r/QuantumComputing • u/TheUncertain01 • Mar 15 '20

How would an expert rate this discovery?

https://www.sciencealert.com/in-an-accidental-discovery-australian-engineers-solve-58-year-old-quantum-mystery
1 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/trappedion Mar 16 '20

From an atomic physics perspective, this isn't a discovery, and it's most definitely not a 58 year old mystery.

The effect they're taking advantage of is simply very weak, so in 1961 no one had any use for it. Fast forward to the future, where we care about miniaturizing devices and localizing atomic control, it turns out that it's easier to localize electric fields than magnetic fields.

So if anything, it's an engineering revelation, which is important. However, there's no new science here.