Study of electron movement on helium may impact the future of quantum computing

The future of quantum computing is a hot topic not only for experts but also in many commercial and governmental agencies. Rather than processing and storing information as bits in transistors or memory, which limit information to the binary “1” or “0,” quantum computers would instead use quantum systems, such as atoms, ions, or electrons, as “qubits” to process and store “quantum information” in, which can be in an infinite number of combinations of “1 and 0.” Large technology corporations, such as Google, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM are investing heavily in related projects that may lead to realize the quantum computer and technologies. At the same time, universities and research institutes around the world are researching novel quantum systems, adoptable for quantum computing. The Quantum Dynamics Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), has recently made novel findings about electrons floating on the surface of liquid helium, a quantum system which may be a new candidate for quantum computing into reality. These results were published in Physical Review B.