Schrödinger’s cat video made with 2,024 atoms in quantum breakthrough

Source: interestingengineering
Author: @IntEngineering
Published: 8/20/2025
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Read original articleA team of physicists from the University of Science and Technology of China has created what is described as the "world’s smallest cat video," depicting Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment using just 2,024 rubidium atoms. This quantum-level visualization uses optical tweezers—focused laser beams—to precisely manipulate individual atoms within a 230-micron-wide array. Machine learning algorithms enable real-time calculations that direct the lasers to rearrange all atoms simultaneously in just 60 milliseconds, a significant improvement over previous methods that moved atoms one by one. The glowing atoms form images representing key moments of the Schrödinger’s cat paradox, illustrating the concept of superposition where a particle exists in multiple states simultaneously.
This breakthrough addresses a major bottleneck in neutral-atom quantum computing by enabling rapid, defect-free assembly of large atom arrays with high accuracy—reported as 99.97% for single-qubit operations and 99.5% for two-qubit operations. The technique is highly scalable, maintaining
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materialsquantum-computingmachine-learningoptical-tweezersrubidium-atomsAIquantum-technology