Microsoft unveiled a quantum computing chip it says is powered by topological qubits, an exotic state of matter that some scientists said wasn't possible to harness for such applications. The Majorana 1—named after the physical phenomenon harnessed in the device—marks the culmination of close to two decades of research on the application.
Quantum computers that can be used for practical applications are considered a "Holy Grail" for many scientists and engineers (learn how they work). While most approaches use ultracold atoms or tiny superconducting qubits, Microsoft's chip relies on many electrons moving in unison as if they were a single particle. The technique would provide qubits that are much more resilient against noise—a central challenge for quantum computers—and would allow qubits to be quickly scaled for use in the real world.
Some said the company's results, published in a paper yesterday, did not provide explicit confirmation of calculations carried out by topological states of matter.
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