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Researchers have developed a new way to create quantum memory: A small drum can store data sent with light in its sonic vibrations, and then forward the data with new light sources when needed again.

The results demonstrate that mechanical memory for quantum data could be the strategy that paves the way for an ultra-secure internet with incredible speeds.

Just beneath Niels Bohrs old office at the University of Copenhagens Niels Bohr Institute is a basement where scattered tables are covered with small mirrors, lasers, and an agglomeration of all types of devices connected by webs of wires and heaps of tape. It looks like a childs project gone too far, one that their parents have tried in vain to get them to clean up.

While it is difficult for the untrained eye to discern that these tables are actually the home to an array of world-leading research projects, the important stuff is happening within worlds so small that not even Newtons laws apply. This is where Niels Bohrs quantum physical heirs are developing the most cutting-edge of quantum technologies.

One of these projects stands outfor physicists at leastby the fact that a gizmo visible to the naked eye is able to achieve quantum states. The quantum drum is a small membrane made of a ceramic, glass-like material with holes scattered in a neat pattern along its edges.

When the drum is beaten with the light of a laser, it begins vibrating, and does it so quickly and undisturbed that quantum mechanics come into play. This property has long since caused a stir by opening up a number of quantum technological possibilities.

Now, new work has demonstrated that the drum can also play a key role for the futures network of quantum computers. Like modern alchemists, researchers have created a new form of quantum memory by converting light signals into sonic vibrations.

Prior to the data-carrying light signal hitting the quantum drum membrane, an auxiliary laser ensures that the membranes natural vibrations, which come from ambient conditions, are brought under control. This stabilizes the diaphragm with a drum beat that is at the exact frequency it likes best. This is called resonance.

The drum becomes very sensitive when it resonates with the auxiliary laser, which, among other things, allows it to detect the signal stored in the data-carrying light with quantum precision.

Once data-filled light hits, its signal becomes part of the drums vibrations. Here, they can be stably preserved in a kind of sound memory prior to being sent onwards in a third laser, which is shot at the drum and mirrored out in a cable with data from the original light signal encoded.

In the new research article, the researchers have proven that quantum data from a quantum computer emitted as light signalse.g., through the type of fiber-optic cable already used for high-speed internet connectionscan be stored as vibrations in the drum and then forwarded.

Previous experiments demonstrated to researchers that the membrane can remain in an otherwise fragile quantum state. And on this basis, they believe that the drum should be able to receive and transmit quantum data without it decohering, i.e., losing its quantum state when the quantum computers are ready.

This opens up great perspectives for the day when quantum computers can really do what we expect them to. Quantum memory is likely to be fundamental for sending quantum information over distances. So, what weve developed is a crucial piece in the very foundation for an internet of the future with quantum speed and quantum security, says postdoc Mads Bjerregaard Kristensen of the Niels Bohr Institute, lead author of the new research article in Physical Review Letters.

When transferring information between two quantum computers over a distanceor among many in a quantum internetthe signal will quickly be drowned out by noise. The amount of noise in a fiber-optic cable increases exponentially the longer the cable is. Eventually, data can no longer be decoded.

The classical internet and other major computer networks solve this noise problem by amplifying signals in small stations along transmission routes. But for quantum computers to apply an analogous method, they must first translate the data into ordinary binary number systems, such as those used by an ordinary computer.

This wont do. Doing so would slow the network and make it vulnerable to cyber-attacks, as the odds of classical data protection being effective in a quantum computer future are very bad.

Instead, we hope that the quantum drum will be able to assume this task. It has shown great promise as it is incredibly well-suited for receiving and resending signals from a quantum computer. So, the goal is to extend the connection between quantum computers through stations where quantum drums receive and retransmit signals, and in so doing, avoid noise while keeping data in a quantum state, says Kristensen. He adds:

In doing so, the speeds and advantages of quantum computers, e.g., in relation to certain complex calculations, will extend across networks and the Internet, as they will be achieved by exploiting properties like superposition and entanglement that are unique to quantum states, he says.

If successful, the stations will also be able to extend quantum-secured connections, whose quantum codes could also be lengthened by the drum. These secure signals could be sent over various distances, whether around a quantum network or across the Atlantic, in the quantum internet of the future.

The method involves sending qubits of quantum data in an ultra-short light signal: A couple of entangled photons can be used to create nearly unbreakable codes.

These types of connections also ensure that any attempt to hack access will be exposed, as quantum law says that whenever something is observed, it changes.

A classical computer works like a large network of switches that can be in either on or off positions. These systems are called binary because of the two states that form the basis of the calculations performed by the computer. Like beads on an abacus, the on and off switches form patterns of binary code.

A quantum computer performs calculations with the help of quantum mechanics, and exploits that its quantum switches, or qubits, can be in quantum states, including superposition, where they are simultaneously on and off. This allows a quantum computer to rapidly manage large amounts of information in a way that classical computers cannot.

Quantum data transmitted via light signals can maintain its quantum state as long as it is sufficiently undisturbed. And, the Niels Bohr Institutes quantum drum can both receive and forward signals without disturbance.

Research is being conducted elsewhere on an alternative where a data-carrying light source is directed at an atomic system and temporarily shifts the electrons in the atom, but the method has its limitations.

There are limits to what you can do with an atomic system, as we cant design atoms or the frequency of the light that they can interact with ourselves. Our relatively large mechanical system provides more flexibility. We can tinker and adjust, so that if new discoveries change the rules of the game, there is a good chance that the quantum drum can be adapted, explains Professor Albert Schliesser, coauthor of the research article.

For better or worse, our abilities as researchers are mostly what define the limits for how well it all works, he points out.

