Monthly Archives: April 2023

This article has been reviewed according to ScienceX's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

peer-reviewed publication

trusted source

proofread

by Jos Tadeu Arantes , FAPESP

Quantum theory, which was formulated in the first three decades of the twentieth century, describes a wide array of phenomena at the molecular, atomic and subatomic scales. Among its many technological applications, three have become ubiquitous in daily life: laser barcode scanners, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the global positioning system (GPS).

Nevertheless, quantum physics is still not entirely understood, and some of the phenomena concerned appear to fly in the face of common sense or everyday empirical experience, surprising not only the average layperson but also physicists and philosophers of science. Some of the counterintuitive aspects of quantum theory are due to its probabilistic nature. It offers a set of rules for calculating the probabilities of the possible measurement outcomes of physical systems and in general cannot predict the actual result of a single measurement.

One of the challenging ideas presented by quantum physics is non-locality, an aspect of reality manifested when two or more systems are generated or interact in such a way that the quantum states of any system cannot be described independently of the quantum states of the others. Technically speaking, scientists call such systems entangled, since they are strongly correlated even at a distance and their quantum state is not defined by the quantum states of their component parts.

Another challenging idea, which seems to point in the opposite direction, is contextuality, according to which the outcome of measuring a quantum object depends on the context, meaning other compatible measurements performed at the same time.

Non-locality and contextuality were born with quantum theory but followed independent paths for several decades. In 2014, scientists conducted a study involving a particular case in which they showed that only one of them can be observed in a quantum system. This finding became known as monogamy. The authors conjectured that non-locality and contextuality were different facets of the same general behavior observed either in one way or the other.

Now, however, a study by Brazilian and Chinese researchers has shown both theoretically and experimentally that this is not so. An article on the study is published in Physical Review Letters and highlighted as an Editors' Suggestion.

The research was led by Rafael Rabelo, last author of the article and a professor at the State University of Campinas's Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics (IFGW-UNICAMP) in Brazil.

The first authors are Peng Xue and Lei Xiao of Beijing Computational Science Research Center in China. The other co-authors, all affiliated with Brazilian institutions, are Gabriel Ruffolo and Andr Mazzari, also researchers at IFGW-UNICAMP; Marcelo Terra Cunha of the same university's Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing (IMECC-UNICAMP); and Tassius Temstocles of the Federal Institute of Alagoas.

"We proved that both phenomena can indeed be observed concurrently in quantum systems. The theoretical approach was developed here in Brazil and validated in a quantum optics experiment by our Chinese collaborators," Rabelo told Agncia FAPESP.

The new study shows definitively that two of the fundamental ways in which quantum physics differs from classical physics can be observed at the same time in the same system, contrary to the usual belief. "Non-locality and contextuality, therefore, are clearly not complementary manifestations of the same phenomenon," Rabelo said.

In practical terms, non-locality is an important resource for quantum encryption, while contextuality is the basis for a specific quantum computing model, among other applications. "The possibility of having both at the same time in the same system could pave the way to the development of new quantum information processing and quantum communications protocols," he said.

The idea of non-locality was a sort of answer to the objection raised by Albert Einstein (1879-1955) to the probabilistic nature of quantum physics. In a seminal article published in 1935, Einstein, Boris Podolsky (1896-1966) and Nathan Rosen (1909-1995), or EPR, questioned the completeness of quantum theory.

They proposed a thought experiment known as the EPR paradox: to justify certain non-classical correlations deriving from entanglement, distant quantum systems would have to exchange information instantly, which is impossible according to the special theory of relativity. They concluded that this paradox was due to the incompleteness of quantum theory. The incompleteness, EPR argued, could be corrected by including local hidden variables that would make quantum physics as deterministic as classical physics.

"In 1964, British physicist J.S. Bell (1928-1990) revisited the EPR argument, introducing an elegant formalism that encompassed all theories of local hidden variables regardless of the particular properties each variable might have. Bell proved that none of these theories could reproduce the correlations between measurements performed on two systems predicted by quantum physics. In my view, this result, later known as Bell's theorem, is one of the most important pillars of quantum physics. The property of having strong correlations that can't be reproduced by any local theory is now known as Bell non-locality. Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger were awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for observing Bell non-locality experimentally, among other achievements," Rabelo said.

Another important result deriving from the discussion of hidden variables was presented in an article by Simon Kochen (1934-) and Ernst Specker (1920-2011), published in 1967. The authors demonstrated that, owing to the structure and mathematical properties of quantum measurements, any theory of hidden variables that reproduces the predictions of quantum physics must exhibit a contextuality aspect.

"Despite the common motivation, studies of Bell non-locality and Kochen-Specker contextuality followed independent paths for quite a long time. Only recently has there been growing interest in finding out whether both phenomena could be manifested concurrently in the same physical system. In an article published in 2014, Pawel Kurzynski, Adn Cabello and Dagomir Kaszlikowski said no. They showed why through a particular case but an interesting one, nonetheless. We've now refuted that 'no' in our study," Rabelo said.

More information: Peng Xue et al, Synchronous Observation of Bell Nonlocality and State-Dependent Contextuality, Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.040201

Journal information: Physical Review Letters

Read the rest here:

Study proves compatibility of two fundamental principles of quantum theory - Phys.org

Science and nature books

Quantum computers will transform our world, curing cancer and fixing the climate crisis, says the scientist and sci-fi fan but can they be made to work?

