Calibrating Quantum Machines

Theoretical Physicists at Freie Universität Berlin Develop Method to Detect Functioning of Quantum Machines. Scientists at Freie Universität Berlin have developed a new method to certify the proper functioning of quantum machines. Such quantum machines allow the simulation of complex systems that cannot be simulated even with modern supercomputers. The research group led by Jens Eisert at Freie Universität Berlin is working together with the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro to prove the correct functioning of quantum machines. Their research - Quantum machines consist of single atoms or modes of light, and they obey the physical theory of quantum mechanics. They are able to simulate complex systems that cannot be represented differently. "This leads to a question that does not lack a certain amount of irony," says Eisert, the leader of a research group at Freie Universität that deals with quantum many-body theory and quantum information. "If it is not possible to find out what the machine is doing internally, how is it possible to check, whether it is functioning correctly?" The accuracy of the results cannot be calculated directly. Eisert says this paradox is similar to the famous answer 42 in the cult book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where 42 was (jokingly) given as the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Here, the number 42 is the answer, but what is the question that the computer solved?