Mechanical Schrödinger's Cat ⚡ экспресс
Scientists have figured out a way to create a Schrödinger's cat quantum state for a tiny mechanical part, using just one control qubit. Just as pushing a swing in sync boosts its amplitude, here driving at double the frequency births pairs of vibrations that add up into a macroscopic superposition. This opens the door to compact quantum sensors and information protection. Could an ordinary resonator live in two realities at once?
A child's swing cannot move forward and backward at the same time. But physicists propose a method for a nanostring — a mechanical resonator. They connect a qubit (an artificial atom) to it and drive it with an electrical signal at twice the string's natural frequency. This makes the string oscillate in two opposite directions at once — just like the famous Schrödinger's cat, only mechanical.
Surprisingly, energy losses don't harm but help: they stabilize this weird state. It's akin to how an increase in entropy (disorder) in open systems sometimes leads to order. To verify it, they use spectroscopy — a precise vibration analysis, much like tuning a musical string by ear.
The method is far simpler than previous ones: no bulky traps or numerous instruments. Just one qubit and a resonator. The largest object for which quantum superposition was previously observed was a molecule of 2000 atoms. Here, we have a string made of billions of atoms — a true quantum giant. Such states will open the door to sensors of incredible precision and robust quantum computing.
🎯 In 2019, scientists cooled a nanostring to a state where it completely stopped trembling from heat.
🎬 Schrödinger's cat states are often played with in science fiction — from stories of reality splitting to quantum computers of the future.