Microsoft claims to have found the way to the development of a useful, viable quantum computer, tolerant of failures, scalable and commercializable before a decade. The step for this announcement, this Wednesday, is the achievement of a processor based on what they consider a new state of matter (“topological superconductivity”) that only existed theoretically from a type of particle, called Fermión de Majoranawhich has unique quantum properties to develop a QUBIT Topologicomore error resistant.
“We will have a quantum computer tolerant of failures in years, not in decades,” he highlights, physicist, a professor at the University of California and co -author of the study as the main researcher of Microsoft Azure Quantum.
The optimism of this announcement is based on several achievements that the company claims in published research. The most important is the development of a special chip, a processor called Majorana 1, from a unique particle manufactured by the team, which, in specific conditions (-273.15 degrees Celsius), reaches a new state of the subject that It would be added to the classic solid, liquid, gaseous and plasma.
“This revolutionary material class allows us to create Topological superconductivity, one that previously only existed in theory. The advance is derived from Microsoft’s innovations in the design and manufacture of devices that combine Indian arseniuro (a semiconductor) and aluminum (a superconductor). When they cool until almost absolute zero and tune in with magnetic fields, these devices form topological superconductors with zero Majorana modes (MZM) at the ends, ”explains Nayak.
The Majorana particle is a theoretical proposal of 88 years ago in the context of elementary particle physics. Finding and dominating it in a special material that guarantees its stability, known as the topological superconductor, would be a definitive step in the physics of condensed matter and in quantum computing.
For Microsoft, the new topological state that claims to have found allows the development of cubits (the quantum basic unit, as is the bit in classical computer science) with great robustness, protected from errors, which is one of the challenges of computing quantum, since the properties that allow the cubit to offer exponentially higher capabilities to the bit only during milliseconds and any interaction leads to lose Its properties.
To reveal the robustness of the cubits, the measurement of parity has been necessary, a way of verifying non -destructively if they are working properly and the information is preserved without errors. In this process, a unique shooting fermion measurements have been used, a type of process that contributes in a single attempt a definitive result, without averaging, on whether the total number of fermions in a system is even or odd.
Once the new chip and robust cubits have been reached, proven with the parity measurement system, Microsoft claims in the investigation to have opened the path to systems with a relatively small equipment infrastructure.
An international team with broad Spanish participation believed to have found the Majorana particle, but after detailed analysis they discovered that the finding was a mirage, that they had discovered something different, but also fundamental: an impostor particle that imitates it. “It will be a Nobel Prize when its existence is irrefutable and, above all, its quantum statistics, which is far from the usual in the standard model of fermions or bosons,” said physicist Ramón Aguado.
The theoretical physics professor at the King’s College in London, George Booth, highlights that the path taken by Microsoft 20 years ago differs from that of other companies, focused on reaching a high number of cubits and developing effective error correction formulas. For Booth, he explains in , The multinational research has sought more complex, but resistant cubits in the face of noise and interference thanks to the Majorana fermion.
The physicist relativizes the results of the measurements, although they admit that they are a significant step: “They do not unintentionally demonstrate that they can measure a complete topological cubit, but they approach a viable topological cubit.”
It also clarifies Microsoft’s optimism about the viability of the new system in the coming years. “The importance of this work, probably, can only be judged in retrospect, if technology reaches maturity compared to other platforms. However, it is undoubtedly an impressive technical achievement, which demonstrates control over these emerging particles [fermión de Mejorana] At the most fundamental levels, says Booth. ”
In this sense, the physicist recalls that, in the 20 years of Microsoft research on this path, some articles had to be due to errors and is cautious, especially about temporal forecasts: “I think that for many there is still a healthy skepticism On the time scales for the roadmaps of some of these technological companies towards a quantum computer that solves practical problems routinely, but this document shows that the fundamental obstacles. It remains to be seen if the statement of years It is exact. ”
In a similar way Paul Stevenson, from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Surrey. For him, the investigation throws significant results, “but as with many promising jobs in quantum computing,” he adds to SMC, “the next steps are difficult and, until they have been achieved, it is too early to be more than more than cautiously optimistic”.
Stevenson also highlights the novel Microsoft approach to conceive topological cubits as the basis of the next quantum computing, “but so far,” he warns, “he has not managed to show functional devices.”
