Embracing Quantum Discord

Quantum entanglement may be synonymous most quantum-technologies, but research lead by the National University of Singapore (NUS) hopes to change that. Collaborating with the Australian National University, the University of Queensland, and the University of Oxford, the NUS released surprising research that taps Quantum Discord for use in future technologies. Long viewed as unwanted noise, “quantum discord” has now been shown to be a more robust and easy to use resource for quantum technologies than quantum entanglement in an experiment “analogous to decoding music from a AM/FM radio simulcast... affected by static." Utilizing quantum discord to retrieve information encoded into laser light, Australian National University researchers proved quantum discord’s usefulness, changing the way scientists view the phenomena. While quantum discord has not been used to perform computations, this research suggests that it may well be the future of quantum technologies.