In a turn of events that could have implications for the development of quantum computing, Israeli scientists stumbled upon a new type of vortices formed when photons collide.

Vortices are a well-known physical phenomenon appearing in various contexts, such as the swirling motion of water draining from a bathtub, hurricanes, tornadoes, even galaxies.

They typically form when an area of very fast movement encounters a region of slow movement, creating a circular flow around a stationary focus.

A team of scientists from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot seeking to devise a method for quantum information processing using photons chanced upon the novel vortices during their experiments.

Quantum computing is an advanced field of computing based on the principles of quantum mechanics, which is the branch of physics that deals with phenomena at very small scales, such as atoms and subatomic particles.

Classical computers use “bits” to process information in the binary form of 0s and 1s, but quantum computers use quantum bits or “qubits,” which, due to their extremely small size, behave similar to waves and can exist as 0s and 1s simultaneously.

Because qubits can be in many states at once, a quantum computer can look at many possible solutions to a problem all at the same time. This gives quantum computers the ability to solve problems faster than conventional computers.