An international team of scientists has captured a completely new state of matter that previously existed only in theory on Google’s Willow quantum processor, the same chip that previously fueled the many-worlds debate, hinting at the possible existence of parallel universes.
An international team of scientists has captured a completely new state of matter that previously existed only in theory on Google’s Willow quantum processor, the same chip that previously fueled the many-worlds debate, hinting at the possible existence of parallel universes.
As reported by Interesting Engineering, researchers from the Technical University of Munich, Princeton and Google were able to implement the so-called Floquet topologically ordered state for the first time thanks to the Google Quantum AI chip. This is a quantum state that arises in a system with rhythmically repeating changes that cannot be described by classical thermodynamics. The scientists developed an interferometric algorithm that allowed them to visualize the behavior of this state and trace the «transmutation» of exotic particles predicted only on paper.
The familiar phases of matter, such as water in a liquid or solid state, are described by stable equilibrium conditions. However, in quantum physics, other, unstable phases are also possible, which arise only under conditions of constant dynamical perturbations. The discovery of the Floquet state confirmed that quantum computers could become a new tool for studying such «matter out of equilibrium.»
Willow has already made a splash: in 2023, it completed a calculation in less than five minutes, while the world’s most powerful supercomputers would have taken billions of years. This result reminded us of Hugh Everett’s many-worlds interpretation, according to which our universe is just one among many others. That’s why the new discovery immediately brought the multiverse debate back into the scientific and public arena.
Experts believe the research results open a new era in quantum simulations: processors like Willow can now act as laboratories for studying states of matter inaccessible to traditional methods. This not only expands our understanding of fundamental physics, but also creates the basis for future breakthroughs in quantum technologies and materials science.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about what to expect from Google’s new mega-powerful quantum chip Willow. We’ve gathered some thoughts from IT experts and an economist about how this invention could be useful or, conversely, threatening.