The drum is the latest and most serious take on mechanical quantum memory as it combines a number of properties: The drum has low signal lossi.e., the data signals strength is well retained. It also has the tremendous advantage of being able to handle all light frequencies, including the frequency used in the fiber optic light cables upon which the modern Internet is built.

The quantum drum is also convenient because data can be stored and read whenever needed. And the record-long 23 milliseconds of memory time already achieved by researchers makes it far more likely that the technology may one day become a building block for systems of quantum networks as well as the hardware in quantum computers.

We are out early with this research. Quantum computing and communication are still at an early stage of development, but with the memory weve obtained, one can speculate that the quantum drum will one day be used as a kind of quantum RAM, a kind of temporary working memory for quantum information. And that would be groundbreaking, says the professor.

Natures rulebook is different in the quantum mechanical world. In particular, two quantum states neutralize the limitations of the ordinary world, giving quantum computers incredible powers.

Superposition: In quantum mechanics, superposition allows a particle to be in multiple states at the same time until it is measured. For example, a quantum bit (qubit) can be both 0 and 1 at the same time until it is measured and collapses to a certain state. Qubits leverage superposition to perform multiple calculations at once.

Tangling: Einstein referred to it as spooky action at a distance. The states of two or more entangled particles are closely related. A change in the state of a particle will instantly affect the state of the particles it is entangled with, regardless of distance. It is this property that makes it possible to create secure connections using codes that cannot be decoded without a tangled particle as a key. The condition also opens up the possibility of developing quantum teleportation, where information can be transferred without any direct transfer of particles.

Source: University of Copenhagen

Read more:

'Quantum memory' could make the internet super fast and secure - Futurity: Research News

A device called a quantum drum may serve as "a crucial piece in the very foundation for the Internet of the future with quantum speed and quantum security", says Mads Bjerregaard Kristensen, postdoc from the Niels Bohr Institute in a new research piece. The original research paper has an official briefing available for free on Phys.org, and can be found published in full in the Physical Review Letters journal for a subscription fee.

One key issue with quantum computing and sending quantum data ("qubits") over long distances is the difficulty of maintaining data in a fragile quantum state where losing data or "decohering" becomes a much higher risk. Using a quantum drum at steps along the chain can prevent this data decoherence from occurring, enabling longer and even potentially global communication distances.

The current record for sending qubits over a long distance is held by China and Russia, and is about 3,800 km with only encryption keys sent as quantum data. The standard wired qubit transmission range is roughly 1000 kilometers before loss of photons ruins the data. Quantum drums could potentially address this limitation.

How does a 'quantum drum' work? In a similar manner to how existing digital bits can be converted into just about anything (sound, video, etc.), qubits can be converted as well. However, qubits require a level of precision literally imperceivable to the human eye, so converting qubits without data loss is quite difficult. The quantum drum seems like a potential answer. Its ceramic glass-esque membrane was shown to be capable of maintaining quantum states as it vibrates with stored quantum information.

Another important purpose served by these quantum drums is security. Were we to start transferring information between quantum computers over the standard Internet, it would inherit the same insecurities as our existing standards. That's because it would need to be converted to standard bits and bytes, which could become essentially free to decode in the not-so-distant quantum future.

By finding a quantum storage medium that doesn't lose any data and allows information to be transferred over much longer distances, the vision of a worthwhile "Quantum Internet" begins to manifest as a real possibility, and not simply the optimism of quantum computing researchers.

Quantum computing research continues to be a major area of interest, often with highly technical discussions and details on the technology. A research paper on quantum drums and their potential of course doesn't mean that this technique will prove to be commercially viable. Still, every little step forward creates new opportunities for our seemingly inevitable quantum-powered future.

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Researchers create 'quantum drums' to store qubits one step closer to groundbreaking internet speed and security - Tom's Hardware

A cohort of bipartisan senators introduced new artificial intelligence-focused legislation Thursday, which aims to consolidate U.S. leadership in emerging technologies through enhanced private sector collaboration.

The Future of AI Innovation Act, cosponsored by Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., responds to the larger global race to lead in new AI and emerging technologies, like quantum computing systems and applied biosciences.

Key provisions in the text would allocate more federal support to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology for standards development in critical tech fields; launch an AI testbed competition helmed jointly by NIST and the Department of Energys National Laboratories; and ask leadership within the Department of Commerce, State Department and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to form more international alliances focused on developing a consensus on AI standards.

The bill also asks for participation in AI scientific and technological advancement from the Government Accountability Office and the National Science Foundation to identify hindrances to AI application across the federal government and to further spearhead initiatives for private sector collaboration, respectively.

The Future of AI Innovation Act is critical to maintaining American leadership in the global race to advance AI, Young said in a press release. This bipartisan bill will create important partnerships between government, the private sector, and academia to establish voluntary standards and best practices that will ensure a fertile environment for AI innovation while accounting for potential risks.

Establishing a series of common standards to guide the international development of AI is crucial within the bill, a task that NIST has been prioritizing among the litany of policy mandates handed down to the agency. The Future of AI Innovation Act expands these and also tasks the NSF and Energy to contribute by performing benchmarking and capability evaluations within testbed environments.

Bringing more private sector participation into these endeavors also features in the Biden administrations tech policy goals, with other federal agencies like the Department of Defense planning to foster stronger private sector ties within their research and development agendas.

Our bill ensures the United States will lead on AI for decades to come. It promotes public-private collaboration to drive innovation and competitiveness, Cantwell said in a statement. The NIST AI Safety Institute, testbeds at our national labs, and the grand challenge prizes will bring together private sector and government experts to develop standards, create new assessment tools, and overcome existing barriers. It will lay a strong foundation for Americas evolving AI tech economy for years to come.

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Senate bill aims to bring more private sector participation to federal AI innovation - Nextgov/FCW