Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Scientists at the University of Surrey have a new idea for a quantum computer. They want to make a qubit from a special liquid. The liquid is helium.
A qubit is the small part of a quantum computer that holds information. Today qubits often make mistakes.
The new idea is called SHOQ. The scientists say it could make 100 times fewer mistakes.
This is only a plan on paper for now. Experiments must show if it works.
- scientist
- a person who studies nature or science
- quantum computer
- a very powerful new kind of computer
- qubit
- the basic piece of information in a quantum computer
- liquid
- something that flows, like water
- helium
- a light gas, which is a liquid when very cold
- mistake
- something done wrong
- experiment
- a test to find out if an idea is true
- idea
- a plan or thought
Level 2 — Elementary
Researchers at the University of Surrey in Britain have proposed a new kind of qubit made from superfluid helium. A qubit is the basic unit of information in a quantum computer. The design is called SHOQ, short for Superfluid Helium Oscillator Quantum device.
Many quantum computers today use superconducting circuits. These circuits are very sensitive to electrical noise and stray charges, which causes errors.
Superfluid helium-3 flows without any friction and has no electric charge. That could make the new qubit naturally immune to some kinds of noise. The team's calculations suggest its error rate could be about 100 times lower than in superconducting qubits.
The work was published in npj Quantum Information. It is still theory, so experiments are needed to confirm it.
- superfluid
- a liquid that flows with no friction
- circuit
- a path that electricity flows through
- noise
- unwanted signals that disturb a system
- charge
- an amount of electricity
- immune
- not affected by something
- friction
- the force that slows things that rub together
- calculation
- a result found by using maths
- theory
- an idea based on reasoning that is not yet proven by tests
Level 3 — Intermediate
Physicists at the University of Surrey's Quantum Sciences Group have proposed a qubit built from superfluid helium-3, an unusual form of liquid helium that flows without friction. Named the Superfluid Helium Oscillator Quantum device, or SHOQ, the design is described in npj Quantum Information.
The motivation is noise. Most current quantum computers rely on superconducting circuits, which are highly sensitive to electromagnetic interference and stray electrical charges, and that sensitivity is a main source of the errors that limit how large these machines can grow. Because the helium in the new design is electrically neutral, it should be naturally shielded from some of those disturbances.
The team's calculations predict error rates around 100 times lower than conventional superconducting qubits. The figure is a prediction, not a measurement, and nobody has yet built the device.
If experiments confirm the numbers, the technology could work alongside today's superconducting qubits or serve as a new kind of quantum memory.
- physicist
- a scientist who studies matter and energy
- interference
- unwanted signals that disturb something
- neutral
- having no electric charge
- shielded
- protected from harm or outside influence
- conventional
- based on what is traditional or usual
- prediction
- a statement about what will happen
- quantum memory
- a device that stores quantum information
- motivation
- the reason for doing something
Level 4 — Advanced
A team in the Quantum Sciences Group at the University of Surrey has proposed a qubit whose working medium is superfluid helium-3, an exotic liquid that flows without viscosity. Christened the Superfluid Helium Oscillator Quantum device, or SHOQ, it is set out in npj Quantum Information as a potential answer to one of the field's most stubborn problems: decoherence driven by environmental noise.
Today's leading platforms are built from superconducting circuits, which are exquisitely sensitive to electromagnetic interference and stray charges, and that fragility is the principal source of errors limiting how far such machines can scale. Because the helium in the new design is charge neutral, the authors argue, it should be inherently insulated from some of the most common sources of disturbance.
Their calculations forecast error rates roughly two orders of magnitude below those of conventional superconducting qubits. That is a theoretical projection, not an experimental result, and it will stand or fall on whether a working device can be fabricated and measured.
Should the numbers survive contact with the laboratory, the approach need not displace existing hardware. It could operate alongside superconducting qubits, or serve as a long lived quantum memory, a hybrid role that may prove more realistic than outright replacement.
- viscosity
- the resistance of a liquid to flowing
- decoherence
- the loss of a quantum state due to outside disturbance
- exquisitely
- to an extreme and delicate degree
- fragility
- the quality of being easily damaged
- inherently
- as a natural and permanent part of something
- order of magnitude
- a factor of ten
- fabricate
- to build or manufacture
- displace
- to take the place of something
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