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A team of UCR electrical engineers and material scientists demonstrated a research breakthrough that may result in wide-ranging advancements in electrical, optical, and computer technologies.

The Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering research group, led by distinguished professor Alexander Balandin, has shown in the laboratory the unique and practical function of newly created materials, which they called quantum composites.

These composites consist of small crystals of called "charge density wave quantum materials" incorporated within a polymer (large molecules with repeating structures) matrix. Upon heating or light exposure, charge density wave material undergoes a phase transition that leads to an unusual electrical response of the composites.

Compared to other materials that reveal quantum phenomena, the quantum composites created by Balandin's group exhibited functionality at a much wider range of temperatures and had a greatly increased ability to store electricity, giving them an excellent potential for utility.

The University of California, Riverside, researchers describe the unique properties in a paper titled "Quantum Composites with Charge-Density-Wave Fillers" published in the journal Advanced Materials. The lead authors of the paper are Zahra Barani and Tekwam Geremew, UCR graduate students with the college's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who synthesized and tested the composites. Another UCR graduate student Maedeh Taheri is a co-author who helped with electrical measurements. Balandin and Fariborz Kargar, an assistant adjunct professor and project scientist, are the corresponding authors.

The term quantum refers to materials and devices where electrons behave more like waves than particles. The wave nature of electrons can give materials unusual properties that are used in a new generation of computer, electronic and optic technologies.

Materials that reveal quantum phenomena are sought for building quantum computers that go beyond the limitations of most computing that is now based on chips that use binary bits for computations. Such materials are also sought for super-sensitive sensors used for various electronic and optic applications.

But the materials with quantum phenomena have major drawbacks, Balandin said.

"The problem with these materials is that the quantum phenomena are fragile and typically observed only at extremely low temperatures," he said. "The defects and impurities destroy the electron wave function."

Remarkably, the charge density wave material in the quantum composites created by Balandin's lab exhibited functionality as high as 50C above room temperature. This transition temperature is close to the temperature of the operation of computers and other electronic gadgets, which heat up when they operate. This temperature tolerance opens a possibility for a wide range of applications of quantum composites in electronics and energy storage.

The researchers also found that quantum composites have an unusually high dielectric constanta metric that characterizes the material's ability to store electricity. The dielectric constant of the electrically insulating composites increased by more than two orders of magnitude, which allows for smaller and more powerful capacitors used for energy storage.

"Energy storage capacitors can be found in battery-powered applications," Balandin said. "Capacitors can be used to deliver peak power and provide energy for computer memory during an unexpected shut-off. Capacitors can charge and discharge faster compared to batteries. In order to broaden the use of capacitors for energy storage, one needs to increase the energy per volume. Our quantum composite material may help to achieve this goal."

Another possible application for quantum composites is reflective coating. The change in the dielectric constant induced by heating, light exposure, or application of an electrical field can be used to change the light reflection from the glasses and windows coated with such composites.

"We hope that our ability to preserve the quantum condensate phases in the charge-density-wave materials even inside disordered composites and even above room temperature can become a game changer for many applications. It is a conceptually different approach for tuning the properties of composites that we use in everyday life," Balandin added.

More information: Zahra Barani et al, Quantum Composites with ChargeDensityWave Fillers, Advanced Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202209708

Journal information: Advanced Materials

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Team creates 'quantum composites' for electrical and optical innovations - Phys.org

All the worlds a stage and the stage itself is space-time where all the laws of physics are merely players. But maybe space-time is not the fundamental aspect that it is believed to be. A team of researchers from Japans RIKEN suggests that space-time could emerge from quantum properties, and one in particular that is involved in it is called quantum magic.

That is not something out of a Marvel movie despite sounding like it. It is actually a mathematical measure of how difficult is to simulate a quantum state on a regular (read that as non-quantum) computer. It turns out that apart from the simplest quantum states, anything with a bit of chaos will end up being maximally magical, which is a wonderful mathematical euphemism for we cant model them.

How does that relate to space-time? Well, there is a quantum theory that needed an extra ingredient and that particular flavor might be quantum magic. The theory is called bulk quantum gravity and it was proposed in the 1990s to try to reconcile gravitational and quantum theories. A requirement is that space-time is something that emerges from the theory, not something that is assumed a priori.

