本文聚焦于在加州阿纳海姆举行的全球物理学峰会，分享了与会者的两段精彩对话。首先，微软Station Q量子计算研究中心的资深研究员Chetan Nayak探讨了基于Majorana零模式的拓扑量子比特的最新进展及其面临的挑战。随后，作者与Atharva Lele就毛利人和太平洋岛民的传统水上运动——manu跳水的物理学原理进行了深入交流，揭示了如何通过独特的技巧实现完美入水。

🔬Chetan Nayak分享了关于拓扑量子比特的最新研究。Nayak及其同事声称在基于Majorana零模式的拓扑量子比特的开发方面取得了突破，尽管这一说法仍存在争议。文章探讨了微软实现基于超导体的拓扑量子比特目标的挑战。

🌊Atharva Lele介绍了manu跳水的物理学原理。Manu跳水是一项源自新西兰毛利人和太平洋岛民的竞技水上运动，跳水者根据入水时水花的高度进行评分。Lele及其团队通过实验分析了manu跳水的技巧，解释了如何跳出成功的manu，避免“拍肚皮”的痛苦。

🗓️文章是《物理世界》对2025年国际量子科学与技术年（IYQ）的贡献之一。IYQ旨在提高全球对量子物理学及其应用的认识。读者可以在未来12个月内关注《物理世界》及其国际合作伙伴，以获取更多关于IYQ的报道。

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Global Physics Summit (GPS) in Anaheim California, where I rubbed shoulders with 15,0000 fellow physicists. The best part of being there was chatting with lots of different people, and in this podcast I share two of those conversations.

First up is Chetan Nayak, who is a senior researcher at Microsoft’s Station Q quantum computing research centre here in California. In February, Nayak and colleagues claimed a breakthrough in the development of topological quantum bits (qubits) based on Majorana zero modes. In principle, such qubits could enable the development of practical quantum computers, but not all physicists were convinced, and the announcement remains controversial – despite further results presented by Nayak in a packed session at the GPS.

I caught up with Nayak after his talk and asked him about the challenges of achieving Microsoft’s goal of a superconductor-based topological qubit. That conversation is the first segment of today’s podcast.

Distinctive jumping technique

Up next, I chat with Atharva Lele about the physics of manu jumping, which is a competitive aquatic sport that originates from the Māori and Pasifika peoples of New Zealand. Jumpers are judged by the height of their splash when they enter the water, and the best competitors use a very distinctive technique.

Lele is an undergraduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US, and is part of team that analysed manu techniques in a series of clever experiments that included plunging robots. He explains how to make a winning manu jump while avoiding the pain of a belly flop.

The post Microsoft’s Chetan Nayak on topological qubits, the physics of bigger splashes appeared first on Physics World.