Gerhard Kirchmair

In a new experiment, physicists have replicated the famous Schrödinger's cat experiment at hotter temperatures than ever before. The breakthrough is a small but significant step toward quantum computers that can work at normal temperatures.

It's alive... or not?

Experimental physicists have succeeded for the first time in controlling protected quantum states - so-called dark states - in superconducting quantum bits. The entangled states are 500 times more robust and could be used, for example, in quantum simulations. The method could also be used on other technological platforms.

Physicists at the University of Innsbruck have succeeded in creating hot Schrödinger cat states in a superconducting microwave resonator.

Experimental physicists led by Gerhard Kirchmair, together with theoretical physicists at the University of Oulu, Finland, have succeeded for the first time in controlling protected quantum states—so-called dark states—in superconducting quantum bits. The entangled states are 500 times more robust and could be used in quantum simulations. The method could also be used on other technological platforms.