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If I’m understanding the fundamentals of the science behind this article, basically researchers are messing around with the state of the orbitals [0] of the electron clouds of individual atoms and molecules in very cold condensates that are otherwise stable, provoking interesting states that defy the usual macroscopic interactions commonly observed in the 4 classic phases of matter?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbital

Is that about right?

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The discrete/continuous analog would cellular automata and PDEs respectively.

Essentially, even if interaction is taking place, the hope is that such a regular and patterned formation could keep the qbits you care about, in perfect shape. There may be other interacting factors that oscillate but they are not used for storage, just for nonvolatility.

try this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_quantum_Hall_effect

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