Researchers have successfully used a quantum algorithm to solve a complex century-old mathematical problem long considered impossible for even the most powerful conventional supercomputers. The ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

Quantum computers could soon be able to solve genuinely useful mathematical problems faster than classical computers, claims quantum computing firm Quantinuum. It would be the first example of these ...

Physicists have transformed a decades-old technique for simplifying quantum equations into a reusable, user-friendly "conversion table" that works on a laptop and returns results within hours. When ...

Right now, quantum computers are small and error-prone compared to where they’ll likely be in a few years. Even within those limitations, however, there have been regular claims that the hardware can ...

Photo of the experimental setup to couple MWs to N- 𝑉⁢s using grape dimers. A stripped optical fiber with N- 𝑉 spins, cantilevered from a rod, lies between two grapes. The grapes were positioned on ...

Imagine the tap of a card that bought you a cup of coffee this morning also let a hacker halfway across the world access your bank account and buy themselves whatever they liked. Now imagine it wasn’t ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. For computer scientists, solving problems is a bit like mountaineering. First they must choose a problem to solve—akin to identifying a ...