Sat 22 Apr 2023 04.00 EDT

Have you been feeling anxious about technology lately? If so, youre in good company. The United Nations has urged all governments to implement a set of rules designed to rein in artificial intelligence. An open letter, signed by such luminaries as Yuval Noah Harari and Elon Musk, called for research into the most advanced AI to be paused and measures taken to ensure it remains safe trustworthy, and loyal. These pangs followed the launch last year of ChatGPT, a chatbot that can write you an essay on Milton as easily as it can generate a recipe for everything you happen to have in your cupboard that evening.

But what if the computers used to develop AI were replaced by ones able to make calculations not millions, but trillions of times faster? What if tasks that might take thousands of years to perform on todays devices could be completed in a matter of seconds? Well, thats precisely the future that physicist Michio Kaku is predicting. He believes we are about to leave the digital age behind for a quantum era that will bring unimaginable scientific and societal change. Computers will no longer use transistors, but subatomic particles, to make calculations, unleashing incredible processing power. Another physicist has likened it to putting a rocket engine in your car. How are you feeling now?

Kaku seems pretty relaxed about it all some might say boosterish. He talks to me via Zoom from his apartment on Manhattans Upper West Side. Seventy-six and retired from research, he still teaches at the City University of New York where he is professor of theoretical physics and gets to do the fun stuff. A fan of Isaac Asimov, he tells me that hes currently teaching a course on the physics of science fiction. I talk about what is known and not known about time travel, space warps, the multiverse, all the things you see in Marvel Comics, I break it down. His website describes him as a futurist and populariser of science and his new book, Quantum Supremacy, sketches out all the promise of quantum computing and very little of the downside. Though he has the long white hair of the stereotypical mad scientist, it is swept back elegantly. He speaks at the pace of a practised lecturer, with the occasional outbreak of mild bemusement pitching his voice a little higher.

Kaku has a simple explanation for the doom-mongering around ChatGPT: Journalists are hyperventilating about chatbots because they see that their job is on the line. Many jobs have been on the line historically, but no one really said much about them. Now, journalists are right there in the crosshairs. This is a somewhat partial view a report by Goldman Sachs recently estimated that 300m jobs are at risk of automation as a result of AI. Kaku does admit that we might see sentient machines emerging from laboratories but reckons that could take another hundred years or so. In the meantime, he thinks theres a lot to feel good about.

The rocket engine of quantum computing will, Kaku says, completely transform research in chemistry, biology and physics, with all sorts of knock-on effects. Among other things, it will enable us to take CO2 out of the atmosphere and turn it into fuel, with the waste products captured and used again so-called carbon recycling. It will help us extract nitrogen from the air without the high temperatures and pressures that mean fertiliser production currently accounts for 2% of the energy used on Earth, leading to a new green revolution. It will allow us to create super-efficient batteries to help renewables go further (todays lithium-ion batteries only carry about 1% of the energy stored in gasoline). It will solve the design and engineering challenges currently stopping us from generating cheap, abundant power via nuclear fusion. And it will lead to radically effective treatments for cancer, Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases, alongside a host of others.

How? The main thing to understand is that quantum computers can make calculations much, much faster than digital ones. They do this using qubits, the quantum equivalent of bits the zeros and ones that convey information in a conventional computer. Whereas bits are stored as electrical charges in transistors etched on to silicon chips, qubits are represented by properties of particles, for example, the angular momentum of an electron. Qubits superior firepower comes about because the laws of classical physics do not apply in the strange subatomic world, allowing them to take any value between zero and one, and enabling a mysterious process called quantum entanglement, which Einstein famously called spukhafte Fernwirkung or spooky action at a distance. Kaku makes valiant efforts to explain these mechanisms in his book, but its essentially impossible for a layperson to fully grasp. As the science communicator Sabine Hossenfelder puts it in one of her wildly popular YouTube videos on the subject: When we write about quantum mechanics, were faced with the task of converting mathematical expressions into language. And regardless of which language we use, English, German, Chinese or whatever, our language didnt evolve to describe quantum behaviour.

What were left with are analogies of varying helpfulness, for example the toy trains with compasses on them and mice in mazes that Kaku invokes to explain such complex ideas as superposition and path integrals. Beyond these, there is one important takeaway: reality is quantum, and so quantum computers can simulate it in a way that digital ones struggle to. Mother Nature does not compute digitally, he tells me. Quantum computers should [be able to] unravel the secrets of life, the secrets of the universe, the secrets of matter, because the language of nature is the quantum principle. If you want to know precisely how photosynthesis works (still a mystery to modern science), or how one protein interacts with another in the human body, you will be able to use the virtual lab of a quantum computer to model it precisely. Designing medicines to interrupt biological processes gone awry, like the proliferation of cancer cells or the misfolding of proteins in Alzheimers disease, could become much easier. Kaku even reckons that the riddle of ageing will be unravelled so that we can arrest it one of the chapters in his book is called simply Immortality.

At this stage, its worth introducing an important caveat. Quantum computers are very, very hard to make. Because they rely on tiny particles that are extremely sensitive to any kind of disturbance, most can only run at temperatures close to absolute zero, where everything slows down and theres minimal environmental noise. That is, as you would expect, quite difficult to arrange. So far, the most advanced quantum computer in the world, IBMs Osprey, has 433 qubits. This might not sound like much, but as the company points out the number of classical bits that would be necessary to represent a state on the Osprey processor far exceeds the total number of atoms in the known universe. What they dont say is that it only works for about 70 to 80 millionths of a second before being overwhelmed by noise. Not only that, but the calculations it can make have very limited applications. As Kaku himself notes: A workable quantum computer that can solve real-world problems is still many years in the future. Some physicists, such as Mikhail Dyakonov at the University of Montpellier, believe the technical challenges mean the chances of a quantum computer that could compete with your laptop ever being built are pretty much zero.

