Jan 7 2010
Physical processes affect almost every aspect of our lives, yet physicists still grapple with understanding and modeling the behavior of many such processes—particularly complex quantum physical processes, including certain superconducting effects.
To circumvent the limitations of conventional computers in tackling these problems, physicists have proposed using well-understood quantum systems called ‘quantum simulators’ (or ‘quantum emulators’) to emulate similar, but otherwise poorly understood, quantum systems. In a review of the different approaches taken in developing these simulators, Iulia Buluta and Franco Nori from the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Wako (and the University of Michigan, USA), have concluded that the first practical applications may soon be a reality1.
“Quantum emulators could be employed in fields such as atomic physics or condensed-matter physics,” explains Nori. However, he says, the detailed study of known physical processes is just one advantage: these controllable quantum emulators would also allow the exploration of novel physical processes that are typically hard to study.
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