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By shining a laser pulse sequence inspired by the Fibonacci numbers at atoms inside a quantum computer, physicists have created a remarkable, never-before-seen phase of matter. The phase has the benefits of two time dimensions despite there still being only one singular flow of time... This mind-bending property offers a sought-after benefit: Information stored in the phase is far more protected against errors than with alternative setups currently used in quantum computers. As a result, the information can exist without getting garbled for much longer, an important milestone for making quantum computing viable, says study lead author Philipp Dumitrescu. The...

The ytterbium crystal was first synthesized a year ago by scientists in China, where the government in Beijing has invested heavily in hopes of creating synthetic quantum materials with novel properties. It appears they may have now succeeded, said Mourigal, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech's School of Physics. "Imagine a state of matter where this entanglement doesn't involve two electrons but involves, three, five, 10 or 10 billion particles all in the same system," Mourigal said. "You can create a very, very exotic state of matter based on the fact that all these particles are entangled with each other....

The World Trade Organization on Wednesday confirmed that China had lost a case on rare-earth metals, the latest setback for Beijing in a dispute marked by price spikes and widespread concern among technology firms and defense-related users of the critical materials. The Geneva-based trade body and the office of the U.S. trade representative, which brought the original case two years ago, confirmed China's policies were found in violation of global trade rules. The public announcement comes almost five months after Chinese officials said they had lost the case, and four months after the deadline for the WTO to inform the...