Category Archives: Quantum Physics
CERN to host International Conference on Quantum Technology for High-Energy Physics (QT4HEP22) – CERN
We are pleased to announce that registration will open this week for the International Conference on Quantum Technology for High-Energy Physics, which will be hosted at CERN on 14 November 2022. The event will take place in the CERN Main Auditorium, with featured sessions being broadcast live.
The conference will serve as a forum to discuss both the potential of and the challenges surrounding the nascent quantum technology and what overall impact this new frontier of science might have on high-energy physics (HEP). Bringing the whole community together, we will discuss recent developments in the field and keep looking for those activities within HEP and beyond that can most benefit from the application of quantum technologies.
Spread across four days, the event will cover a number of topics ranging from four quantum technology areas (theory, sensing, computing and communication) to collaboration with academia and industry, entrepreneurship, training and education activities. There will also be a series of tutorials and hands-on sessions co-developed with companies and providers, to explore the fascinating field of quantum science to its fullest extent.
Following a successful workshop on quantum computing in 2018 that marked the beginning of a range of new investigations into quantum computing at CERN, this is the first edition of the QT4HEP conference and a great opportunity to share knowledge and ideas, advance quantum expertise and skills and foster common activities with academia and industry on national and international levels.
Join us as we unlock the full potential of innovative quantum technology and its great promise to support scientific research: https://indico.cern.ch/e/QT4HEP22.
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About CERN QTI
The CERN Quantum Technology Initiative (CERN QTI) is a comprehensive R&D and knowledge-sharing initiative to investigate applications of quantum technologies for high-energy physics and beyond. Given CERNs increasing information and communications technology and computing demands, as well as the significant national and international interest in quantum-technology activities, CERN QTI aims to provide dedicated mechanisms for the exchange of both knowledge and innovation.
Find out more at quantum.cern and on Twitter and LinkedIn.Link to the roadmap: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5553774.
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A Different Kind of Chaos | The UCSB Current – The UCSB Current
Physicists at UC Santa Barbara and the University of Maryland, and also at the University of Washington have found an answer to the longstanding physics question: How do interparticle interactions affect dynamical localization?
Its a really old question inherited from condensed matter physics, said David Weld, an experimental physicist at UCSB with specialties in ultracold atomic physics and quantum simulation. The question falls into the category of many-body physics, which interrogates the physical properties of a quantum system with multiple interacting parts. While many-body problems have been a matter of research and debate for decades, the complexity of these systems, with quantum behaviors such as superposition and entanglement, lead to multitudes of possibilities, making it impossible to solve through calculation alone. Many aspects of the problem are beyond the reach of modern computers, Weld added.
Fortunately, this problem was not beyond the reach of an experiment that involves ultracold lithium atoms and lasers. So, what emerges when you introduce interaction in a disordered, chaotic quantum system?
A weird quantum state, according to Weld. Its a state which is anomalous, with properties which in some sense lie between the classical prediction and the non-interacting quantum prediction.
The physicists results are published in the journal Nature Physics.
'Anomalous Non-localization'When it comes to strange, counterintuitive behavior, the quantum world does not disappoint. Take for instance a regular pendulum, which would behave exactly how we would expect it to when subjected to pulses of energy.
If you kick it and shake it up and down every once in a while, a classical pendulum will continuously absorb energy, start to wiggle all over the place and explore the whole parameter space chaotically, Weld said.
In quantum systems chaos looks different. Instead of movement, disorder can bring particles to a kind of standstill. And while a kicked quantum pendulum or rotor might first absorb energy from the kicks similar to a classical pendulum with repeated kicks, the system stops absorbing energy and the momentum distribution freezes, in whats known as a dynamically localized state. This localization is closely analogous to the behavior of a "dirty" electronic solid, in which disorder results in immobile, localized electrons, causing the solid to transition from being a metal, or a conductor (moving electrons), to being an insulator.
While this state of localization has been explored for decades in the context of single, noninteracting particles, what happens in a disordered system with multiple, interacting electrons? Questions like this and related aspects of quantum chaos were on the minds of Weld and his co-author, University of Maryland theorist Victor Galitski, during a discussion several years ago when Galitski was visiting Santa Barbara.
What Victor raised was the question of what happens if, instead of this pure non-interacting quantum system which is stabilized by interference, you have a bunch of these rotors and they can all bump into and interact with each other, Weld recalled. Does the localization persist, or is it destroyed by the interactions?
Indeed, it is a very difficult question that relates to foundations of statistical mechanics and the basic notion of ergodicity, whereby most interacting systems eventually thermalize into a universal state, said Galitski.
Imagine for a moment pouring cold milk into hot coffee. The particles in your cup will, over time and through their interactions, arrange themselves into a uniform, equilibrium state that is neither purely hot coffee or cold milk. This type of behavior thermalization was expected of all interacting systems. That is, until about 16 years ago when it was argued that disorder in a quantum system was thought to result in many-body localization (MBL).
This phenomenon, which was recognized by the Lars Onsager Prize earlier this year, is difficult to rigorously prove theoretically or establish experimentally, Galitski said.
