Quantum computing

The MIT researchers who helped lead the project, from left: Research Laboratory of Electronics postdocs Simon Gustavsson and Jonas Bylander and Lincoln Lab's William Oliver.

Long live the qubit!

The power of quantum computers depends on keeping them in a fragile quantum-mechanical state — which researchers have found a new way to extend.

June 2, 2011

Paola Cappellaro: a quantum engineer on the frontier of knowledge

Spotlight on Women in Nuclear Science and Engineering

May 3, 2011

A beam splitter is a device, like the one depicted here, that bifurcates a beam of light. An experiment proposed by MIT researchers, which relies on beam splitters, would exploit the strange behavior of quantum particles to perform calculations that are hopelessly time consuming on conventional computers.

The quantum singularity

A new experiment would use quantum effects to perform otherwise intractable calculations, but conducting it should be easier than building a quantum computer.

March 2, 2011

Vibrating a tray of silicone oil causes so-called Faraday waves to form in the oil's surface. Recent experiments in which fluid droplets reproduce the behavior of subatomic particles require holding the intensity of the vibrations just below the Faraday-wave threshold.

Can fluid dynamics offer insights into quantum mechanics?

Experiments in which fluid droplets mimic the odd behavior of subatomic particles recall an abandoned interpretation of quantum mechanics.

October 20, 2010

Supran works to light up the grid, one quantum dot at a time

December 16, 2009