US, UK accelerate quantum computing programs after China breakthrough

China’s room-temperature time crystals could radically affect the timeline for the arrival of useful quantum computers.

Scientists and lawmakers in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union are ramping up efforts to advance quantum computing in the West after scientists in China observed what appears to be the world’s first room-temperature time crystals.

A team of physicists hailing primarily from Tsinghua University in China, with contributions from scientists in Denmark and Austria, published peer-reviewed research on July 2 detailing the creation and observation of room-temperature time crystals.

In the month since the paper was published, quantum research labs in the West have announced numerous initiatives to extend existing efforts in the field of quantum computing and to create new research partnerships.

Room-temperature time crystals

Time crystals are a unique state of matter originally proposed by physicist Frank Wilczek in 2012. They work similarly to other crystals, such as snowflakes or diamonds, which are created when specific molecules form lattice-like bonds that repeat through space.

In time crystals, however, the molecules bond in time. Instead of locking into a crystalline structure that repeats, a time crystal’s molecules flicker back and forth between different configurations like a GIF on a loop. 

Back in 2021, an international team of scientists working with Google’s quantum computing lab simulated time crystals using a quantum computer. This breakthrough demonstrated the potential for quantum computers to explore exotic states of matter and set the stage for the convergence of quantum tech and time crystals.

Now, in July 2024, the Tsinghua team appears to have created time crystals at room temperature. This, theoretically, allows time crystal technology to be employed in non-laboratory equipment and could serve as a massive accelerator for the development of useful quantum computers.

Quantum computing

The realization of room temperature time crystals could solve one of the biggest problems in the field: figuring out how to create stable qubits (sort of the quantum version of classical computer bits) that don’t require massive amounts of power and infrastructure to form and maintain.

While perhaps not directly related to the China team’s work, labs and governments around the world — especially in the US, UK and Europe — have signaled renewed interest in quantum computing since the room-temperature time crystals paper was published.

In the US, new initiatives have taken place at the national and state levels, with federal defense department think tank DARPA and the state of Illinois both recently agreeing to commit $140 million each to the development of a new quantum computing center in Chicago.

Across the pond, on July 31, the UK government announced plans to invest approximately $127 million dollars in the development of five quantum computing research hubs to be led by Oxford University.

On the same day, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a multimillion-dollar partnership with the University of Copenhagen to share research and co-develop quantum computing solutions.

Related: Nvidia supercomputer shows potential path to quantum computing