Quantum engine is powered just by measuring its quantum state

A quantum engine built using two entangled quantum bits uses measurements as a source of energy. It could speed up the way some quantum computers process information

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

A design for a quantum engine that uses two entangled quantum bits and is powered by measuring their properties has been tested in the lab for the first time.

At the quantum scale, measuring an object’s property can change its energy. In 2021, Léa Bresque at Grenoble Alpes University in France and her colleagues developed a design for an engine that could be powered using only this energy change. Now, Bresque and other colleagues have tested this design in the lab.

The engine …