Microsoft, this week, announced a breakthrough in their approach to quantum computing in the form of their novel Majorana 1 chip. The announcement made some waves in the eternally “next year is the year of quantum computing” community – and if it leaves you scratching your head, this FAQ from Scott Aaronson might be helpful.
Q6. Is this a big deal?
A. If the claim stands, I’d say it would be a scientific milestone for the field of topological quantum computing and physics beyond. The number of topological qubits manipulated in a single experiment would then have finally increased from 0 to 1, and depending on how you define things, arguably a “new state of matter” would even have been created, one that doesn’t appear in nature (but only in Nature).
