Category Physics

Quantum computer outperforms supercomputers in approximate optimization tasks

quantum computing
Credit: AI-generated image

A quantum computer can solve optimization problems faster than classical supercomputers, a process known as “quantum advantage” and demonstrated by a USC researcher in a paper recently published in Physical Review Letters.

The study shows how quantum annealing, a specialized form of quantum computing, outperforms the best current classical algorithms when searching for near-optimal solutions to complex problems.

“The way quantum annealing works is by finding low-energy states in quantum systems, which correspond to optimal or near-optimal solutions to the problems being solved,” said Daniel Lidar, corresponding author of the study and professor of electrical and computer engineering, chemistry, and physics and astronomy at the USC Viterbi School of Engi...

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Pressure-responsive, layered semiconductor shows potential for next-gen data storage

Julie Miller and Matt McCluskey using an X‑ray beamline.
Julie Miller (left) and Matt McCluskey conduct research using the X‑ray beamline at WSU’s Dodgen Research Facility. (Photo by Robert Hubner, WSU Photo Services)

A squishy, layered material that dramatically transforms under pressure could someday help computers store more data with less energy.

That’s according to a new study by researchers at Washington State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that shows a hybrid zinc telluride-based material can undergo surprising structural changes when squeezed together like a molecular sandwich...

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A shortcut to AI computation: In-memory computing overcomes data transfer bottlenecks

A schematic representation of in-memory computing using electrochemical memory devices (ECRAMs) arranged in a cross-point array structure, mimicking the way synapses in the brain process information. When voltage is applied to the device, ions move within the channel, enabling simultaneous computation and data storage. This study reveals how ions and electrons behave under applied voltage, uncovering the device’s internal operational dynamics. Credit: POSTECH

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, researchers at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) have identified a breakthrough that could make AI technologies faster and more efficient.

Professor Seyoung Kim and Dr...

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Material? Robot? It’s a metabot

A researcher observes a metabot inside a magnetic chamber

In an experiment reminiscent of the Transformers movie franchise, engineers at Princeton University have created a type of material that can expand, assume new shapes, move and follow electromagnetic commands like a remotely controlled robot even though it lacks any motor or internal gears.

“You can transform between a material and a robot, and it is controllable with an external magnetic field,” said researcher Glaucio Paulino, the Margareta Engman Augustine Professor of Engineering at Princeton.

In an article published April 23 in the journal Nature, the researchers describe how they drew inspiration from the folding art of origami to create a structure that blurs the lines between robotics and materials...

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