Kaku brushes this off. He points to the billions of dollars being poured into quantum research the Gold Rush is on he says and the way intelligence agencies have been warning about the need to get quantum-ready. Thats hardly proof positive theyll live up to expectations it could be tulip mania rather than a gold rush. He shrugs: Lifes a gamble.

In any case, hes far from the only true believer. Corporations such as IBM, Google, Microsoft and Intel are investing heavily in the technology, as is the Chinese government, which has developed a 113 qubit computer called Jiuzhang. So, assuming for a moment quantum dreams do become a reality: is it responsible to accentuate the positive, as Kaku does? What about the possibility of these immense capabilities being used for ill?

Well, thats the universal law of technology, that [it] can be used for good or evil. When humans discovered the bow and arrow, we could use that to bring down game and feed people in our tribe. But of course, the bow and arrow can also be used against our enemies.

Advances in physics, in particular, have always raised the prospect of new and more fearsome weapons. But you cant hold back research as a result: you make the discoveries, then you deal with the consequences. Thats why we regulate nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are a rather simple consequence of Einsteins E=mc2. And they have to be regulated, because the E would be enough to destroy humanity on planet Earth. At some point, were going to reach the boundaries of this technology, where it impacts negatively on society. Right now, I can see a lot of benefits.

In any case, for Kaku, knowledge is power. Its part of the reason hes moved from the lab to TV, radio and books. The whole purpose of writing books for the public is so that [they] can make educated, reasonable, wise decisions about the future of technology. Once technology becomes so complicated that the average person cannot grasp it, then theres big trouble, because then people with no moral compass will be in charge of the direction of that technology.

There are other reasons, as well. From an early age, Kaku was, unsurprisingly, a science fiction nut. But he wasnt content to simply swallow the stories, and wanted to know if they were really possible, whether the laws of physics might verify or contradict them. And in the science section, there was nothing, absolutely nothing. And I was [also] fascinated by Einsteins dream of a theory of everything, a unified field theory. Again I found nothing, not a single book, on Einsteins great dream. And I said to myself, when I grow up, and I become a theoretical physicist, I want to write papers on this subject. But I also want to write for myself as a child, going to the library and being so frustrated that there was nothing for me to read. And thats what I do.

Kakus parents were among those American citizens of Japanese descent who were interned during the second world war, despite having been born in the country. Like his father, he was raised in Palo Alto, California, the ground zero of the tech revolution. The irony isnt lost on him. I saw Silicon Valley grow from nothing. When I was a child, it was all alfalfa fields, apple orchards. I used to play in the apple orchards of what is now Apple, he chuckles. If his predictions about the quantum revolution are correct, it could soon be transformed again. Silicon Valley could become a rust belt a junkyard of chips that no one uses any more because theyre too primitive. Or, more likely, a gleaming new centre of quantum computation, as todays tech giants scramble to redeploy their immense intellectual and financial capital. Whether Kakus quantum revolution lives up to the hype remains to be seen. But if he is right and all that is digital passes into dust, were in for one hell of a ride.

Quantum Supremacy by Michio Kaku will be published by Allen Lane on 2 May. To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com

{{topLeft}}

{{bottomLeft}}

{{topRight}}

{{bottomRight}}

{{.}}

See more here:

Physicist Michio Kaku: We could unravel the secrets of the universe - The Guardian

Picture a cat. Im assuming youre imagining a live one. It doesnt matter. Youre wrong either waybut youre also right.

What Is Carbon Capture? With Gizmodos Molly Taft | Techmodo

This is the premise of Erwin Schrdingers 1935 thought experiment to describe quantum states, and now, researchers have managed to create a fat (which is to say, massive) Schrdinger cat, testing the limits of the quantum world and where it gives way to classical physics.

Schrdingers experiment is thus: A cat is in a box with a poison that is released from its container if an atom of a radioactive substance, also in the box, decays. Because it is impossible to know whether or not the substance will decay in a given timeframe, the cat is both alive and dead until the box is opened and some objective truth is determined. (You can read more about the thought experiment here.)

In the same way, particles in quantum states (qubits, if theyre being used as bits in a quantum computer) are in a quantum superposition (which is to say, both alive and dead) until theyre measured, at which point the superposition breaks down. Unlike ordinary computer bits that hold a value of either 0 or 1, qubits can be both 0 and 1 simultaneously.

Now, researchers made a Schrdingers cat thats much heavier than those previously created, testing the muddy waters where the world of quantum mechanics gives way to the classical physics of the familiar macroscopic world. Their research is published this week in the journal Science.

In the place of the hypothetical cat was a small crystal, put in a superposition of two oscillation states. The oscillation states (up or down) are equivalent to alive or dead in Schrdingers thought experiment. A superconducting circuit, effectively a qubit, was used to represent the atom. The team coupled electric-field creating material to the circuit, allowing its superposition to transfer over to the crystal. Capiche?

By putting the two oscillation states of the crystal in a superposition, we have effectively created a Schrdinger cat weighing 16 micrograms, said Yiwen Chu, a physicist at ETH Zurich and the studys lead author, in a university release.

