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Category: computing

Silicon atom processor links 11 qubits with more than 99% fidelity

In order to scale quantum computers, more qubits must be added and interconnected. However, prior attempts to do this have resulted in a loss of connection quality, or fidelity. But, a new study published in Nature details the design of a new kind of processor that overcomes this problem. The processor, developed by the company Silicon Quantum Computing, uses silicon—the main material used in classical computers—along with phosphorus atoms to link 11 qubits.

The new design uses precision-placed phosphorus atoms in isotopically purified silicon-28, which are arranged into two multi-nuclear spin registers. One register contains four phosphorus atoms, while the other contains five, and each register shares an electron spin. The two registers are linked by electron exchange interaction, allowing for non-local connectivity across the registers and 11 linked qubits.

Because of the placement of silicon and phosphorus in the periodic table, the design is referred to as the “14|15 platform.” This 11-qubit atom processor in silicon is the largest of its kind to date, marking a major accomplishment for quantum computing.

Scientists build a quantum computer that can repair itself using recycled atoms

Like their conventional counterparts, quantum computers can also break down. They can sometimes lose the atoms they manipulate to function, which can stop calculations dead in their tracks. But scientists at the US-based firm Atom Computing have demonstrated a solution that allows a quantum computer to repair itself while it’s still running.

The team zeroed in on quantum computers that use neutral atoms (atoms with equal numbers of protons and electrons). These individual atoms are the qubits, or the basic building blocks of a quantum computer’s memory. They are held in place by laser beams called optical tweezers, but the setup is not foolproof.

Occasionally, an atom slips out of its trap and disappears. When this happens mid-calculation, the whole process can grind to a halt because the computer can’t function with a missing part.

Anil Seth — What is Consciousness: Data or Information?

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To study consciousness comprehensively and rigorously, what kinds of data or information are relevant? Data/information for Materialism theories, which are subject to the scientific method, can be well defined. But what about non-Materialism theories?

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Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. Seth is also Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Program on Brain, Mind, and Consciousness. Seth’s mission is to advance the science of consciousness, and to use its insights for the benefit of society, technology, and medicine.

Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

Performance Improvements In UE5.7 Over UE5.4

A new video from MxBenchmarkPC demonstrates the performance gains in Unreal Engine 5.7 by comparing it side by side with Unreal Engine 5.4 using the recently released Venice tech demo by Scans Factory.

The test was conducted at 4K and 1440p with Nanite and hardware ray tracing with Lumen, using Ultra settings on an RTX 5,080 paired with an Intel Core i7-14700F.

“GPU performance is improved by up to 25% in UE5.7 (depending on a scene), and the 5.7 version is now better utilizing GPU resources, hence the GPU power draw is now higher,” commented MxBenchmarkPC. “UE5.7 offers a significant up to 35% CPU performance boost (depending on the scene) and more stable frametimes with less hitches across all scenes.”

Physicists push superconducting diodes to high temperatures

For the first time, researchers in China have demonstrated a high-temperature superconducting diode effect, which allows a supercurrent to flow in both directions. Published in Nature Physics, the team’s result could help address the noisy signals that pose a fundamental challenge in quantum computing.

A diode is a device that shows an asymmetric electrical response, allowing current to flow more easily in one direction than the other. Until recently, diode behavior had only been observed in conventional, non-superconducting electrical systems—but in 2020, a team of researchers in Japan became the first to demonstrate the diode effect in a superconductor. Ever since, this effect has gained increasing attention for its potential in practical quantum computing.

“However, most of the reported superconducting diodes work at low temperatures around 10 Kelvin, and often require an external magnetic field,” explains Ding Zhang at Tsinghua University and the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, who led the research. “The diode efficiency is also low for many superconducting diodes.”

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