Microsoft's Quantum Leap: Majorana 1

ecently, the Microsoft team announced their competency in not only building and observing topological qubits but also controlling them using special and elusive Majorana states—a result of their longest running research project. What is the promise of quantum computing? It lies in accurately modeling the laws of nature using underlying actual physics. Topological quantum states have been a significant topic in both theoretical and experimental research. The revealed architecture of quantum computing is scalable, with the potential to fit millions of qubits on one chip. Majorana particles act as half electrons and may become their antiparticles; sometimes they annihilate, and sometimes they constitute an electron. This interplay creates a two-level quantum system that serves as the basis for qubits. Moreover, these qubit systems can exist in isolated subsystems, a revolutionary breakthrough for managing error-prone, delicate quantum systems. This progress brings us one step closer to practical quantum computers capable of solving previously impossible real-world problems.