Source: Science Daily, November 29, 2017
Two independent teams of researchers in the US (University of Maryland, NIST) and (Harvard University, MIT) have used more than 50 interacting atomic qubits to mimic magnetic quantum matter. UMD-NIST team deployed ytterbium ions trapped in place by gold-coated and razor-sharp electrodes and Harvard-MIT team used rubidium atoms confined by an array of laser beams. In this experiment there are over a quadrillion possible magnet configurations, and this number doubles with each additional magnet.
Quantum simulations are believed to be one of the first useful applications of quantum computers. After perfecting these quantum simulators, we can then implement quantum circuits and eventually quantum-connect many such ion chains together to build a full-scale quantum computer with a much wider domain of applications… read more.  TECHNICAL ARTICLE
This is an artist’s depiction of a quantum simulation. Lasers manipulate an array of more than 50 atomic qubits to study the dynamics of quantum magnetism.
Credit: E. Edwards/JQI