Neither solid, nor liquid, nor gaseous: Microsoft creates a quantum computer that creates a new state of matter

Physics says that all particles have their own particle ‘archienemiga’ (antiparticle) by which, if they are, they end up destroying each other. For example, the electron antagonist is positron. Or the proton is annihilated if you meet the antiproton. This ‘destructive’ balance remained more or less stable in the minds of scientists until, back in 1937, the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana (Known, in addition to his immense work, to end up disappearing in strange circumstances) he theorized that there was a strange particle, the fermion of Majorana, which could be both its particle and its own antiparticle.

Decades after Majorana theorized about her, her special characteristics began to dream of experts in quantum computers, those whose ‘guts’ are based on the phenomena that occur in the counteryntuitive world of the Majorana, where there may be a particle in two Sites at the same time or two can be intertwined instantly even if they are separated billions of kilometers away). What if they could use the fermion of Majorana as a cubit that, unlike classic bits that can only represent a single binary value (the 0 or 1 in which our computers communicate), they can be in two states at the same time at the same time (0 and 1 simultaneously, like Schrödinger’s cat lived and dead at the same time)? Not only that, according to the theory, if they managed to manipulate these particles, the quantum system was not only viable, but more robust and reliable.

But the challenge was not so simple: Majorana’s particles have been dodging physicists for a long time, since it does not exist in nature and is only created thanks to magnetic and superconductor fields. And, although in recent years great advances have been made, manipulating them has not been a simple task. They tell Microsoft, who has been behind it for 20 years. Now the technological giant states that he has achieved it with his Majorana 1 chip, the first quantum transistor that, according to Microsoft, could pave the way to have universal quantum computers not in decades, as planned with the current technology, but in years. Something that would mean, for example, totally personalized treatments, factories with processes optimized in the heart or even “the end of hunger in the world” due to the creation, for example, of specialized fertilizers for each need of the land, they assure from the company. Its results have just been published in the magazine ‘Nature‘.

A long way

Transistors have made it possible for us to have not only computers today, but mobile phones or ‘intelligent’ devices everywhere. They are the basis of all current electronics. After years of fruitless research, the team sought a similar approach to its quantum machines. «We step back and said ‘well, let’s invent the transistor for the quantum era. What properties do you need to have? ‘ The first thing was to create a chip that could be climbed to the million cubits. “If you don’t have this capacity, you find a wall before reaching the scale in which you can solve the really important problems that motivate us,” says Nayak.

Because experts point out that a quantum computer that does not have a million cubits will not be able ; The economy, with investments so calculated that they allow now unthinkable benefits; or the industry, with totally optimized smart factories- that are unthinkable even for the best classic supercombators.

However, Microsoft openly recognizes that it has not yet succeeded. “For that there are still years of research,” says the company. However, he assures that he is already on his way thanks to the first Majorana topucerr 1. «It is a special category of material that can create a completely new state of matter: neither solid, nor liquid, nor gas; but a topological state, ”they say from the company. This chip has multiple advantages: it is more stable than the rest (the problem of these quantum bits is that it is very easy to ‘bother them’ and that they destroy, so their life is very short), faster (it has a simpler architecture that the rest of quantum systems, according to the company), small and can be controlled digitally.

At the moment, the company has placed eight topological cubits in a chip that fits in the palm of the hand. In addition, Majorana 1 is integrated into a larger system, a kind of cryogenic ‘fridge’ that keeps the chip at temperatures colder than those of the outer space. This allows, together with the material of which it is made (Arsenio de Indio, which is used for applications such as infrared detectors), staying in the splement quantum status. But, in addition, the team can be integrated with artificial intelligence systems or with classic computers. “From the beginning we wanted to make a quantum computer for commercial impact, not only for intellectual leadership,” says Matthias Troyer, technical member of Microsoft. «We knew we needed a new cubit. We knew we had to climb ».

The Army, with an eye on quantum

That the US is delving into quantum for military purposes is not a secret: in recent years it is investing in knowing the real potential of the applications of this new era of computing. In this line the program is framed Subexplored systems for quantum computing at utility scale of the Agency for Advanced Defense Research Projects (DARPA), of which Majorana 1 has entered the final phase.

“The objective is to deliver the first quantum tolerant computer to failures at the industry utility scale, or a computational value exceeds its costs,” they say. They are not alone on this trip: Google presented its Willow chip last December, which with 105 cubits in its superconductor chip (another different technology to manage quantum particles) states that it can solve in 5 minutes a task in which the Best computer would take longer than the universe has been existing. Or IBM, which reaches 133 with Heron. In parallel, China is also betting on other systems, such as the optical bosons sampling circuit. A quantum career to take Schrödinger’s cat to the water and be the first to enjoy all the applications promised by the computing of the future.