Scientists Observe Quantum Spin Liquids: A State of Matter We've Never Seen Before - ScienceAlert

The simulator uses a quantum computer program to hold atoms in custom shapes using lasers – like squares, triangles, or honeycombs – and can be used to engineer different quantum interactions and processes.

The simulator uses tightly focussed laser beams to arrange atoms individually, and by arranging the atoms of rubidium in a triangle-patterned lattice the researchers were able to produce a frustrated magnet with properties of quantum entanglement – where changes in one atom are matched in a second entangled atom.

Quantum computers are built on quantum bits or qubits, and it's hoped that quantum spin liquids will help in the development of topological qubits: qubits that are better protected against outside noise and interference.

"Learning how to create and use such topological qubits would represent a major step toward the realization of reliable quantum computers," says quantum physicist Giulia Semeghini from Harvard University