Microsoft have announced a quantum breakthrough – the Majorana 1 chip. But what is it and what does it really mean for the future of quantum computing?
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It means that Microsoft’s PR team is working overtime. The actual underlying paper claims progress toward one topological qubit, which is a long, long way from anything resembling a computational tool.
Here’s the paper: Interferometric single-shot parity measurement in InAs–Al hybrid devices | Nature
In conclusion, our findings represent substantial progress towards the realization of a topological qubit based on measurement-only operations. Single-shot fermion parity measurements are a key requirement for a Majorana-based topological quantum computation architecture.
And here’s a text-based version of Microsoft’s PR announcement, for those who dislike videos:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/quantum/2025/02/19/microsoft-unveils-majorana-1-the-worlds-first-quantum-processor-powered-by-topological-qubits/
It’s worth mentioning, by the way, that several of the fundamental papers about topological qubits were retracted several years ago. This particular niche has a history of exuberant claims that don’t necessarily hold up.
They only mention in passing that they’re using superconducting materials. Which means that cute little assembly in the photo is actually buried inside a fairly large cryocooler. Regardless of qubit design, connecting superconducting qubits to non-superconducting conventional electronics is a major scalability challenge all by itself.
So yeah, I’m skeptical.
Edit: Topological, not topographical. Duh.
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Put it in outer space (say in earth’s shadow), where probably a lot of data centers will be located in the medium term, and it sounds less crazy. Or at least crazy in another way.
Near Earth space might not be cold enough, meaning you’d need to boost the extra mass of a cooling system. Plus you’d have to radiation-harden everything.
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That’s true, but –274 °F (in the shadow) is a better starting point than +293 °F. Also, this shadow could be provided by the backside of a huge solar panel, as long as that’s not too close / physically attached.
There’s no denying that the radiation-hardening is going to add extra cost, yes. On the other hand, it’s not a “soon in your smartphone” project to begin with. Unless someone figures out room-temperature superconductors.