A team in the US has created a simulator with 51 quantum bits – the largest of its kind so far. Mikhail Lukin at Harvard University announced the achievement on 14 July at the International Conference on Quantum Technologies in Moscow.
Quantum simulators are used to model the minute behaviour of molecules, and could help study how drugs act within the human body. They aren’t full-blown quantum computers, though, says Simon Devitt at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Lukin’s system was specifically built to solve one equation that models the interactions between certain atoms. If you wanted to solve a different equation, you’d have to rebuild the system from scratch.
Quantum computers, on the other hand, are theoretically capable of handling any equation you throw at them. But they are a much bigger challenge to build, says Devitt.
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