16 micrograms is roughly equivalent to the mass of a grain of sand, and thats a very fat cat on a quantum level. Its several billion times heavier than an atom or molecule, making it the fattest quantum cat to date, according to the release.

Its not the first time physicists have tested whether quantum behaviors can be observed in classical objects. Last year, a different team declared they had quantum-entangled a tardigrade, though a number of physicists told Gizmodo that claim was poppycock.

This is slightly different, as the recent team was just testing the mass of an object in a quantum state, not the possibility of entangling a living thing. While thats not in the teams plans, working with even larger masses will allow us to better understand the reason behind the disappearance of quantum effects in the macroscopic world of real cats, Chu said.

As for the true boundary between the two worlds? No one knows, wrote Matteo Fadel, a physicist at ETH Zurich and a co-author of the paper, in an email to Gizmodo. Thats the interesting thing, and the reason why demonstrating quantum effects in systems of increasing mass is so groundbreaking.

The new research takes Schrdingers famous thought experiment and gives it some practical applications. Controlling quantum materials in superposition could be useful in a number of fields that require very precise measurements; for example, helping reduce noise in the interferometers that measure gravitational waves.

Fadel is currently studying whether gravity plays a role in the decoherence of quantum states, namely if it is responsible for the quantum-to-classical transition as proposed a couple of decades ago by Penrose. Gravity doesnt seem to exist on the subatomic level and is not accounted for in the Standard Model of particle physics.

The quantum world ripe for new discoveries, but alas, its crammed full of unknowables, dead ends, and vexing new problems.

More: Scientists Save Schrdingers Cat

Read this article:

Physicists Create the Fattest Schrdinger's Cat Ever - Gizmodo

When new assistant professor of physics Lee McCuller was young, he liked to build things. His uncle made him a power supply, which he integrated with electronic hobby kits from RadioShack to do simple things like use analog circuits to switch lights and motors on and off. Today, McCuller tinkers with what some would call the most advanced measurement device in the world: LIGO, or the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory.

McCuller is an expert on quantum squeezing, a method used at LIGO to make incredibly precise measurements of gravitational waves that travel millions and billions of light-years across space to reach us. When black holes and collapsed stars, called neutron stars, collide, they generate ripples in space-time, or gravitational waves. LIGO's detectorslocated in Washington and Louisianaspecialize in picking up these waves but are limited by quantum noise, an inherent property of quantum mechanics that results in photons popping in and out of existence in empty space. Quantum squeezing is a complex method for reducing this unwanted noise.

Research into quantum squeezing and related measurements ramped up as far back as the 1980s, with key theorical studies by Caltech's Kip Thorne (BS '62), Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, along with physicist Carl Caves (PhD '79) and others worldwide. Those theories inspired the first experimental demonstration of squeezing in 1986 by Jeff Kimble, the William L. Valentine Professor of Physics, Emeritus. The next decades saw many other advances in squeezing research, and now McCuller is at the leading edge of this innovative field. For example, he has been busy developing "frequency-dependent" squeezing that will greatly enhance LIGO's sensitivity when it turns back on in May of this year.

After earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010, McCuller attended the University of Chicago, where he earned his PhD in physics in 2015. There he began work on an experiment called the Fermilab Holometer, which looked for a speculative type of noise that would link gravity with quantum mechanics. It was during this project that McCuller met LIGO scientists, including MIT's Rai Weisswho together with Thorne and Barry Barish, the Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Physics, Emeritus, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017 for their groundbreaking work on LIGO. McCuller was inspired by Weiss and the LIGO project and decided to join MIT in 2016. He became an assistant professor at Caltech in 2022.

In the future, McCuller hopes to take the quantum measurement tools he has developed for LIGO and apply them to other problems. "If LIGO is the most precise ruler in the world, then we want to make those rulers available to everyone," he says.

We met with McCuller over Zoom to learn more about quantum squeezing and its future applications to other fields as well as what inspired McCuller to join Caltech.

After I graduated from University of Chicago in 2015, I went to work on LIGO at MIT. When I walked in the door, they were having a meeting about the first detection of gravitational waves! The public didn't know yet, but there had been rumors. It was exciting to learn the rumors were true, and it was nice to see everyone overjoyed that things were working.

There was a local experiment taking place at that time on using squeezed light in the frequency-dependent manner that will start up at LIGO later this year. My job was to help build the first full-scale demonstration of this. The group, before me, had previously demonstrated the concept but not at the full scale. I was there was to show exactly what would be needed to employ it in the LIGO observatories. This required a particularly challenging experimental setup.

At each of the observatory locations, LIGO uses laser beams to measure disturbances in space-timethe gravitational waves. The laser beams are shot out at 90-degrees from each other and travel down two 4-kilometer-long arms. They reflect off mirrors and travel back down the arms to meet back up. If a gravitational wave passes through space, it will stretch and squeeze LIGO arms such that the lasers will be pushed out of sync; when they meet back up, the combined laser will create an interference pattern.

At the quantum level, there are photons in the laser light that hit the mirrors at different times. We call this shot noise, or quantum noise. Imagine dumping out a can full of BBs. They all hit the ground and click and clack independently. The BBs are randomly hitting the ground, and that creates a noise. The photons are like the BBs and hit LIGO's mirrors at irregular times. Quantum squeezing, in essence, makes the photons arrive more regularly as if the photons are holding hands rather than traveling independently. And this means that you can more precisely measure the phase or frequency of the light inside LIGOand ultimately detect even fainter gravitational waves.

