UIC engineer investigating metamaterials inspired by quantum phenomena
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Metamaterials are specially designed, manufactured materials with tiny internal structures that impart properties not found in nature. By carefully arranging how their parts interact, scientists can make them behave in unique and valuable ways, which could have significant benefits for society.
For civil engineering researchers, metamaterials are revolutionizing the field by creating smart materials for shock absorption, noise cancellation, and sensing capabilities. Metamaterials are going beyond the limitations of traditional materials to engineer properties such as extreme compressibility, tunable stiffness, and energy harvesting within concrete and other structures, allowing for a stronger, lighter, and more resilient infrastructure with integrated intelligence.
CME Associate Professor Eduard Karpov is investigating a way to create a new kind of metamaterial called a unitary mechanical metamaterial.
“These materials could be used to physically model how quantum computers work. In these materials, mechanical movements – such as stretching or bending – follow special mathematical rules described by something called a unitary transfer matrix. This matrix links how parts of the material move and interact, similar to how quantum computers process information,” Karpov said.
The researchers plan to design materials whose behavior mimics essential parts of quantum computers, specifically, the basic building blocks called quantum gates that control how quantum bits (qubits) change and interact. Ultimately, they aim to demonstrate that these materials can perform all the necessary operations for quantum computing.
The goal is to develop a “quantum abacus” — a physical system made from engineered materials that can simulate quantum computing.
“The proposed work is a proof-of-concept basic research, where a comprehensive theory, numerical/computer models, and engineering design principles will be the main deliverables,” he said. “This could help improve existing computer simulations by making them faster and more accurate.”
The research is supported by a new three-year NSF grant of more than $352,000 for the project titled “Unitary Mechanical Metamaterials: A Quantum Abacus Paradigm.”