Research News

The field of chemistry often conjures up images of boiling liquids and explosions. But underneath all that eye-catching action is an invisible quantum world where atoms and molecules are constantly rearranging, colliding, and combining to form different molecules.

In Schrödinger's famous thought experiment, a cat seems to be both dead and alive—an idea that strains credulity. These days, cats still don't act this way, but physicists now regularly create analogues of Schrödinger's cat in the lab by smearing the microscopic quantum world over longer and longer distances.


Such "cat states" have found many homes, promising more sensitive quantum measurements and acting as the basis for quantum error-correcting codes—a necessary component for future error-prone quantum computers.

Nearly 200 researchers from around the world will descend on the University of Maryland campus next week for the 4th International Conference on Quantum Error Correction (QEC17), the world’s premier scientific meeting focused on protecting quantum computers from their hostile surroundings.

This year’s conference, which will be held Sept. 11–15, is organized by researchers from the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS) and Georgia Tech.

This story was prepared by the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and adapted with permission. The experiments described were performed at TU Delft, with theoretical and numerical contributions from JQI Fellow and Condensed Matter Theory Center Director Sankar Das Sarma and JQI postdoctoral researcher Xiao Li.