China launches the world's first quantum satellite on top of a Long March-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Aug. 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

According to an Aug. 19 report by People's Daily, the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) has made an important breakthrough in quantum research. For the first time, the importance of non-locality in quantum simulation has been demonstrated.

The research team, lead by Professor Li Chuanfeng from the university's Quantum Information Key Laboratory, developed a non-local quantum simulator to simulate the physics phenomenon of parity. The team's research has yielded a new direction for the quantum simulator. Renowned journal Nature Photonics recently published an account of the achievement. 

On Aug. 16, China launched the world's first quantum satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center; as a result, many people have been curious about the research behind this scientific achievement. The quantum simulator is a computer used to solve certain scientific problems. The concept was first proposed by Richard Feynman in 1981. In modern quantum simulator research, scientists generally focus on the simulator's ability to accelerate; the more quantum bits a simulator can manipulate, the stronger its computing power is. 

The research by USTC has now revealed another important advantage of the quantum simulator: quantum non-locality, which Einstein once described as "spooky action at a distance." The non-local quantum simulator can be used to research subjects such as faster-than-light communications, which standard computers are unable to do.