
Mishap during experiment led quantum researchers to crack a 58-year-old puzzle - K0SM0S
https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/engineers-crack-58-year-old-puzzle-way-quantum-breakthrough
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nitrogen
The whole article is worth reading, but my favorite part is the fact that the
"mishap" mentioned in the title was inadvertently overloading a magnetic
antenna, causing it to break and by coincidence become an electric antenna.

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infogulch
This is pretty interesting, if it is truly tiny and simple enough to
reproduce, what impact does it have on quantum computing devices? This example
is designed for a single atom, so not applicable for multi-qbit computations,
but it seems to break open the floodgates for new research into using electric
fields to directly interact with quantum systems cheaply, which sounds
potentially huge in my layman opinion.

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npunt
Sounds quite foundational and may impact a lot of fields.

Archive link:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20200312192401/https://newsroom....](https://web.archive.org/web/20200312192401/https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-
tech/engineers-crack-58-year-old-puzzle-way-quantum-breakthrough)

Nature link:
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2057-7](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2057-7)

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amluto
arXiv link:
[https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.01086](https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.01086)

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poopchute
Pretty interesting stuff! Veritasium did a couple videos with this researcher
7 or so years ago:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_IaVepNDT4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_IaVepNDT4)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNzzGgr2mhk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNzzGgr2mhk)

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notlukesky
Serendipity is a critical part of progress and discovery. A limited list of
inventions that occurred due to serendipity:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity#Inventions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity#Inventions)

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DoctorOetker
What is the difference with
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_quadrupole_resonance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_quadrupole_resonance)
?

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mindcrime
I'm not even an amateur when it comes to this stuff, much less an expert. But
superficially, to my non-expert ears, this sounds like it could be a Really
Big Deal™. Can anyone more knowledgeable chime in?

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rafaelvasco
This seems a pretty big deal to me. Secretly or not , we all wait for that big
breakthrough that will revolutionize everything. Maybe this is part of the
whole: The mythical Theory of Everything.

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Eyght
Could this help with building Spintronics?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spintronics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spintronics)

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Obi_Juan_Kenobi
Pretty big news, seems like an actual breakthrough with big implications.

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beerandt
That shirt... Is something.

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seemslegit
Puzzle shmuzzle, what superpowers did they gain ?

~~~
wizzwizz4
More precise manipulation of atomic spin, potentially enabling less resource-
intensive quantum computers (for the most boring application I can think of).

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annoyingnoob
So, I'll finally get served a relevant ad?

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K0SM0S
Here's a layman article from the University of New South Wales, Australia:
[https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/engineers-
cra...](https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/engineers-
crack-58-year-old-puzzle-way-quantum-breakthrough)

Quotes:

> “Performing magnetic resonance is like trying to move a particular ball on a
> billiard table by lifting and shaking the whole table,” he says. “We'll move
> the intended ball, but we'll also move all the others.

> “The breakthrough of electric resonance is like being handed an actual
> billiards stick to hit the ball exactly where you want it.”

This could allow much more compact MRI scanners, vast improvements in quantum
computing, chemistry or mining, and of course to design fundamentally new
science experiments.

> “This landmark result will open up a treasure trove of discoveries and
> applications,” says Professor Morello. “The system we created has enough
> complexity to study how the classical world we experience every day emerges
> from the quantum realm. Moreover, we can use its quantum complexity to build
> sensors of electromagnetic fields with vastly improved sensitivity. And all
> this, in a simple electronic device made in silicon, controlled with small
> voltages applied to a metal electrode.”

If you don't know about NER (Nuclear Electric Resonance), take comfort in
knowing that Pr. Morello did not either. We're “rediscovering” this rather
dead field. What a fantastic serendipitous discovery, isn't it?

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dang
Url changed to that from
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2057-7](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2057-7).
Thanks!

For something like this where so few readers can understand the specialist
article, it's preferable to link to the best popular summary.

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K0SM0S
I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the guideline! — and proper title/link.

