Quantum memories, systems that store and retrieve information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, can outperform classical storage systems on some existing tasks. Yet these promising memories could also complete operations that are very difficult or impossible for classical systems, including the storage and retrieval of so-called isometry channels.
Isometry channels are transformations that entail mapping a smaller quantum system onto a larger one while preserving quantum information.
In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at the University of Tokyo showed that quantum methods significantly outperform classical ones in the storage and retrieval of these transformations.
