One often-repeated example illustrates the mind-boggling potential of quantum computing: A machine with 300 quantum bits could simultaneously store more information than the number of particles in the known universe.
Now process this: Harvard scientists just unveiled a system that was 10 times bigger and the first quantum machine able to operate continuously without restarting.
In a paper published in the journal Nature, the team demonstrated a system of more than 3,000 quantum bits (or qubits) that could run for more than two hours, surmounting a series of technical challenges and representing a significant step toward building the super computers, which could revolutionize science, medicine, finance, and other fields.
"We demonstrated the continuous operation with a 3,000-qubit system," said Mikhail Lukin, Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor and co-director of the Quantum Science and Engineering Initiative, and senior author of the new paper. "But it's also clear that this approach will work for much larger numbers as well."
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