Welds group had the technology and expertise to shed light on the situation, literally. In their lab is a gas of 100,000 ultracold lithium atoms suspended in a standing wave of light. Each atom represents a quantum rotor that can be kicked by laser pulses.
We can use a tool called a Feshbach resonance to keep the atoms cloaked from each other, or we can make them bounce off each other with arbitrarily strong interactions, Weld said. With a turn of a knob, the researchers could make the lithium atoms go from line dance to mosh pit and capture their behaviors.
As expected, when the atoms were invisible to each other they took the laser kicking up to a certain point, after which they stopped moving in their dynamically localized state, despite repeated kicks. But when the researchers dialed up the interaction, not only did the localized state diminish, but the system appeared to absorb energy from the repeated kicks, mimicking classical chaotic behavior.
However, Weld pointed out, while the interacting disordered quantum system was absorbing energy, it was doing so at a much slower rate than would a classical system.
What were seeing is something that absorbs energy, but not as well as a classical system can, he said. And it seems like the energy is growing roughly with the square root of time instead of linearly with time. So the interactions arent making it classical; its still a weird quantum state exhibiting anomalous non-localization.
Testing for ChaosWelds team used a technique called an echo" in which the kinetic evolution is run forward and then backward to directly measure the way in which interactions destroy time reversibility. This destruction of time reversibility is a key signature of quantum chaos.
Another way to think about this is to ask: How much memory of the initial state does the system have after some time? said co-author Roshan Sajjad, a graduate student researcher on the lithium team. In the absence of any perturbations such as stray light or gas collisions, he explained, the system should be able to return to its initial state if the physics is run backward. In our experiment, we reverse time by reversing the phase of the kicks, undoing the effects of the first normal set of kicks, he said. Part of our fascination was that different theories had predicted different behaviors on the outcome of this type of interacting setup, but no one had ever done the experiment.
The rough idea of chaos is that even though the laws of motion are time-reversible, a many-particle system can be so complicated and sensitive to perturbations that is practically impossible to return to its initial state, said lead author Alec Cao. The twist was that in an effectively disordered (localized) state, the interactions broke the localization somewhat even as the system lost its capacity to be time-reversed, he explained.
Naively, youd expect interactions to ruin time-reversal, but we saw something more interesting: A little bit of interaction actually helps! Sajjad added. This was one of the more surprising results of this work.
Weld, Galitski and their teams werent the only ones to witness this fuzzy quantum state. University of Washington physicist Subhadeep Gupta and his team ran a complementary experiment at the same time, producing similar results using heavier atoms in a one-dimensional context. That result is published alongside those of UC Santa Barbara's and University of Maryland's in Nature Physics.
The experiments at UW operated in a very difficult physical regime with 25-times-heavier atoms restricted to move in one dimension only, yet also measured weaker-than-linear energy growth from periodic kicking, shedding light on an area where theoretical results have been in conflict, said Gupta, whose group collaborated with theorist Chuanwei Zhang and his team at the University of Texas in Dallas.
These findings, like many important physics results, open up more questions and pave the way for more quantum chaos experiments, where the coveted link between classical and quantum physics may be uncovered.
Davids experiment is the first attempt to probe a dynamical version of MBL in a more controlled laboratory setting, Galitski commented. While it has not unambiguously resolved the fundamental question one way or another, the data show something strange is going on.
How can we understand these results in the context of the very large body of work on many-body localization in condensed matter systems? Weld asked. How can we characterize this state of matter? We observe that the system is delocalizing, but not with the expected linear time dependence; whats going on there? We're looking forward to future experiments exploring these and other questions.
Read more about this breakthrough from the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland
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A Different Kind of Chaos | The UCSB Current - The UCSB Current
Faculty Spotlight: Physics and Astronomy Professor Dr. Kevork Abazajian – New University
Dr. Kevork Abazajian is a professor of physics and astronomy and the director of the Center for Cosmology at UCI. In 2011, Abazajian was accoladed with the National Science Foundations (NSF) most prestigious recognition the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award.
In an interview with the New University, Abazajian discussed his journey to a career in astronomy. His interest in astronomical pursuit trails back to suburban Clear Lake City, a part of Greater Houston, Texas. Growing up near the NASA Johnson Space Center enabled Abazajian to discover and observe all the equipment and devices that they prepare and use for space missions.
If I were to pin it down to a single book that was most influential it was a book written by Heinz Pagels, Perfect Symmetry, Abazajian said.
This work indulges in quantum physics and cosmology in an attempt to explain the origin and evolution of the universe. Additionally, Pagels book entails a loose chronology of the first astronomical discoveries all the way to the latest ideas in particle cosmology. An example of these particle studies includes Abazajians very own research on particle physics.
George Fuller of UCSD, theoretical astrophysicist and doctorate advisor of Abazajian during his graduate-student years, was also a contributor to Abazajians career in cosmology due to his leading work in neutrino cosmology (the science of the origin and development of our universe) and neutrino astrophysics (a branch of science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry).
