Tomoya Hayata

A quantum computer is like a pot of boiling water: particles are jostling around chaotically, and you need to calm them down to get a useful answer. In a new study, physicists have devised a way to cool a chain of 19 quantum spins (tiny magnets) right on a real device.

A quantum computer made of trapped ions played the role of a tiny universe. In it, particles didn't just move; they wove into knots that change their properties when swapped. Such knots are called Fibonacci anyons: they aren't ordinary particles but rather vortices in the fabric of space.