Hefei, May 3 (Xinhua) -- In 1900, Germany. The 42-year-old Planck first proposed "quantum theory", and the once impregnable edifice of Newtonian mechanics was probed by a beam of light from the microscopic world.
More than 100 years later, China. "Mozi", "Nine Chapters", "Zu Chong No"... Standing at the new starting point of the "second quantum revolution", the mainland's quantum science and technology has become an important force on the international quantum scientific research map.
Behind these achievements is a group of young scientists who cherish the "great power of the country", who use their youth to serve the country and bravely climb the peak of science and technology, becoming the "heavenly group" in the field of quantum research on the mainland.
"Engaging in scientific research, failure is commonplace"
"The successes seen in textbooks are only occasional events, and failure is the norm." Rong Xing, a 39-year-old professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, said how to face failure divides people into different forms. "We must have the spirit of revolutionary optimism." He laughed.
Before the age of 22, rongxing's life dictionary seemed to find the word "failure". In 2001, at the age of 18, he was admitted to the School of Physics of the University of Science and Technology of China, and was later sent to the university for master's and doctoral studies.
In 2005, Rongxing, who was a graduate student, chose scientific instruments as his research direction and began to "entangle" with quanta. He stepped onto the track with great anticipation, but what awaited him was an unprecedented challenge.
Rongxing works in the laboratory. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
"The function of the instrument is limited, the scheme is repeatedly overturned, and the experimental results are not as expected..." Rong Xing said that at that time, the mainland's research in this field lagged far behind the international level, because of the lack of experimental instruments and experimental samples, even doing experiments was a luxury.
Ten years later, Rongxing survived sleepless nights and failures again and again. After hard work, he and his colleagues used the self-developed magnetic resonance equipment to achieve the highest precision spin control in the world. "Scientific research can achieve phased results, but there is never an end." Rong Xing said: As young scientists, we should continue to carry forward the spirit of scientists and strive to write an answer sheet for the era of self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology.
"Let scientific and technological achievements serve more people"
In 2009, Sun Fangwen, a young scientist who had just entered the age of establishment, made a choice that could change his life.
After leaving the postdoctoral station at Columbia University in the United States, he gave up the preferential treatment abroad and returned to his alma mater, the University of Science and Technology of China.
"I didn't think about it so much at the time, because Teacher Guo wanted me to come back." Sun Fangwen said. The "teacher Guo" he calls is Guo Guangcan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a quantum informatician.
Selection, starting in 1997.
That year, Sun Fangwen took the college entrance examination. "In addition to the normal performance of physics, the results in mathematics and chemistry are not ideal." He said. Even so, he was admitted to the University of Science and Technology of China with high scores.
When choosing a major, he unthinkingly chose the physics major that "played normally".
4 years of undergraduate exploration, 6 years of graduate school, the year of doctoral graduation, he came to a crossroads in life. It is Mr. Guo's support and love for scientific research that allows him to truly devote himself to the field of quantum sensing, continuous learning, research and further study.
In the year of his return to China, he made a wish: In another 10 years, our scientific research achievements will catch up with the world's advanced level.
After 10 years, the wish is finally fulfilled.
Sun Fangwen (second from left) inspects the instrument. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
The quantum sensing technology that Sun Fangwen participated in research has basically achieved autonomous control in recent years, and has seen the possibility of transforming achievements.
"Research results cannot be 'lying on paper', but must be made to serve people." Sun Fangwen said that from theoretical breakthroughs to technological applications, some may take decades.
"But one day, I can see the research results into your and my lives, and I think it's worth it." Sun Fangwen said.
"In my life, I just want to do this one thing"
On October 26, 2021, Zhu Xiaobo breathed a long sigh of relief.
The University of Science and Technology of China announced that the mainland has successfully built a 66-bit programmable superconducting quantum computing prototype "Zuchong-2" and solved the "quantum random line sampling" task more than 10 million times faster than the world's fastest supercomputer, making China the only country that has reached the "quantum superiority" milestone on two technical routes.
Zhu Xiaobo is the specific person in charge of the "Zu chong no. 2" project.
It is difficult to cross the mountain from the beginning. In 2008, Zhu Xiaobo, who was already an associate professor at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave up his teaching position and went to Japan for further study. He was 32 years old.
Five years later, he declined his mentor's offer and returned to the Institute of Physics.
Zhu Xiaobo at work. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Three years after returning to China, Zhu Xiaobo joined the University of Science and Technology of China and began to develop a prototype of superconducting quantum computing.
In the following years, dozens of researchers joined in. With one exciting "good news", they have made great contributions to the development of the field of quantum computing in the mainland. "On this track about the future of mankind, China cannot be left behind, and we dare not stop." Zhu Xiaobo said.
"Everything we do today is for the future. I hope that the efforts of our generation can contribute to building a scientific and technological power. "Zhu Xiaobo feels that he is lucky to do things worth fighting for all his life in a limited life." All my life, I just want to do this one thing. He said. (Xinhua News Agency reporters Dai Wei and Cao Jiayue)
Edited by Xin Jing