Quantum technology is widely expected to transform how large and complex data sets are processed. Although it is currently used mostly in laboratories and research environments, the field is steadily moving toward real-world applications across a range of industries.

In a recent study exploring the fundamentals of quantum physics, researchers examined how matter behaves at extremely small scales, including atoms, electrons, and photons. The work, led by Cal Poly Physics Department Lecturer Ian Powell, focused on how varying a magnetic field over time can cause matter to exhibit unusual and previously unseen properties.

Powell and student researcher Louis Buchalter, who earned a Cal Poly bachelor's degree in physics in 2025, published their findings in Physical Review B in a paper titled "Flux-Switching Floquet Engineering." Their research shows that when magnetic fields are changed in a controlled, time-dependent way, they can generate quantum states that do not exist in materials that remain unchanged…