Researchers from NY State University, the University of Buffalo, and Wayne State University, have reported they have discovered a new state of matter which has the potential to increase storage capabilities in electronic devices. [1] This new state of matter is called “Topological Superconductivity.” This phenomenon was reported in arXiv (archive) which is a repository of electronic scientific preprints that are approved by moderators before full peer review. The repository consists of scientific papers in the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, electrical engineering, computer science, quantitative biology, statistics, mathematical finance and economics, which can be accessed online. (https://arxiv.org/) The preprint claims that topological superconductivity embodies exotic quasi-particle excitations such as Majorana bound states which are promising for fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Definitions
A Majorana fermion, also referred to as a Majorana particle, is a fermion that is its own antiparticle. They were hypothesized by Ettore Majorana in 1937. The term is sometimes used in opposition to a Dirac fermion, which describes fermions that are not their own antiparticles. With the exception of the neutrino, all of the Standard Model fermions are known to behave as Dirac fermions at low energy (after electroweak symmetry breaking), and none are Majorana fermions. The nature of the neutrinos is not settled—they may be either Dirac or Majorana fermions. In condensed matter physics, bound Majorana fermions can appear as quasiparticle excitations—the collective movement of several individual particles, not a single one, and they are governed by non-abelian statistics. The concept goes back to Majorana’s suggestion in 1937 that neutral spin-1⁄2 particles can be described by a real wave equation (the Majorana equation), and would therefore be identical to their antiparticle (because the wave functions of particle and antiparticle are related by complex conjugation). The difference between Majorana fermions and Dirac fermions can be expressed mathematically in terms of the creation and annihilation operators of second quantization. These are mathematical constructs. In superconducting materials, Majorana fermions can emerge as (non-fundamental) quasiparticles (more commonly referred to as Bogoliubov quasiparticles in condensed matter physics). This becomes possible because a quasiparticle in a superconductor is its own antiparticle. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorana_fermion)
In the research preprint paper, researchers were able to observe the transition of a quantum state from its conventional state to a new topological state, taking on new geometric properties. They were able to observe the quantum state change by studying the energy barrier between the two different states. This transition between states allowed for the experimental observation of Majorana particles. Previously, there were no known naturally occurring storage material that was capable of storing these particles. This new state change of matter appears to be able to store the Majorana particles as qubits. The researchers state “The new discovery of topological superconductivity in a two-dimensional platform paves the way for building scalable topological qubits to not only store quantum information, but also to manipulate the quantum states that are free of error.” In quantum computing, there is a need to protect quantum information due to errors that are the result of decoherence and other quantum noise. Quantum error correction is essential if one is to achieve fault-tolerant quantum computation that can deal not only with noise on stored quantum information, but also with faulty quantum gates, faulty quantum preparation, and faulty measurements. This research has a long way to go but is a step closer to making quantum computing a reality!
References
1. William Mayer, Matthieu C. Dartiailh, Joseph Yuan, Kaushini S. Wickramasinghe, Alex Matos-Abiague, IgorˇZuti ́, and Javad Shabani, Phase signature of topological transition in Josephson Junctions, 2019, https://arxiv.org/pdf/1906.01179.pdf
The Spiritual insights that we receive from this type of research is related to the observation of Majorana particles and the concept of error correction redundancy. In computational sciences, classical error correction employs redundancy. In network communications there is something called a checksum which is the last thing that is transmitted in the data packets that are transmitted across the internet. A checksum is a digit representing the sum of the correct digits in a piece of stored or transmitted digital data, against which later comparisons can be made to detect errors in the data. This is connected to the Bible in the following way: at approximately 500 AD, the copying of the Tanach was conducted by the Masoretes. This is where we get the name “Masoretic Text” which is generally regarded as the most reliable texts of the Tanach. The Masoretes took copying the Scriptures very seriously, and this was because they considered the Tanach to be the inspired word of God. As a result, they took tremendous effort to insure that the copies they made were completely free from error, and no additional error was introduced to the text. In order to accomplish this task, the Masoretes used very strict rituals to insure that errors would not creep into the text during copying. Because of this, every detail in the copying process was meticulously prescribed, from the material upon which the Scriptures were written (the skin of a clean animal) to the number of columns per page, the length of each column (greater than 48 but less than 60), to the width of the column (30 letters), and the color of the ink as well. Nothing was written from memory, each copy had to be made from an authorized copy which was still in good condition. (Stephen B. Chapman, Marvin A. Sweeney, The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, 2016, Cambridge University Press , 540) In the precautions the Masoretes used they also utilized a similar technique as we see in data transmission by computers known as the checksum. What the Masoretes did was count everything that could be counted (letters represented numbers) and then add them up. Each book had a number, even the middle letter and middle word of a book was known. When a book was completed, the letters were counted, and if it did not match the copyist knew, something had been copied in error and so the book would be checked and the error would be found and corrected. The meticulous nature of the Masoretes explains why we have so many copies of the Scriptures! This is very important for the preservation of the Word of God, and this error redundancy that was being