![]() ![]() “Despite that,” added Minev, “We wanted to know if it would be possible to get an advance warning signal that a jump is about to occur imminently.” “Quantum jumps are known to be unpredictable in the long run.” ![]() Beinecke Professor of Applied Physics and Physics at Yale and member of the Yale Quantum Institute. “These jumps occur every time we measure a qubit,” said Devoret, the F.W. The enigmatic quantum jumps were theorized by Bohr a century ago, but not observed until the 1980s, in atoms. ![]() In developing quantum computers, researchers crucially must deal with the jumps of the qubits, which are the manifestations of errors in calculations. The results reveal a surprising finding that contradicts Danish physicist Niels Bohr’s established view - the jumps are neither abrupt nor as random as previously thought.įor a tiny object such as an electron, molecule, or an artificial atom containing quantum information (known as a qubit), a quantum jump is the sudden transition from one of its discrete energy states to another. The experiment, performed in the lab of Yale professor Michel Devoret and proposed by lead author Zlatko Minev, peers into the actual workings of a quantum jump for the first time. The quantum jump is the discrete (non-continuous) and random change in the state when it is observed. Opening the box to observe the cat causes it to abruptly change its quantum state randomly, forcing it to be either dead or alive. The superposition theory of quantum physics suggests that until someone opens the box, the cat is both alive and dead, a superposition of states. The idea is that a cat is placed in a sealed box with a radioactive source and a poison that will be triggered if an atom of the radioactive substance decays. Schrödinger’s cat is a well-known paradox used to illustrate the concept of superposition - the ability for two opposite states to exist simultaneously - and unpredictability in quantum physics. A study announcing the discovery appears in the June 3 online edition of the journal Nature. The discovery enables researchers to set up an early warning system for imminent jumps of artificial atoms containing quantum information. In the process, they overturn years of cornerstone dogma in quantum physics. Yale researchers have figured out how to catch and save Schrödinger’s famous cat, the symbol of quantum superposition and unpredictability, by anticipating its jumps and acting in real time to save it from proverbial doom. ![]()
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