everything from #batteries to #medicines to #AI.
On Wednesday, Microsoft’s scientists said they had built what is known as a “topological qubit” based on this new phase of physical existence, which could be harnessed to solve mathematical, scientific & technological problems.
With the development, #Microsoft is raising the stakes in what is set to be the next big technological contest, beyond today’s race over #AI. Scientists have chased the dream of a #quantum #computer — a machine that could exploit the strange & exceedingly powerful behavior of subatomic particles or very cold objects — since the 1980s.
The push heated up in December when #Google unveiled an experimental quantum #computer that needed just 5 mins to complete a calculation that most supercomputers could not finish in 10 septillion years — longer than the age of the known universe.
#Microsoft’s #quantum #technology could leapfrog the methods under development at Google.
As part of its research, #Microsoft built multiple topological qubits inside a new kind of #computer chip that combines the strengths of the semiconductors that power classical #computers with the superconductors that are typically used to build a #quantum computer.
When such a chip is cooled to extremely low temperatures, it behaves in unusual & powerful ways that Microsoft believes will allow it to solve technological, mathematical & scientific problems that classical machines never could.
…#Microsoft’s #technology, which was detailed in a research paper published in the #science journal Nature on Wednesday, adds new impetus to a race that could reshape the technological landscape. In addition to accelerating progress across many technological & scientific fields, a #quantum #computer could be powerful enough to break the encryption that protects national secrets.
Any advances are set to have geopolitical implications.
#tech #physics #TopologicalQubit
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00527-z
From the article in Nature:
#Microsoft has announced that is has created the first ‘topological qubits’ — a way of storing #quantum information that the firm hopes will underpin a new generation of quantum #computers. Machines based on #topology promise to be easier to build at scale than competing #technologies, because they should better protect the #information from noise. But some researchers are sceptical about the company’s claims.
Finally, a tool to make format changes in Word tables.