Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > 1980s aircraft helps quantum technology take flight

Abstract:
What does a 1980s experimental aircraft have to do with state-of-the art quantum technology? Lots, as shown by new research from the Quantum Control Laboratory at the University of Sydney, and published in Nature Physics today.

1980s aircraft helps quantum technology take flight

Sydney, Australia | Posted on October 20th, 2014

Over several years a team of scientists has taken inspiration from aerospace research and development programs to make unusually shaped experimental aircraft fly.

"It always amazed me that the X-29, an American airplane that was designed like a dart being thrown backwards, was able to fly. Achieving this, in 1984, came through major advances in a discipline called control engineering that were able to stabilise the airplane," said Associate Professor Michael Biercuk, from the School of Physics and director of the Quantum Control Laboratory.

"We became interested in how similar concepts could play a role in bringing quantum technologies to reality. If control engineering can turn an unstable dart into a high-performance fighter jet, it's pretty amazing to think what it can do for next-generation quantum technologies."

The result is that the researchers have been able to turn fragile quantum systems into useful pieces of advanced technology useful for everything from computation and communications to building specialised sensors for industry. The trick was figuring out how to protect them from their environments using control theory.

The big challenge facing quantum technologies is they are very sensitive to random 'noise' in surrounding environments, said Associate Professor Biercuk. "Noise, in this case, is a bit like local electromagnetic weather experienced by a piece of hardware. Imagine your television only worked when the weather was perfectly sunny. Something needs to be done to make that technology more functional, even on the grey days."

The new field of quantum control engineering provided a path forward. The first step was trying to pinpoint how noise would affect a quantum system while it performed some task, which is fiendishly difficult.

"We were able to calculate how much damage is done to a quantum state using so-called transfer functions tailored to specific operations - for instance, manipulating a quantum system as a part of a computation," according to co-lead author, PhD student Harrison Ball.

The next issue was to show that the theoretical techniques actually worked.

"One of our main achievements has been to show - using experiments on real quantum systems in the form of atoms in a special trap - that the transfer functions were excellent at predicting how quantum systems changed in response to environmental noise."

With new capabilities to predict the effect of the environment on quantum systems, it became possible to protect them by applying the right control techniques.

"Similar to the control system that kept an aerodynamically unstable plane aloft, experiments revealed that our new techniques were able to keep the atoms performing useful computations," said Biercuk. "Turn off the new control techniques and they would crash and burn."

"Achieving this is a grand challenge for the entire community," according to Ball, and it is especially important as researchers move from proof-of-principle demonstrations to trying to develop real quantum technologies.

Working to make those technologies a reality is the aim of Associate Professor Biercuk and his colleagues in the ARC Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems.

"This may sound like futuristic fantasy, but the navigation system in your car works because of an early quantum technology - atomic clocks," according to Biercuk.

"We know that exotic phenomena like quantum systems being in two places at once, and even the ability to teleport quantum states, are real and accessible in the laboratory. Now we are trying to actually put them to work, and that means figuring out how to coax quantum systems into doing new and useful things."

The authors from the University's School of Physics on the Nature Physics paper are Alex Soare, Harrison Ball, Dr David Hayes, Jarrah Sastrawan, Marie Claire Jarratt, DrJames McLoughlin, Todd Green, and Professor Michael Biercuk. Xinglong Zhen was a visitor to Sydney from Tsinghua University.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Verity Leatherdale

61-293-514-312

Copyright © University of Sydney

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related Links

Download article:

Related News Press

News and information

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

Quantum Computing

Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024

Physicists ‘entangle’ individual molecules for the first time, hastening possibilities for quantum information processing: In work that could lead to more robust quantum computing, Princeton researchers have succeeded in forcing molecules into quantum entanglement December 8th, 2023

World’s first logical quantum processor: Key step toward reliable quantum computing December 8th, 2023

Optical-fiber based single-photon light source at room temperature for next-generation quantum processing: Ytterbium-doped optical fibers are expected to pave the way for cost-effective quantum technologies November 3rd, 2023

Discoveries

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024

High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Announcements

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Military

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed February 16th, 2024

NRL discovers two-dimensional waveguides February 16th, 2024

Aerospace/Space

Under pressure - space exploration in our time: Advancing space exploration through diverse collaborations and ethical policies February 16th, 2024

Bridging light and electrons January 12th, 2024

New tools will help study quantum chemistry aboard the International Space Station: Rochester Professor Nicholas Bigelow helped develop experiments conducted at NASA’s Cold Atom Lab to probe the fundamental nature of the world around us November 17th, 2023

Manufacturing advances bring material back in vogue January 20th, 2023

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project