Powered by symmetry

摘要

Forces determine how particles move and behave. But so can symmetry, and exchange symmetry can be used to control the interactions of ultracold atoms. This could be a big step towards practical quantum computation.rnQuantum computers promise to solve problems that cannot be tackled by conventional computers. But they make high demands on the machinery from which they are built. The physical entities storing quantum bits — the smallest units of quantum information — must be controlled and coupled to each other with great precision. On page 452 of this issue, Anderlini et al. present a very general method, based on a quantum-mechanical phenomenon known as exchange symmetry, that allows this degree of precision manipulation in controlled collisions of neutral atoms.