A qubit can exist at the same time between two states. One of the most common practical examples of a qubit is the Schrodinger’s cat scenario, which proposes a situation in which a cat is locked in a box with a flask of poison and a radioactive source. If the flask is shattered the cat will die, but until the box is opened there is no way to tell if the cat is alive or dead, and this state is known as quantum superposition.
Similarly, a flux qubit, or a ring which is made out of superconductive material, will feature electric currents that can flow clockwise and counterclockwise at the same time. This type of qubit can be achieved with the use of a new superconducting material, which was discovered by a team of researchers.
The main difference between regular and quantum computers is represented by how information is stored. Regular computers use a binary system of 0 and 1 to store data, while quantum computers harness the power of quantum mechanics to store data in the form of quantum bits, also known under the name of qubits.
These qubits exist in a superposition state, which means that they are both 0 and 1 at the same time. The new technology could increase the processing speed of computers considerably, allowing researchers to improve a large variety of fields, among which we can count artificial intelligence. They could also be used to run advanced simulations, predict weather changes, or for military purposes.
The team of researchers found a way to craft a qubit out of a ring which is made of an advanced material named β-Bi2Pd. This material exists by default in a quantum state, and it allows electric currents to flow in two directions at the same time.
Further research is needed, but the initial results are promising. A paper on the subject was published in a scientific journal
