(ORDO NEWS) — Researchers have been able to perform the first quantum “simulation” of a holographic wormhole using a quantum processor.
Unfortunately, they did not create a tunnel through space and time, but they were able to create a quantum machine that behaves exactly like a particle passing through a “wormhole” (wormhole).
And this approach can prove invaluable for overcoming the existing limitations of physics.
A wormhole , also called an Einstein-Rosen bridge, is a theoretical solution to general relativity. But we know that it doesn’t work with quantum mechanics.
Connecting these two theories is the main challenge of modern physics, and one way to do this is to use a theory called quantum gravity.
Among the various cornerstones of quantum gravity is the so-called holographic principle.
Just as a hologram uses information in two dimensions to create the appearance of a three-dimensional object, the principle states that in quantum gravity, one can understand the properties of a three-dimensional object by studying the effects at the boundary of the lower dimension.
This can simplify many problems.
One such problem is wormholes. In general relativity, mathematics allows for the existence of wormholes, but they require negative energy something that has not been found in physics.
But theoretical work done in the field of quantum gravity has found similarities between wormholes and a process called quantum teleportation.
And it’s much easier to model a wormhole by turning it into a holographic one.
This connection made it possible to conduct the first test of quantum gravity on a real quantum computer – the Google Sycamore processor.
The system uses nine qubits – quantum bits, the basic units of information used to perform calculations in quantum computers.
The qubit teleported through the processor in a way that was equivalent to traveling through a traversable wormhole in two dimensions.
We have found a quantum system that has the key properties of a gravitational wormhole, yet is small enough to be implemented on today’s quantum hardware,” said Caltech’s senior author Prof. Maria Spiropoulou.
“This work represents a step towards a larger program of testing the physics of quantum gravity using a quantum computer.
It does not replace direct research into quantum gravity in the same way as other planned experiments that may explore the effects of quantum gravity in the future through quantum sensing, but it does offer a powerful testbed for realizing the ideas of quantum gravity.”
The team acknowledges that the idea of a wormhole is approximate, but it is a step forward in creating ways to study quantum gravity.
The researchers plan to build on this, both in terms of the equipment used and in terms of a better theoretical understanding of the simulated quantum gravity problem.
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