科学家们刚刚在日常电子产品中创造了量子态

科学家们刚刚在日常电子产品中创造了量子态

Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionise the processing power at our fingertips, but for the moment a lot of it is just potential.

量子计算有可能彻底改变我们指尖的处理能力，但就目前而言，它有很多只是潜力。

Researchers have been uncertain on whether we'll ever be able to harness quantum computing in a practical, affordable, realistic way. But we might have an exciting new lead.

研究人员一直不确定我们是否能够以一种实际的、负担得起的、现实的方式利用量子计算。但我们可能会有一个令人兴奋的新线索。

Two new studies show how quantum technologies can work with everyday electronics – specifically, transmitting quantum information using devices made from silicon carbide, a material which is already used everywhere from LED lights to telescopes.

两项新的研究表明了量子技术如何应用于日常电子产品——具体来说，就是利用碳化硅制造的设备来传输量子信息，这种材料已经被广泛应用于从LED灯到望远镜的各个领域。

Today's quantum computers are, strictly speaking, just scaled-down, prototype versions of what we one day hope quantum computers can be. They require a lot of delicate instruments, exotic materials, careful engineering, and specific conditions in which to operate; you can't just order a laptop version for your home.

今天的量子计算机，严格地说，只是缩小了的，原型版本，我们希望有一天量子计算机可以成功。它们需要许多精密的仪器、奇异的材料、精细的工程和操作的具体条件，你不能只在家里订购一台笔记本电脑。

The researchers at work. (David Awschalom)What these new studies show is a potential way to bring parts of the quantum computing promise to the electronics that are already in use – although as ever in the quantum realm, there's still a lot of uncertainty.

工作中的研究人员。这些新研究表明，将量子计算的部分前景应用于已在使用的电子产品是一种潜在的方式——尽管与以往一样，在量子领域仍有许多不确定性。

The ability to create and control high-performance quantum bits in commercial electronics was a surprise, says molecular engineer David Awschalom, from the University of Chicago.

芝加哥大学的分子工程师David Awschalom说:“在商业电子领域创造和控制高性能量子比特的能力令人吃惊。”

These discoveries have changed the way we think about developing quantum technologies – perhaps we can find a way to use today's electronics to build quantum devices.

“这些发现改变了我们对发展量子技术的看法——也许我们可以找到一种方法，利用今天的电子技术来建造量子设备。”

The scientists were able to generate quantum states in silicon carbide that emitted single particles of light, with a wavelength near the telecommunications band. That means our current network infrastructure might not need too much tweaking to carry quantum information.

科学家们能够在碳化硅中产生量子态，发射出单个粒子的光，其波长接近电信波段。这意味着我们目前的网络基础设施可能不需要太多的调整来承载量子信息。

In the first study, the scientists created what they called a "quantum FM radio", capable of sending quantum information across long distances with high levels of control.

在第一项研究中，科学家们创造了他们所称的“量子调频收音机”，能够在高度控制下远距离发送量子信息。

For their second trick, the team used a basic electronics element called a diode to free a quantum signal of noise and make it almost perfectly stable – addressing one of the major problems in quantum computing at the moment.

在他们的第二招中，团队使用了一种叫做二极管的基本电子元件来释放量子信号中的噪声，使其几乎完全稳定——解决了目前量子计算中的一个主要问题。

The diode acts as a one-way switch for electrons excited by the lasers used in the course of quantum experiments, effectively removing the electrons from the system and making the environment much less noisy.

在量子实验过程中，二极管充当了由激光激发的电子的单向开关，有效地将电子从系统中移除，使环境中的噪声大大降低。

As promising as they are, these advances aren't going to put a quantum laptop on your desk anytime soon – but they do give scientists more hope that quantum computing through classical systems might one day become a reality.

尽管这些进展很有希望，但它们不会很快让量子笔记本电脑出现在你的桌子上——但它们确实给了科学家们更多的希望，即通过经典系统进行的量子计算有一天可能会成为现实。

In September we saw researchers creating something approaching a quantum computer which could operate at room temperature, and used modified versions of the components found in classic computers, so this is a research area that's gaining momentum.

今年9月，我们看到研究人员发明了一种接近量子计算机的东西，它可以在室温下运行，并使用了经典计算机中发现的组件的改良版本，因此这是一个正在发展的研究领域。

This work brings us one step closer to the realisation of systems capable of storing and distributing quantum information across the world's fibre-optic networks, says Awschalom.

Awschalom说:“这项工作让我们离实现能够在全球光纤网络中存储和分发量子信息的系统又近了一步。”

Such quantum networks would bring about a novel class of technologies allowing for the creation of unhackable communication channels, the teleportation of single electron states and the realisation of a quantum internet.

“这样的量子网络将带来一种新的技术，允许创建不可攻破的通信通道，实现单电子态的隐形传态，实现量子互联网。”

The research has been published in Science Advances and Science.

这项研究发表在《科学进展与科学》杂志上。