Quantum computers are being used to perform precise tests of some of the most important parts of quantum theory. A quantum computer test called Raman Research Institute in India had done the Sorkin and Peres test.
The tests were done at an independent department of the Department of Science and Technology, the RRI, where they were done. Using a quantum computer to test important principles has led to a new research direction in the physics field. As a kind of low-level program for quantum computers, the “Quantum Circuit” could be a kind of “Rosetta Stone” for translating experiments from one physical system to the next.
Key Highlight:
- Scientists from the Raman Research Institute (RRI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, used quantum computers to undertake precision tests of key features of quantum theory known as Sorkin and Peres tests in collaboration.
- During the Quantum Frontiers and Fundamentals, an exchange of ideas between Professor Urbasi Sinha of RRI Bangalore and conference delegate Prof. Lorenzo Macconne of the University of Pavia, Italy, took place during the Quantum Frontiers and Fundamentals (QFF 2020) conference in January 2020.
- Over the next two years, Prof. Sinha and her postdoc studied the prospect of performing experiments on quantum computers with Prof. Macconne, a specialist in quantum information theory.
- The deployment of a quantum computer to test key quantum concepts in research published as a rapid communication letter in Physical Review Research has spawned an altogether new study avenue for physics that unites multiple research disciplines.
- The tests also proved that quantum mechanics is real and can be used to assess a quantum computer’s performance.
Scientists have used quantum computers for a different purpose than they usually do for the first time. They can do some things at a much faster rate than normal computers. To test the very foundations of their theory, they have used new-age computers to do it right now!
The theory of quantum mechanics, like any other physical theory, is based on tests. The experiments show that some hypotheses are true, and then the theory can be logically deduced from these axioms. While many people in the scientific community are working on making things that can be used for quantum computing, another group is working on making sure that quantum theory itself is correct.
A group of scientists from the Raman Research Institute (RRI), an independent department of the Department of Science and Technology, worked together to use quantum computers to test some of the most important parts of quantum theory called the Sorkin and Peres tests. These tests are very precise. In the first test, you can figure out how likely it is that something will happen. In the second test, you can figure out how quantum objects can behave as waves, like when you throw two stones into a pond and get a wave pattern that is the sum of two waves.
Professor Urbasi Sinha of RRI Bangalore and Prof. Lorenzo Macconne of the University of Pavia, Italy, met at the Quantum Frontiers and Fundamentals (QFF 2020) conference in January 2020 talked about their work together. It took Prof. Sinha and her postdoc two years to figure out how to do experiments on quantum computers with Prof. Macconne, an expert on quantum information theory.
The research in the journal Physical Review Research that used a quantum computer to test important quantum principles has led to a new research direction for the physics community that brings together different types of research under one umbrella.
As quantum computers are scalable quantum systems, they could set up a universally programmable quantum experiment setup. Scientists could use this “Rosetta stone” to move experiments from one physical system to another. A quantum circuit, a low-level program for quantum computers, could be used to do this.
As a side note, the scientists have also shown that quantum mechanics is true, and the tests can be used to see how well a quantum computer works. Professor Sinha: “Our method is a good way to set up well-defined benchmarks for quantum computers so that we can figure out how error-prone they are.”
A group of #scientists @RRI_Bangalore , an autonomous institute of @IndiaDST in a collaborative #research have used quantum computers to perform some precision tests of the fundamental aspects of quantum theory called Sorkin & Peres tests.@srivaric @SinhaUrbasi @TarunSouradeep
— DSTIndia (@IndiaDST) April 15, 2022
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