{"id":20980,"date":"2018-08-26T08:30:07","date_gmt":"2018-08-26T15:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidebigdata.com\/?p=20980"},"modified":"2018-08-22T15:34:51","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T22:34:51","slug":"d-wave-breakthrough-demonstrates-first-large-scale-quantum-simulation-topological-state-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidebigdata.com\/2018\/08\/26\/d-wave-breakthrough-demonstrates-first-large-scale-quantum-simulation-topological-state-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"D-Wave Breakthrough Demonstrates First Large-Scale Quantum Simulation of Topological State of Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"D-Wave Systems Inc.<\/a>, a leader in quantum computing systems and software, published a\u00a0 milestone study demonstrating a topological phase transition using its 2048-qubit annealing quantum computer. This complex quantum simulation of materials is a major step toward reducing the need for\u00a0 time-consuming and expensive physical research and development.<\/p>\n

This paper represents a breakthrough in the simulation of physical systems which are otherwise\u00a0 essentially impossible,\u201d said 2016 Nobel laureate Dr. J. Michael Kosterlitz. \u201cThe test reproduces most\u00a0 of the expected results, which is a remarkable achievement. This gives hope that future quantum\u00a0 simulators will be able to explore more complex and poorly understood systems so that one can trust\u00a0 the simulation results in quantitative detail as a model of a physical system. I look forward to seeing future applications of this simulation method.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"The paper, entitled \u201cObservation of topological phenomena in a programmable lattice of 1,800 qubits<\/a>\u201d, was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature (August 22, 2018). This work marks an important advancement in the field and demonstrates again that the fully programmable DWave quantum\u00a0 computer can be used as an accurate simulator of quantum systems at a large scale. The methods used in this work could have broad implications in the development of novel materials, realizing Richard\u00a0 Feynman\u2019s original vision of a quantum simulator. This new research comes on the heels of D-Wave\u2019s\u00a0 recent Science Magazine paper demonstrating a different type of phase transition in a quantum spin- glass simulation. The two papers together signify the flexibility and versatility of the D-Wave quantum\u00a0 computer in quantum simulation of materials, in addition to other tasks such as optimization and machine learning.<\/p>\n

In the early 1970s, theoretical physicists Vadim Berezinskii, J. Michael Kosterlitz and David Thouless\u00a0 predicted a new state of matter characterized by nontrivial topological properties. The work was\u00a0 awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016. D-Wave researchers demonstrated this phenomenon by\u00a0 programming the D-Wave 2000Q\u2122 system to form a two-dimensional frustrated lattice of artificial\u00a0 spins. The observed topological properties in the simulated system cannot exist without quantum effects and closely agree with theoretical predictions.<\/p>\n