utilized here was absolutely necessary, just as we see researchers working very hard to sure up the technique of quantum computing. We can understand why this is important, if we compare the grammar of the text that is used under different time periods, the Bible preserves these things since it was written over a period of 1000 years (looking at the timeline: 1400 BC giving of Torah, to 400 BC beginning of intertestamental period). In modern times, with the invention of the printing press, many people can read the Bible from many languages today, even of different dialects of the same language. For example, many reasons people have problems when reading the KJV of the Bible is because most people are just not used to reading seventeenth century English. Checking the accuracy of something is a very important task, and is a fundamental principle in the applied sciences, to check what we have measured is a true phenomenological response simply by repeating an experiment, etc. Studying the Scriptures according to the Torah, we learn that in the beginning, God created all and it was good. He created man and woman, and they were without sin. It wasn’t until both man and woman disobeyed God that sin entered into their lives. This has its parallel in the idea of sin being a type of error that has entered into our code, and then what was necessary was for the Lord God Almighty to make a correction? The difficulty was the Lord God wanted man to learn, to grow, to have a relationship with him, and so He did not go back to the original code (the original design / pre-disobedience) to make an alteration. This would have required Him to go back in time and stop Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead, he introduced an interesting concept, the idea of cutting away from our lives those things that are sinful, repentance, and blood atonement, and returning to His Word (His Ways) that function as the error correction mechanism for our lives. The way this is revealed to us according to the Torah, is found in the command of circumcision that had been given to Abraham that would set him apart from the nations according to Bereshit / Genesis 12 and 15. As we read through the Torah, we are able to observe how circumcision was eventually disregarded while the people dwelled in Egypt in the land of sin and idolatry. We are told in the book of Joshua, a complete circumcision of the people did not occur until they all had crossed over the Jordan and entered into the Promised Land having received the promises of God.
It was at the end of the Torah the Lord began to reveal to His people what circumcision was all about when the Lord described circumcision in terms of the covenant and in terms of the heart. To be circumcised in the heart sounds strange, yet the Lord God through Moshe describes this necessary process that must take place in order to cause our hearts to remain true to the ways of the Lord. The Lord God Almighty made promises to Abraham and was fulfilling those promises to Israel by the hand of Moshe before entering the Promised Land. The point is that circumcision was a sign of the covenant according to what we read in Bereshit / Genesis. Circumcision is a necessary element for every believer, the kind that happens at the spiritual level, and remains a sign of the covenant for all peoples! This marks a distinction between God’s people and those who are of the world. Back in Vayikra / Leviticus 12:3 we read the Torah states “And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” Moshe wrote the command of God to circumcise children on the eighth day. As we approach the end of the Torah in the book of Deuteronomy, the Lord God speaks through Moshe of circumcision as a sign of the covenant that goes beyond the surface to a deeper level to the heart and intention within. We are told in Devarim / Deuteronomy 30:6 “Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.” (NASB) This is the definition of NT salvation. This might be paralleled to a spiritual form of error redundancy in the sense that the presence of God, by His Spirit dwelling within us, He is causing us to have the desire to love Him and to live for Him! The Lord working in our lives is an act of God in our hearts such that we may live (have life). This is the definition of circumcision that is of a spiritual nature that goes deeper to affect one’s soul, essence, attitudes, relationship with God, and relationship towards others. This is how Moshe was using this concept of circumcising the heart that is juxtaposed to fearing God, walking in all his ways, loving Him, and serving the Lord with all of one’s heart and soul. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 10:12-16, i.e. Moshe explains further the Shema in the subsequent chapters.) We have this promise today in which He (God) continues to keep. The Spirit of God should be working in your life daily just as He has promised that every person who places his or her trust in the Messiah, in the Anointed One of Israel, Yeshua, the Holy Spirit of God will dwell within and circumcise the heart causing one to be faithful to God according to His Word. (Romans 2:29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. NLT) Just as the word that Moshe spoke to the people states concerning life, living, loving God, and serving Him, every man, woman, and child who believes in Yeshua the Messiah will be saved (will live). This is coupled to the idea of the Lord seeking to change a person from within making it a priority to circumcise a person on the inside! Jeremiah wrote about the importance of actively working upon one’s heart, to cut away at sin in our lives saying, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done.” (4:4, NASB) The point of the research that we are reading about in the scientific literature is on the level of effort that is necessary for error redundancy in computational systems. Something we are seeing here in the book of Jeremiah is again the level of effort one must have in seeking the Lord God Almighty to work in our lives, to change us inwardly, by the power of God to repent, to turn from the love of sin, and to walk in God’s ways by faith. This is what has been taught from the beginning in the Scriptures. This is part of the emphasis that is being made in the Apostolic Writings, through the Messiah Yeshua, we are circumcised and empowered to live for the Lord. Now we have to work hard to actively seek these things in our lives, getting on our knees every day asking our Father in heaven in the Name of Yeshua the Messiah to lead us and to live in and through each of us! According to the Torah (Devarim / Deuteronomy 30:6), and according to the Apostolic Writings, this is achieved only with God’s help, believing in His Messiah Yeshua and calling upon His Name!
