On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 12:07 AM Brent Meeker <[email protected]> wrote:
> * > Ironically it seems we'll get quantum computers to work at about the > same time we realize they're not very useful.* > *The quantum computer company Alice & Bob’s claims they are on track to have by 2030 a fault tolerant quantum computer with 100 logical qubits. I don't know if they will reach their goal but it doesn't seem to be beyond the realm of possibility, and if they do it will change the world. Such a machine could accurately simulate the ground state energy of moderately complex molecules such as iron/sulfur clusters that are important in biological enzymes. It could simulate small superconductors, magnetic materials, and high-temperature catalysts. It could speed up data search thanks to Grover's algorithm, and optimize logistics and scheduling problems. * *One specific example is it could simulate nitrogenase, or at least the active electrons in it that are important for bonding, and nitrogenase is the enzyme that plants used to break the enormously strong triple bonds in nitrogen molecules in the air so they can be used by biological organisms. Plants are able to do that using very little energy, but nobody has a good understanding of how they do it, so we have to use the Haber–Bosch process which is so inefficient it uses about 2% of the human race's entire energy budget, but without it hundreds of millions of people would starve to death. It would be nice if we had something better. * *And of course such a machine would be very useful for cryptography. But probably the most important things of all are things we currently don't know anything about and will not until we have a large low fault quantum computer that we can fool around with. * *John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis <https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis>* lfq \ > > On 9/29/2025 6:20 AM, John Clark wrote: > > *There have been some important developments in the field of quantum > computing during September, for example:* > > *A 3,000 quantum-bit system capable of continuous operation* > <https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/09/clearing-significant-hurdle-to-quantum-computing/> > > *In their paper from the September 15, 2025 issue of the journal Nature:* > > > *Continuous operation of a coherent 3,000-qubit system > <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09596-6> * > > *The authors say: * > > *"Our results pave the way for realization of large-scale continuously > operated atomic clocks, sensors, and fault-tolerant quantum computers. > [...] We demonstrated the continuous operation with a 3,000-qubit system, > but it's also clear that this approach will work for much larger numbers as > well. [...] We're showing a way where you can insert new atoms as you > naturally lose them without destroying the information that's already in > the system."* > > *There is a second paper of interest published in Nature on September 10. * > > *Probing the Kitaev honeycomb model on a neutral-atom quantum computer* > <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09475-0> > > *Researchers found a way to configure atomic arrays so they simulate > quantum magnets, this allows them to change the connectivity between > quantum processors during computation. One of the authors of the paper said > "We can literally reconfigure the atomic quantum computer while it's > operating. Basically, the system becomes a living organism."* > > *And there is a third paper from Nature published on September 24, a team > demonstrated a new method of quantum error correction:* > > *Low-overhead transversal fault tolerance for universal quantum > computation <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09543-5> * > > *The lead author said he thinks with this new method it should be possible > to build a quantum computer that can execute billions of operations and > continue running for days and "Realizing this dream is now in our direct > sight for the first time, ever. One can really see a very direct path > towards realizing it"* > > *In a fourth development the quantum computer company "Alice and Bob" > announced a few days ago that they have produced superconducting "quantum > cat "cubits that remain resistant to flip errors for more than an hour, the > previous record was seven minutes. * > > *Alice & Bob Shares Preliminary Results Vastly Surpassing Previous > Bit-Flip Time Record* > <https://alice-bob.com/newsroom/alice-bob-surpasses-bit-flip-stability-record/> > > *John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis > <https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis>* > 7bb > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAJPayv3HUes4wQmUGref1Vi_7y2_quaCvCp-ZvFhw_xHvpk0KA%40mail.gmail.com.
