8 August 2023. From time crystals to wormholes: When is a quantum simulation real?
Physicists are using quantum computers to conjure various exotic phenomena and are claiming
that their creations are truly real. The work is forcing us to ask challenging questions about
the nature of quantum reality
/By Philip Ball/
----
WHEN scientists reported they had created a space-time wormhole in November last year,
the world’s media were all over the story, even though they struggled to make sense of it.
As far as many observers could see, physicist Maria Spiropulu at the California Institute
of Technology and her colleagues had in fact merely used a quantum computer
to simulate a wormhole. Good luck flying a spaceship through that.
What confused matters was that the team insisted the work amounted
to more than just a simulation. The quantum computation,
the researchers said, was fully equivalent to the creation of a wormhole.
If you find that hard to swallow, you aren’t alone. Ask other physicists about
Spiropulu’s claims and you tend to get a lot of long pauses, chin-stroking
and disagreement. It seems there is genuine confusion about if and
when a quantum computation can create real entities or just simulate them.
-----
www.newscientist.com
Physicists are using quantum computers to conjure various exotic phenomena and are claiming
that their creations are truly real. The work is forcing us to ask challenging questions about
the nature of quantum reality
/By Philip Ball/
----
WHEN scientists reported they had created a space-time wormhole in November last year,
the world’s media were all over the story, even though they struggled to make sense of it.
As far as many observers could see, physicist Maria Spiropulu at the California Institute
of Technology and her colleagues had in fact merely used a quantum computer
to simulate a wormhole. Good luck flying a spaceship through that.
What confused matters was that the team insisted the work amounted
to more than just a simulation. The quantum computation,
the researchers said, was fully equivalent to the creation of a wormhole.
If you find that hard to swallow, you aren’t alone. Ask other physicists about
Spiropulu’s claims and you tend to get a lot of long pauses, chin-stroking
and disagreement. It seems there is genuine confusion about if and
when a quantum computation can create real entities or just simulate them.
-----
From time crystals to wormholes: When is a quantum simulation real?
Physicists are using quantum computers to conjure various exotic phenomena and are claiming that their creations are truly real. The work is forcing us to ask challenging questions about the nature of quantum reality