Physicists have long been fascinated about the possibility that space and time are not fundamental, but rather are derived from something deeper, lead author Kanato Goto of the RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences, said in a statement.

A pragmatic analogy of the bulk theory is imagining an infinite cylinder (the bulk in question) holding objects that are acted on by gravity, such as a planet, a star, or more excitingly a black hole. The sleight of hand is that it is possible to consider the properties of particles on the surface of the cylinder to describe the gravitational theory that is happening inside.

This relationship indicates that spacetime itself does not exist fundamentally, but emerges from some quantum nature, added Goto. Physicists are trying to understand the quantum property that is key.

At first, researchers considered quantum entanglement of these surface particles as the crucial quantity to explain the connection, but it doesnt fully cover the properties of gravity. In particular, the way black holes appear to destroy information, which the team approached as a manifestation of chaos. And from that chaos, they made a connection to quantum magic.

This finding suggests that magic is strongly involved in the emergence of spacetime, Goto argued.

It will be interesting to see what predictions and expectations this bulk quantum magic theory of gravity has but for now, it is fun to just say its name.

The study is published in Physical Review D.

Link:
The Origin Of Space-Time? Maybe It's Quantum "Magic" - IFLScience

The Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Science and Technology Directorate are working closely together to focus on the application of emerging technologies in a symbiotic relationship to better respond to national security concerns.

Officials from both agencies spoke during a GovCon discussion Tuesday, illuminating the joint effort to test and deploy emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, advanced sensors, and data modeling and simulation.

Emerging technologies are really coming into focus especiallywith CISA and working with S&T. The relationship I would say now, is, is extremely, extremely close, said Garfield Jones, the associate chief of strategic technology at CISA.

Jones further explained that more operational technologies and capabilities are arising from the research within the S&T. He highlighted the current demand for technologies ready to be incorporated into areas threatened by national security concerns, namely U.S. infrastructure.

Infrastructure is in the [CISA] name, he said. We focused on that infrastructure part, we focused on the threatto the infrastructure, to the nation. Were starting to take more of that, that advisory and risk-advisory role.

Working with S&T, CISA is gauging the emerging technologies potentially ready for use and developing policies to prepare for their advent.

In terms of use cases, optimization is one of the primary applications. Adam Cox, the director of S&Ts Strategy and Policy Office, said that all of the emerging tech applications are implementing existing systems, like UAVs, to improve their operations.

Fellow agencies that S&T has worked with to incorporate new technologies include the Departments of Defense, Treasury and Justice.

We've been really good at taking things that DOD has developed and adapting them to our needs, and figuring out how to apply them in a homeland security mission or a larger DOD offensive capability, Cox said.

He added that S&Ts research portfolio doesnt just service the government, but key operations like emergency response and public infrastructure.

We're developing technology for not just people within the department that are our departmental brother and sister agencies, but this larger community, this homeland security enterprisethat is looking for technology to keep officers safe, to protect the bridges and power stations and financial institutions, he said.

CISA still broadly oversees the cyber-specific applications of emerging technologies developed between both agencies. Jones added that malware and threat detection, as well as incorporating a user experience component, are two aspects that will inform how CISA tailors emerging tech systems into its mission suit.

Fellow panelist Donald Coulter, a senior cybersecurity advisor within DHS, added that the CISA partnership is looking to impact departmental cybersecurity operations related to data protection and open source software security.

We're doing great work and working with transitioning stuff and capabilities, not only to CISA and to our department partners, but also working with industry and community to transition to make things available to the broader community, Coulter said.

Buzzier emerging technologies, namely quantum encryption systems, are also on the research docket across the agency. Coulter said that despite quantum technologys ambiguous future, DHS is looking into fortifying the security architecture of classical computing networks ahead of a viable quantum computer.

We're looking at all angles of that challenge, he said. Amid the all-encompassing nature of post-quantum cryptographyincluding gauging risk, updating current encryption schemes, and identifying high-risk assetsDHS is also looking to capitalize on some promises of quantum information systems.

Coulter specified that quantum-enabled communications and computing architectures gives us an opportunity to really look at challenging problems from a different perspective and be able to develop solutions much more quickly, much more completely and robustly, allows us opportunities to change the way we communicate and give us opportunities to communicate more securely, resiliently, and identify when adversaries may be trying to eavesdrop.