To squeeze light, we are basically pushing the uncertainty inherent in light waves from one feature to another. We are making the light more certain in its phase, or frequency, and less certain in its amplitude, or power [the uncertainty principle says that both the exact frequency and amplitude of a light wave cannot be known at the same time]. To really explain the details of how squeezing actually works is very hard! I primarily know how to use math to describe it.

An interesting thing about squeezed light is that we aren't doing anything to the actual laser. We don't even touch it. When we operate LIGO, we offset the arms so that its wave interference is not perfectly darka small amount of light gets through. The little bit of light that remains has an electrical field that interferes with quantum fluctuations in the vacuum, or empty space, and this leads to the shot noise or the photons acting like BBs as we talked about earlier. When we squeeze light, we are actually squeezing the vacuum so that the photons have lower uncertainty in their frequency.

Up until now, we have been squeezing light in LIGO to reduce uncertainty in the frequency. This allows us to be more sensitive to the high-frequency gravitational waves within LIGO's range. But if we want to detect lower frequencieswhich occur earlier in, say, a black hole merger, before the bodies collidewe need to do the opposite: we want to make the light's amplitude, or power, more certain and the frequency less certain. At the lower frequencies, the shot noise, our BB-like photons, push the mirrors around in different ways. We want to reduce that. Our new frequency-dependent cavity at the LIGO detectors is designed to reduce the frequency uncertainty in the high frequencies and the amplitude uncertainties in the low frequencies. The goal is to win everywhere and reduce the unwanted mirror motions.

Part of the reason this technology is more important in the next run is because we are turning up the power on our lasers. With more power, you get more pressure on the mirrors. Our new squeezing technology will allow us to turn the power up without creating the unwanted mirror motions.

What this means is that we will be even more sensitive to the early phases of black hole and neutron star mergers, and that we can see even fainter mergers.

One project I'm working on involves Kathryn Zurek and Rana Adhikari. We are building a tabletop-size detector that will attempt to pick up signatures of quantum gravity, or pixels in space and time as some people say. The idea there is to make interferometers more like high-energy-physics detectors. The detectors would click when something passes through it, largely circumventing the impacts of shot noise. I love the motivation of the projectquantum gravity, which is the quest to merge theories of gravity with quantum physics. It is a very lofty goal.

In general, what I hope to do is grow from the LIGO work and apply quantum measurement techniques to not only enhance the gravitational wave detectors but also to see where other fundamental physics experiments or technologies can be improved. I want to use quantum optics not necessarily for computation or for information but for measurement. Squeezing light is one of the first demonstrations of these concepts in a real experiment. The hope is that we can keep using these quantum techniques in more and more experiments. We want to take the advantages of LIGO and find all the places where we can apply them.

Caltech has a lot of mission-oriented scientists. It's not just about learning or demonstrating or exploringit's the mix of all these things. I like a place where the goal is to integrate technologies and do new experiments. Take LIGO for instance. Few people know how the whole thing works and many of them are here. Caltech is a place where people understand that what we are doing is hard. Good projects require both narrow and broad expertise, and a combination of the right people. The students are similarly motivated by both the science goals and the process. We are not just trying to build something that reliably works, we are also trying to build something that's at the edge of what is possible.

Excerpt from:

At the Edge of Physics - Caltech

Ideas53:59Perimeter Institute Conversations About Science and Identity

You may wonder what the bizarre subatomic world of quantum physics or the fates of distant stars have to do with our everyday lives.

But even the strangest aspects of the universe make us who and what we are. And who we are, and where we come, from shape what we know and how we know it.

Quantum physicistShohini Ghose at Wilfrid Laurier University, andMi'kmaqastrophysicist Hilding Neilson at Memorial University were interviewed for the Conversations at the Perimeter podcast, produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. They discussed the connections between identity and science.

Perimeter Institute's Lauren Hayward and Colin Hunter interviewed both scientists.

You wrote a really nice article for Morals and Machines, andthe theme was how quantum can help us go beyond the binary. So what are some of the the ways that we can learn about non-binary thinking inspired by quantum mechanics?

Well, everything in quantum mechanics is about letting go of specifics and precision. The idea that science and the way we think about science can impact society is not new. As our science evolves, our social thinking also evolves.

For example, the Industrial Revolution and thinking around possessions and mass marketing and scales of how we think about things, as well as knowing exactly one thing or another that has all absolutely shaped the way we behave socially. So to me, it feels like whether we like it or not, this whole new revolution with new quantum technologies that actually harnesses these stranger properties of quantum...all of that is based on quantum ideas. But now we're getting to the parts that we were kind of ignoring, like the uncertainty and entanglement.

Perhaps in society too, we will naturally start expanding our choices from right and wrong to a more broader spectrum and not just right or wrong, or any time we try to have polar opposite kind of thinking I think perhaps that we will start evolving and we will get to newer ways and new approaches which can influence so many aspects of our behaviour, whether we're choosing what we want to eat at a restaurant versus our politics and our policies, and so many, many aspects of our identities.

Ghose'sforthcoming book,Her Time, Her Space: How Trailblazing Women Scientists Decoded theUniverse,will be published this fall.

Can you talk about whatastro-colonialismis?

When we talk about astronomy and science and space, wetalk about them in terms of a certain perspective, and that perspective tends to be Eurocentric.

