Researchers from the Faculty of Physics at Vilnius University have developed a theoretical model that uses light to "program" atoms without the need for external magnetic fields.
The authors envision that light first "programs" the atoms, and then a pre-prepared atomic environment alters the shape and polarization of complex laser beams.
At the core of the model are optical vortices: beams with a spiral wavefront structure, where the intensity drops to zero at the "core." The size of this dark region is determined by a topological charge that "is unbounded and can take any positive or negative integer values."
In practice, it is possible to achieve up to 10,000 different states — allowing information to be encoded in qudits rather than in a two-state qubit system.
To control the vector vortices, the researchers examined the interaction of the beam with an atomic gas, where the atoms have three energy levels. In the model, the prepared environment inherits the spatial pattern of the light: in some areas, atoms absorb radiation more strongly, while in others, they become nearly transparent. This initiates feedback — the atomic response reshapes the beam itself.
Instead of a simple ring structure, a petal-like pattern emerges with several bright areas around the center — the polarization structure itself also changes. Previously, such control typically required powerful external magnetic fields and complex equipment.
Theoretically, this development paves the way for faster quantum processors, highly secure quantum communication networks, and ultra-precise optical sensors.
As a reminder, on June 17, one of the sixteen national laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, and quantum computer developer Quantinuum published a peer-reviewed paper on the 98-qubit quantum computer Helios.