Researchers from the University of Warsaw (UW) have developed the first quantum processor in Poland and used it in spectroscopy. Physicists from the Center for Optical Quantum Technologies that was established thanks to the support of the Foundation for Polish Science under the International Research Agendas program and the scientists from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw designed and constructed a few years ago the first Polish quantum memory, further developing it into a quantum processor.

A quantum processor is based on a cloud of cold atoms which can efficiently store and process information from light. This device can solve real problems that standard processors cannot handle. It can be used as an element of a super-resolution spectrometer.

The details of the solution were described by PhD students Mateusz Mazelanik and Adam Leszczyński together with Dr Michał Parniak in an article in “Nature Communications”.

Physicists from the University of Warsaw have designed a device that allows spectroscopy to obtain high resolution (15 kHz, or forty parts per billion) using a small amount of light from a given object. Polish spectrometer beats the classic limit, using 20 times fewer photons than a hypothetical traditional spectrometer. “However, our record is also absolute, because a classic device with a similar resolution does not actually exist – adds Mateusz Mazelanik, a PhD student from the University of Warsaw.

The team of experimental physicists at the Center for Optical Quantum Technologies consists of specialists, students and doctoral students, mainly from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw. The team not only constructs unique quantum devices for practical purposes but is also exploring the fundamental frontiers of quantum mechanics.

Adrian Andrzejewski