So for instance,the constellations in the northern hemisphere, we have the Big Dipper or Ursa major. We have Cassiopeia, Cepheus, we have Draco, and they all come from this one historical context, largely Greek and Roman astronomy.

And the Greeks and Romans told great stories about these things. And as you travel through time, those constellations sort of get maintained through star maps and European courts. It became part of the navigation in the oceans when we had first colonization of the Americas and then the slave trade. And they kept existing until the 20th century when the International Astronomical Union formed, which was great. It was supporting astronomy worldwide, but at the time it was essentially a bunch of white dudes from Europe, and they formed a committee to simplify the night sky and have 88 constellations.

There are people around the world, whether it's in Asian countries, in Asian regions, in the North, Northern Europe, Indigenous peoples in the Americas, Indigenous peoples who have their own stories [their] own constellations. We don't see them anymore. I open a textbook. I see Ursa major I don't see my constellations from Mi'kmaq or Haudenosaunee constellations or Salish or Inuit constellations. That's erasing our stories, and that's colonialism.

Then we have the future of colonialism, which is going to space. The way we do space exploration and space settlement is the exact same narrative that we did when Canada, the U.S., was being settled the pioneer, the frontiersmanship, man versus nature element.

Tell us just a little bit about your own personal relationship with the night sky.

I'm Mi'kmaq from Newfoundland. And we didn't grow up in an Indigenous community because lost settlements were more spread out across the island. So I grew up basically in suburbia watching Mr. Dressup and MuchMusic. So I didn't really have a strong connection with my heritage and where I come from.

One of the best parts of the Western coastline other than Gros Morne and the skiing is the clear night skies, seeing the Milky Way and all the stars, meteor showers and you feel you see this blanket of stars, it feels like home.

Listen to both of these interviewswherever you get your favourite podcasts or click onthe play button above

*This episode was produced by Chris Wodskou.

Go here to see the original:

Scientists explore why identity and history matter in science - CBC.ca

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Moderna and IBM are teaming up to use generative artificial intelligence and quantum computing to advance mRNA technology, the development at the core of the company's blockbuster Covid vaccine, the companies announced Thursday.

"We are excited to partner with IBM to develop novel AI models to advance mRNA science, prepare ourselves for the era of quantum computing, and ready our business for these game-changing technologies," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.

Moderna shares dipped slightly Thursday, while IBM's stock was about flat.

The companies said they signed an agreement for Moderna to access IBM's quantum computing systems. Those systems could help accelerate Moderna's discovery and creation of new messenger RNA vaccines and therapies, according to Dr. Dario Gil, director of IBM research.

IBM will also provide experts who can help Moderna scientists explore the use of quantum technologies, the companies added. Unlike traditional computers, which store information as either zeroes or ones, quantum computing hinges on quantum physics. That allows those systems to solve problems too complex for today's computers.

Under the deal, Moderna's scientists will also have access to IBM's generative AI model known as MoLFormer. Generative AI describes algorithms that can be used to create new content based on the data they have been trained on.

The companies said Moderna will use IBM's model to understand "the characteristics of potential mRNA medicines" and design a new class of vaccines and therapies.

The agreement comes as Moderna navigates its post-pandemic boom driven by its mRNA Covid vaccine.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company became a household name for its messenger RNA technology, which teaches human cells to produce a protein that initiates an immune response against a certain disease.

Moderna is trying to harness that technology to target other diseases as the world emerges from the pandemic and demand for blockbuster Covid vaccines and treatments slows.

The company is already working to develop a vaccine targeting respiratory syncytial virus and a shot that can target different types of cancer when combined with Merck's immunotherapy Keytruda.

The new agreement also comes as IBM ramps up its investment in AI with new partnerships. Earlier this year, the Armonk, New York-based company announced a deal with NASA to help build AI foundation models to advance climate science.

Those efforts fall in line with a recent boom in AI, largely driven by the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The AI-powered chatbot answers questions in clear, concise prose, and immediately caused a sensation after its launch.

ChatGPT kicked off an AI arms race and prompted questions about the full extent of artificial intelligence's capabilities and risks.

Read this article:

Moderna teams up with IBM to put A.I., quantum computing to work on mRNA technology used in vaccines - CNBC

By India Today Science Desk: The Centre on Wednesday approved the National Quantum Mission with an estimate of Rs 6,003 crore for eight years.

Announcing the decision, Science & Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said, "the decision is going to give India a quantum jump in the field."

India is going to be at par with six global countries researching quantum technology. Most countries are in the research and development phase. The US, China, France, Austria, and Finland are in the R&D stage and are yet to venture into the application stage of the technology, and India will be the latest entrant in the elite club.

Read More

Quantum technology is a field of physics and engineering that studies and applies the principles of quantum mechanics to the development of new technologies. Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that describes the behavior of matter and energy at a microscopic scale, where the classical laws of physics do not apply.

Quantum technology includes various types of technologies, such as quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and quantum sensing.

While the classical computer is transistor-based, quantum computers are going to work on atoms. Quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits) instead of classical bits to perform calculations. The advantage of quantum computing is that it can solve problems much faster with more authenticity.

Quantum technology offers unique security when it comes to encryption, making quantum communication hack-proof. Quantum communication is one of the safest ways of connecting two places with high levels of code and quantum cryptography that cannot be decrypted or broken by an external entity. If a hacker tries to crack the message in quantum communication, it changes its form in such a manner that would alert the sender and would cause the message to be altered or deleted.

