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A Computational Quantum-Based Perspective on the Molecular Origins of Life’s Building Blocks

Exciting.


The search for the chemical origins of life represents a long-standing and continuously debated enigma. Despite its exceptional complexity, in the last decades the field has experienced a revival, also owing to the exponential growth of the computing power allowing for efficiently simulating the behavior of matter—including its quantum nature—under disparate conditions found, e.g., on the primordial Earth and on Earth-like planetary systems (i.e., exoplanets). In this minireview, we focus on some advanced computational methods capable of efficiently solving the Schrödinger equation at different levels of approximation (i.e., density functional theory)—such as ab initio molecular dynamics—and which are capable to realistically simulate the behavior of matter under the action of energy sources available in prebiotic contexts.

Physicists take step toward fault-tolerant quantum computing

Some classical computers have error correction built into their memories based on bits; quantum computers, to be workable in the future, will need error correction mechanisms, too, based on the vastly more sensitive qubits.

Cornell researchers have recently taken a step toward fault-tolerant quantum computing: they constructed a simple model containing exotic particles called non-Abelian anyons, compact and practical enough to run on modern quantum hardware. Realizing these particles, which can only exist in two dimensions, is a move towards implementing it in the real world.

Thanks to some creative thinking, Yuri Lensky, a former Bethe/Wilkins/Kavli Institute at Cornell (KIC) postdoctoral fellow in physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), collaborating with Eun-Ah Kim, professor of physics (A&S), came up with a simple “recipe” that could be used for robustly computing with non-Abelian anyons, including specific instructions for executing the effect experimentally on devices available today.

Researchers reveal quantum interference in inter-layer Coulomb drag

A team led by Prof. Zeng Changgan and Associate Researcher Li Lin from the University of Science and Technology (USTC) / Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Strongly-Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, collaborating with Prof. Feng Ji’s team from Peking University, revealed significant quantum interference effect in inter-layer transport process for the first time using graphene-based electronic double-layer systems. Their work was published in Nature Communications.

Coulomb drag is an effect that occurs between two conductive layers in proximity but insulated from each other, wherein moving carriers in one layer (active layer) induces the transport of carriers in the other layer (passive layer), thereby generating an open-circuit voltage in the passive layer.

Coulomb drag has been widely applied in previous studies of long-range interactions between carriers, such as the Bose-Einstein condensation of indirect excitons. However, there is a lack of research on the external field response and possible quantum effects of the Coulomb drag.

Physicists Create Photonic Time Crystal That Amplifies Light

A team of researchers designed a two-dimensional photonic time crystal that they say could have applications in technologies like transmitters and lasers.

Despite their name, photonic time crystals have little in common with time crystals, a phase of matter first proposed in 2012 and observed several years later. The fundamental commonality is that both crystals have structural patterns over time, but time crystals are quantum materials—the atoms are suspended in quantum states—while photonic time crystals are artificial materials not found in nature and they are not necessarily suspended in quantum states.

Quantum cyber-physical systems

This paper aims to promote a quantum framework that analyzes Industry 4.0 cyber-physical systems more efficiently than traditional simulations used to represent integrated systems. The paper proposes a novel configuration of distributed quantum circuits in multilayered complex networks that enable the evaluation of industrial value creation chains. In particular, two different mechanisms for the integration of information between circuits operating at different layers are proposed, where their behavior is analyzed and compared with the classical conditional probability tables linked to the Bayesian networks. With the proposed method, both linear and nonlinear behaviors become possible while the complexity remains bounded. Applications in the case of Industry 4.0 are discussed when a component’s health is under consideration, where the effect of integration between different quantum cyber-physical digital twin models appears as a relevant implication.

Subject terms: Quantum simulation, Qubits.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are integrations of computational and physical components that can interact with humans through new and different modalities. A key to future technological development is precisely this new and different capacity of interaction together with the new possibilies that these systems pose for expanding the capabilities of the physical world through computation, communication and control1. When CPS are understood within the industrial practice fueled by additional technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), people refer to the Industry 4.0 paradigm2. The design of many industrial engineering systems has been performed by separately considering the control system design from the hardware and/or software implementation details.

(Extra) Quantum Computing Explained and Overview

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnK6MrIqGXsJfcBdppW3CKJ858zR8P4eP
Download PowerPoint: https://github.com/hywong2/Intro_to_Quantum_Computing.
Book (Free with institution subscription): https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-98339-0
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Quantum-Computing-Layper…atfound-20

Can quantum computing replace classical computing? State, Superposition, Measurement, Entanglement, Qubit Implementation, No-cloning Theorem, Error Correction, Caveats.

The Superconductive Connection: Crystal Stripes and Quantum Electron Behavior

Hidden stripes in a crystal could help scientists understand the mysterious behavior of electrons in certain quantum systems, including high-temperature superconductors, an unexpected discovery by RIKEN physicists suggests.

The electrons in most materials interact with each other very weakly. But physicists often observe interesting properties in materials in which electrons strongly interact with each other. In these materials, the electrons often collectively behave as particles, giving rise to ‘quasiparticles’.

“A crystal can be thought of like an alternative universe with different laws of physics that allow different fundamental particles to live there,” says Christopher Butler of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science.

Bio-Inspired Quantum Technologies

The Oxford Martin Programme on Bio-Inspired Technologies is investigating the possibility of making computers real.

We aim to develop a completely new methodology for overcoming the extreme fragility of memory. By learning how biological molecules shield fragile states from the environment, we hope to create the building blocks of future computers.

The unique power of computers comes from their ability to carry out all possible calculations in parallel.