Jones added that CISA is also working to help organizations protect their systems from powerful quantum algorithms that can break through standard encryption.

Once you've developed a cryptographically relevant quantum computer, which may be anywhere from five to 10 years out, there's [a] good possibility to really damage the encryption that we currently use today, he said. And so, we have to prepare for that possibility.

Continued here:
DHS S&T and CISA Forge Deep Partnership in Emerging Tech R&D - Nextgov

Illustration of open quantum systems and non-Hermitian topology. Credit: Jose Lado, Aalto University.

Scientists have discovered a method for predicting the behavior of many-body quantum systems coupled to their environment. This advancement is essential for safeguarding quantum data in quantum devices, paving the way for practical applications of quantum technology.

In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, a team of researchers from Aalto University in Finland and IAS Tsinghua University in China unveiled a novel approach for predicting the behavior of quantum systems, like particle groups, when connected to external environments. Typically, connecting a system like a quantum computer to its environment leads to decoherence and information leakage, compromising the data within the system. However, the researchers have devised a technique that transforms this issue into a beneficial solution.

The research was carried out by Aalto doctoral researcher Guangze Chen under the supervision of Professor Jose Lado and in collaboration with Fei Song from IAS Tsinghua. Their approach combines techniques from two domains, quantum many-body physics, and non-Hermitian quantum physics.

One of the most intriguing and powerful phenomena in quantum systems is many-body quantum correlations. Understanding these and predicting their behavior is vital because they underpin the exotic properties of key components of quantum computers and quantum sensors. While a lot of progress has been made in predicting quantum correlations when matter is isolated from its environment, doing so when matter is coupled to its environment has so far eluded scientists.

In the new study, the team showed that connecting a quantum device to an external system can be a strength in the right circumstances. When a quantum device is host to so-called non-Hermitian topology, it leads to robustly protected quantum excitations whose resilience stems from the very fact that they are open to the environment. These kinds of open quantum systems can potentially lead to disruptive new strategies for quantum technologies that harness external coupling to protect information from decoherence and leaks.

The study establishes a new theoretical method to calculate the correlations between quantum particles when they are coupled to their environment. The method we developed allows us to solve correlated quantum problems that present dissipation and quantum many-body interactions simultaneously. As a proof of concept, we demonstrated the methodology for systems with 24 interacting qubits featuring topological excitations, says Chen.

Professor Lado explains that their approach will help move quantum research from idealized conditions to real-world applications. Predicting the behavior of correlated quantum matter is one of the critical problems for the theoretical design of quantum materials and devices. However, the difficulty of this problem becomes much greater when considering realistic situations in which quantum systems are coupled to an external environment. Our results represent a step forward in solving this problem, providing a methodology for understanding and predicting both quantum materials and devices in realistic conditions in quantum technologies, he says.

Reference: Topological Spin Excitations in Non-Hermitian Spin Chains with a Generalized Kernel Polynomial Algorithm by Guangze Chen, Fei Song and Jose L. Lado, 7 March 2023, Physical Review Letters.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.100401

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Quantum Breakthrough: New Method Protects Information From Decoherence and Leaks - SciTechDaily

In this episode of Brains, Black Holes, and Beyond, Senna Aldoubosh and Noelle Kim sit down with Josh Leeman, a graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. Leeman discusses his interest in applying technologies from condensed matter theory to quantum computing applications, how doing research remotely during the pandemic gave him insight on his research interests, and valuable advice for students when making their future plans.

This episode of Brains, Black Holes, and Beyond (B Cubed) was produced under the 147th board of the Prince in partnership with the Insights newsletter.

For more information about the Schoop Lab and Joshs research, feel free to visit the pages linked below.

RESOURCES

https://schoop.princeton.edu/https://jleeman.com/

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Senna Aldoubosh and Noelle Kim

Edited and Sound Engineered by Noelle Kim

Transcript by Noelle Kim

Produced by Senna Aldoubosh

For more from The Daily Princetonian, visit dailyprincetonian.com. For more from Princeton Insights, visit insights.princeton.edu. Please direct all corrections to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.

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Material Design and Quantum Computing Applications w/ Grad ... - The Daily Princetonian