Meanwhile, quantum sensing uses the principles of quantum mechanics to develop new types of sensors with unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy. These sensors can measure physical quantities, such as temperature, magnetic fields, and gravitational waves, with higher precision than classical sensors. This technology has vast utilisation in astronomy and astrophysics and in solving the riddles of the universe.

Also Read | Solar eclipse 2023: These cities will witness the rare hybrid celestial event

As part of the National Quantum Mission, the center said that four thematic hubs will be established in different institutions across the country to boost research and development in the field. The mission will be led by the Department of Science & Technology under a mission director.

The Centre will form a mission secretariat which will have a governing body to steer the work under the leadership of scientists from the quantum field. The Mission Technology Research Council will work as a scientific advisory body for the governing body.

The center outlining the eight-year-long framework for the mission said that it will work at developing 20-50 qubit quantum computers and quantum communication over a distance of 2000 kilometers in the next three years.

Also Read | Starship Super Heavy launch tomorrow: How to watch Musk's Mars Vehicle lift-off?

"As technology is evolving, understanding is evolving and so are the applications. In the area of therapeutics, healthcare, and security the use is being realized," the minister added.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had in 2022 demonstrated satellite-based quantum communication when scientists from the Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre and Physical Research Laboratory successfully conducted quantum entanglement, using real-time Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).

"This is going to place India as a frontline nation when information & technology are concerned. This will have use beyond physical and engineering field and into healthcare and other fields as well," Dr. Singha added.

Also Read | Scientists are closer to finding solar systems that could have life

More here:

Centre approves Rs 6,003 crore National Quantum Mission: What is it? - India Today

BUFFALO, N.Y. Moir patterns occur everywhere. They are created by layering two similar but not identical geometric designs. A common example is the pattern that sometimes emerges when viewing a chain-link fence through a second chain-link fence.

For more than 10 years, scientists have been experimenting with the moir pattern that emerges when a sheet of graphene is placed between two sheets of boron nitride. The resulting moir pattern has shown tantalizing effects that could vastly improve semiconductor chips that are used to power everything from computers to cars.

A new study led by University at Buffalo researchers, and published in Nature Communications, demonstrated that graphene can live up to its promise in this context.

Our recent work shows that this particular sandwich of graphene and boron nitride elicits properties that are suitable for use in new technological applications, said Jonathan Bird, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering at UB. The research was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and a MURI grant from Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Graphene is made of carbon, just like charcoal and diamonds. What distinguishes graphene is the way the carbon atoms are put together: they are linked in a hexagonal or honeycomb pattern. The resulting material is the thinnest material known to exist, so thin that scientists call it two-dimensional.

Left alone, graphene conducts electricity well too well, in fact, to be useful in microelectronic technology. But by sandwiching graphene between two layers of boron nitride, which also has a hexagonal pattern, a moir pattern results. The presence of this pattern is accompanied by dramatic changes in the properties of the graphene, essentially turning what would normally be a conducting material into one with (semiconductor-like) properties that are more amenable to use in advanced microelectronics.

This research establishes how the moir pattern in graphene can be adapted to use in technological applications such as new types of communication devices, lasers and light-emitting diodes. Our work demonstrated the viability of this approach, showing that the graphene/boron nitride sandwich that we are studying does indeed have the favorable properties needed for microelectronics, said Bird.

The semiconductor chips in question are essential not just in smartphones and medical devices but also in smart-home gadgets such as dishwashers, vacuums, and home-security systems. Modern technology relies on the semiconductor chips that form the heart of their systems and control their operation, said Bird. When you talk into your cell phone, its the chip that converts your voice to an electronic signal and transmits it to a tower.

The graphene/boron-nitride heterostructure appears to have properties that are amenable to engineering. Developing future technology based on these materials may depend on discovering and harnessing properties that allow for greater speed and functionality. Bird noted that there is typically a lag between a discovery, the excitement about a discovery, and realizing the promise of the discovery. Graphene so common that its in any note scribbled with pencil wasnt discovered until 2004.

Bird earned a PhD in physics, but he was drawn to electrical engineering because it allowed him to explore quantum physics through research on semiconductors. Quantum physics the kind of magical physics that occurs at the atomic scale, he explained can be observed through experiments using technology that explores material and processes at the atomic level.

We can get a system to respond to actions we take, and that response reflects details of the atomic and quantum nature of the system, he said. Graphene attracted his attention because it appeared to be a way to study quantum effects through work on semiconductors. At UB, he established a lab called NoMaD, where he, his colleagues, and their students study quantum phenomena occurring at the nanoscale. Graduates have gone on to careers at Intel and IBM as well as other universities.

In this research, Bird and his team have explored the properties of graphene within a certain limit that must be achieved to create new technologies. The semiconductor chip industry is a massive industry that continues to grow, demanding new materials, new ways to use existing materials, and a new workforce capable of developing both.

Read this article:

A particular 'sandwich' of graphene and boron nitride may lead to ... - University at Buffalo

SEGMENT ONEGUEST: Dr. Hanna Terletska, an associate professor in theMTSUDepartment of Physics and AstronomyTOPIC: New Quantum Computing for Everyone course atMTSUthat is enabling access to quantum education inTennessee

Quantum technologies, including quantum computing, energy storage and transformation, and sensing, are based on quantum physics and materials and have transformative potential in various fields.

The United States government has identified quantum research and education as key tenets of science and technology, as outlined in the National Quantum Initiative Act, passed in 2018, and major U.S. federal science and research agencies are supporting this area of research.

