Recently, Microsoft announced Majorana 1 quantum processor that uses topological conductor to create quantum computers that can scale to a million qubits. In this post, we will decode why there is so much hype around Majorana 1 and understand how it works using simple analogies.
Quantum computers utilize phenomena of quantum mechanics (ie, superposition, entanglement, and interference) for performing certain kinds of operations much faster than classical computers. However, we still do not have a working quantum computer (that can run Doom 😁) because of something called noise.
What is Noise?
Like classical computers have bits, quantum equivalents are qubits. And these qubits utilize superposition (yes, yes, that both 0 and 1 at the same time thingy) to operate.
But these qubits are generally very small subatomic particles (like an electron) and are susceptible to disturbances. Quantum state gets lost because of minute events like temperature change, electromagnetic interference, or even vibrations. Anything that affects the state of a qubit (and thus ultimately causes calculation error) is called Noise.
No matter how much we shield our qubits, noise causes problems. And the time for which a quantum state can be maintained is measured as the Decoherence Time. So all quantum manufacturers work hard to increase this decoherence time.
What Are Majorana Quasiparticles?
Quasiparticles are not real fundamental particles but interactions of fundamental particles (emergent effects arising from the collective behavior of actual particles). And that interaction itself behaves as a particle and is hence called quasi-particle. It’s like an electron hole pair where if an electron moves from the valence band, leaving behind a void/space (or hole). This hole acts as a positively charged quasiparticle.
Majorana quasiparticles are those particles that are antimatter of their own (and they exist in pairs). If they touch each other, then destroy each other. However, when spatially separated, they can store quantum information in a way that resists noise.
These Majorana quasiparticle pairs are analogous to mini water whirlpools. Like both vortices rotate in opposite directions and can destroy each other, they are also linked internally.
Check out above video from “Physics Girl” where she demonstrates formation of such vortices in a swimming pool.
What is a Topological Conductor?
Similar to how conventional computation started with an Abacus, followed by vacuum tubes, electromagnetic relays, and transistors. Quantum computers are also on a hardware evolution journey. There are many modalities of quantum hardware like Google/IBM’s superconducting qubits, D-Wave’s trapped ion qubits, PsiQuantum’s photonic qubits. But all of them suffer from noise or information loss to some extent.
To fix this noise issue, topological conductors use Majorana quasiparticles to distribute the quantum state across the surface. Now even if some noise enters the system, it is less likely to cause errors because the quantum information is spread out across a topological structure rather than being localized in a single particle.
Check out “Dr. Ben Miles” video on Topological Quantum Chips for an in-depth understanding.
Quantum Future is Exciting!
However, some critics say that Microsoft still has not successfully created topological conductors that can scale. But even if there is some progress going on, that is good news.
Also, Amazon announced they are working on Ocelot quantum processors that use cat qubits🐈
Overall, Majorana 1 is a good candidate to take us out of the NISQ (Noisy intermediate-scale quantum) era.
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