This metaphorical cat is both dead and alive – and it will help quantum engineers detect computing errors

Visual depiction of the atomic ‘Schrödinger cat’ state. The ‘dead’ state corresponds to the antimony nuclear spin pointing completely downwards; the ‘alive’ state is the spin completely upwards. A superposition of the two results in a striking quantum state that displays seven quantum interference fringes. The number of fringes corresponds to the number of ‘spin flips’ necessary to go from one extreme to the other. In quantum computing, this corresponds to the number of consecutive errors required to turn a ‘0’ into a ‘1’ or vice versa.

Image: Tony Melov