China physics prodigy part of Swiss quantum team’s mechanical qubit breakthrough

PhD student Yang Yu, a graduate of USTC’s school for the gifted young, and his fellow researchers achieve the impossible

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A bird’s-eye view of a section of the superconducting qubit developed by the researchers in Switzerland. Photo: ETH Zurich

Published: 2:00pm, 4 Dec 2024

Researchers in Switzerland, led by China-born physicist Chu Yiwen and her PhD student Yang Yu, have developed the world’s first mechanical qubit – opening new possibilities for storing, manipulating and applying quantum information.

The team, from ETH Zurich, used tiny sound vibrations in a physical object to represent the two-state basic unit of a quantum bit, instead of the more typical electricity, light or trapped atoms – an achievement once considered impossible.

In a report published in Science magazine, the researchers said the mechanical qubit is not only potentially more stable and robust, it could also be used to potentially address a major unsolved question in physics.

The breakthrough makes it possible to sense tiny changes in force, mass, or temperature, as well as investigate the interface between quantum mechanics and gravity.

Chu, who grew up in the US and did her PhD in quantum optics at Harvard after completing her undergraduate studies at MIT, is supervising Yang, a graduate of the School for the Gifted Young at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).

The USTC programme is renowned for nurturing exceptional talent, admitting students as young as 14 and giving them a rigorous foundation in science and mathematics.