"MTSUhas a unique opportunity to positions itself as a hub for quantum science and education in theMiddleTennesseeregion, with the potential to attract top talent toMTSU," Terletska says. The Quantum Science Initiative aligns perfectly withMTSU's ongoing efforts to maintain its R2 research status by growing and expanding in this strategically important research focus.

Terletska says building quantum-ready workforce is one of the critical challenges in U.S."

"Enabling access to quantum education is absolutely critical for U.S. quantum ready workforce development. There are more jobs available in quantum than ready to work experts in the field. Recognizing these needs in workforce and training opportunities, here atMTSUPhysics and Astronomy Department, we have piloted the first inTennesseeinterdisciplinary faculty-taught undergraduate Quantum Computing for Everyone course.

"This course is an entry level to the field of quantum computing, with low barriers to enter this new and exciting area for science. No previous knowledge of physics or advance mathematics is needed. Students learn basic quantum information concepts, like qubits, quantum gates, and then practice programming on IBM quantum computer. We also have invited speakers, actual quantum computer scientist and engineers giving talks to our students.

MTSUfaculty find that new course is an excellent way to increase interest in STEM and broaden participation.

Terletska says there are currently 17 students from Physics, Computer Science, Biology and Chemistry majors at different years of their college program: freshmen, juniors, seniors, graduate students, and a postdoctoral fellow.

Two faculty members, Ron Henderson and Neda Naseri, are also getting trained in this course.

Terletska believes that this newMTSUcourse is also an excellent way to bring women in quantum 35% of the students are female, and practically all of them got into the class after Quantum for All workshop that Terletska and Naseri ran at one of the fall 2022 semester WISTEM (Women In STEM) group meeting.

SEGMENT TWOGUEST: Kent Syler, political science professor and political analystTOPIC:Tennesseepolitics in the international spotlight following lawmaker expulsions

From MSNBC to Fox News and from The Tennessean to The Washington Post,Tennesseepolitics have been in the international spotlight following the expulsion of two young Black Democratic lawmakers from the General Assembly by the GOP supermajority and threat to expel a white female lawmaker who barely survived an expulsion vote following their disruptive protest about gun violence and liberal gun laws on the House floor following the tragic murders at the Covenant School in Nashville.

Sylers perspective has been sought out by media from all over the country, from The Washington Post to a Los Angeles radio station, as the Metro Nashville Council quickly moved recently to unanimously temporarily reinstate Rep. Justin Jones and the Shelby County Commission did the same on April 12 to Rep. Justin Pearson within a week of their ousters.

Both new young lawmakers captivated the nation by standing in the well of the House and firing back at GOP lawmakers during their expulsions with poise and wisdom beyond their years. They were joined by Rep. Gloria Johnson from Knoxville who believed in their cause and has stood with them throughout in solidarity, even saying that she believes she was spared because shes white and her two colleagues are Black.

And in a twist,MTSUeconomics professor and House Rep. Charlie Baum was the only GOP lawmaker who voted against expulsion of all three Democratic lawmakers.

Tennesseealso sits in the spotlight politically for other controversial legislation.

NBC News reported that a federal judge inTennesseerecently temporarily halted thestates new law that criminalizes some drag performances, hours before it was set to take effect. Judge Thomas Parker cited constitutional protections of freedom of speech in issuing a temporary restraining order.

IfTennesseewishes to exercise its police power in restricting speech it considers obscene, it must do so within the constraints and framework of the United States Constitution, Parker wrote.

The Court finds that, as it stands, the record here suggests that when the legislature passed this Statute, it missed the mark, he wrote.

GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed the novel bill into law March 2.

SEGMENT THREEGUEST: Dr. Katie Schrodt, associate professor of literacy in the Department of Elementary and Special Education in theMTSUCollege of EducationTOPIC:MTSUeducation students, faculty put on periodic literacy, math events for local families

For literacy professorKatieSchrodt, promoting literacy extends beyond her classroom of future educators atMTSUsCollege of Education.

As literacy educators working in a teacher education program, one of our jobs is to promote literacy in our community by hosting family and community literacy events,Schrodtsaid. Along with our teacher education students, we help children gain access to books and reading resources that they may not have outside of the classroom.

The college partners with local school districtsRutherford County Schools,Murfreesboro City SchoolsandMaury County Schoolsto host around 15 literacy, math and combined literacy and math events a year. Education faculty and students fundraise and work with the nonprofitRead to Succeedto provide attending families with reading and math games and activities, snacks or dinner, take-home educational materials and free books.

At the most recent event atJohn Pittard Elementaryin Murfreesboro, over 100 families, around 275 children and their parents, showed up to take part.

The benefits of participating in family literacy programs and events are numerous, including improving comprehension, increasing vocabulary and improving foundational reading and writing skills,Schrodtsaid. Our event surveys indicate children were very excited about their books and opportunities to read and play with their parents, and parents said the events encouraged them to connect with their children through books.

Other education faculty involved in organizing these events includeNatalie Griffin,Bonnie Barksdale,Stacy Fields,Joan BoulwareandJeremy Winters. Faculty even landed a publication about their outreach work in a journal chartered by the International Literacy Association athttps://tinyurl.com/yv8hf3c8.

Read more:https://mtsunews.com/coe-literacy-math-nights-2023/

Read more:

Topics on the Monday Action Line: Quantum Computing, Political ... - Wgnsradio