Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have developed a new quantum computing algorithm that offers a clearer understanding of the quantum-to-classical transition, which could help model systems on the cusp of quantum and classical worlds, such as biological proteins, and also resolve questions about how quantum mechanics applies to large-scale objects.
"The quantum-to-classical transition occurs when you add more and more particles to a quantum system," said Patrick Coles of the Physics of Condensed Matter and Complex Systems group at Los Alamos National Laboratory, "such that the weird quantum effects go away and the system starts to behave more classically. For these systems, it's essentially impossible to use a classical computer to study the quantum-to-classical transition. We could study this with our algorithm and a quantum computer consisting of several hundred qubits, which we anticipate will be available in the next few years based on the current progress in the field."
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