Quantum Meet Quantum: Hybrid Quantum Computer Lets Scientists Peak in on Foundational Quantum Effect

Insider Brief

• Oxford physicists used a hybrid quantum computer combining qubits and quantum oscillators to observe the Aharonov–Bohm effect in a simulation of interactions between matter and gauge fields.
• Encoding magnetic flux in entangled qubits caused destructive interference between two paths around a simulated loop, completely suppressing a matter particle’s tunnelling.
• The study demonstrates how hybrid quantum systems can simulate fundamental interactions that become increasingly difficult to model on classical computers.
• Image: Artist’s illustration of the loop formed by the hybrid quantum system. (Dr Helene Hainzer, Dr Sebastian Saner, Dr Gabriel Araneda and Dr Oana Bazavan.)

PRESS RELEASE — Physicists in the Department of Physics, University of Oxford, have used a hybrid quantum computer, formed by qubits and quantum oscillators, to observe the Aharonov-Bohm effect in a quantum simulation. The effect is a quantum phenomenon in which a particle can acquire a measurable phase by travelling around a magnetic flux, even though it never passes through a region where a magnetic field is present.

The result demonstrates how hybrid quantum systems can be used to simulate interactions between matter and gauge fields that become increasingly difficult to model on classical computers. The paper has been published in Nature Physics.