Scientific American defines a neutrino as a subatomic particle that is very similar to an electron, but has no electrical charge and a very small mass, which might even be zero. Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles in the universe. Because they have very little interaction with matter, however, they are incredibly difficult to detect.
In late 2000 and early 2001, Abazajian and Fuller worked on a project that led to the discovery of a certain kind of dark matter (particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light) candidate particle [possibly] a kind of neutrino, called a sterile neutrino because it does not interact the same as the other neutrinos. Dr. Abazajian noted that this dark matter constitutes 85% of the matter in the universe.
Furthermore, Abazajian and Fuller found that X-ray astronomy places one of the most stringent constraints (restrictions) on the dark matter candidate. Dark matter cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation.
However, thanks to the advanced X-ray telescopes used in the 1999 U.S. mission Chandra X-ray Space Telescope and the European mission XMM Newton, observations were able to determine the most stringent constraints on this dark matter candidate has what is called a radiative decay mode (giving off light but at a very low level).
Abazajian and Fuller essentially placed a constraint, realized a constraint indeed exists, and began forecasting more possible flux levels (measurements of the total magnetic field which passes through a given area) in space, some of which were confirmed in 2014 by Harvards Chandra X-ray Science Center.
When hes not working on personal research, Abazajian teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate level at UCI. He is a professor for the doctoral program in physics, allowing him to not only educate but to also supervise and mentor students as an advisor.
When you involve a student in the research that youre interested in and working on it can get them started on new projects [and] trained to become a full fledged researcher in astrophysics, Abazajian said.
In the past 11 years, Abazajian has been awarded twice with the distinction of Faculty with Greatest Impact on an Outstanding Graduating Senior here at UCI. Additionally, he has been recognized with the Distinguished Assistant Professor Award for Research from the University of California Academic Senate, Irvine Division, in 2013.
Abazajian is also taking community action as part of the City of Irvines Green Ribbon Environmental Committee.
We are a campus, but we are also a key part of the City of Irvine community, Abazajian said.
Abazajian has been an active advocate for affecting action on climate change. In fact, Abazajian thought the most environmentally impactful thing I could do is run for city council.
Abazajian continues his political involvement with the committee today.
Advising City Council on matters related to climate protection, energy, recycling, waste management, sustainability, transportation, and water, as well as environmental and energy goals, he said.
Natalie Ringdahl is a STEM Intern for the spring 2022 quarter. She can be reached at nringdah@uci.edu.
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Faculty Spotlight: Physics and Astronomy Professor Dr. Kevork Abazajian - New University
Nonprofit to teach girls how succeed in STEAM world – Loveland Reporter-Herald
While retaining girls in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines where women are vastly underrepresented is a global challenge, one group is emphasizing skills not taught in the STEM classroom.
Such skills how to advocate for oneself, communicate ones value, and request a mentor are examples of what girls ages 13-18 will see in action on Oct. 14 at Secrets of STEAM Success.
Secrets of STEAM Success, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Ginger and Baker, 359 Linden St. in Fort Collins, coincides with this years Ada Lovelace Day celebration and is presented by the nonprofit group Pretty Brainy.
Pretty Brainys girl-centered approach encourages registrants to bring your bestie. A girl and her friend can sign up together for the price of one, or $20, through Sept 30. Scholarship awards are available, according to a press statement from the group.
The event connects girls with professionals who will share skills and expectations taken for granted and not communicated to young people. Girls need these soft skills, according to the American Association of University Women, in addition to STEM. The event includes networking and brunch with professionals in an environment where girls can practice their skills.
Schools are not teaching this (information), Madeleine Boyles, a second-year undergraduate at Colorado State University, said in a written statement.
Boyles, who created a coding and creativity class for middle school students when she was in high school, will be among the mentors guiding girls through the experience Oct. 14.
STEM professionals on hand include Judith Olson, senior physicist at ColdQuanta, a quantum technology company headquartered in Boulder. One of few women executives at ColdQuanta, Olson is not only an expert in quantum physics, she has also witnessed the barriers and gender biases in STEM.
Pretty Brainy chose Oct. 14 because it marks the global celebration of Ada Lovelace. Regarded as the first computer programmer, Lovelace was determined to learn math growing up in the early 19th century when her tutor declared that her mind was not up to the subject. The notion that girls cant do math persists.
Pretty Brainy, a nonprofit organization founded in Fort Collins, introduced its first girls after-school program in 2013.
The number of women in STEM professions has risen 6% in 30 years, according to the National Science Foundations National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Women make up just 29% of the STEM workforce, despite years of learning interventions in K-12 education.
This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. 2022 BizWest Media LLC.
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Nonprofit to teach girls how succeed in STEAM world - Loveland Reporter-Herald
Artists From Theatre Peckham’s YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK Introduce Their Shows: Part One – Broadway World
For the fourth year, Theatre Peckham presents its Young, Gifted and Black season, an annual event which celebrates people from the African diaspora over five weeks.
Curated by Associate Director Phillippe Cato, ten shows across numerous artforms explore themes of identity, friendship, loss, self-discovery and black Womanhood. Performer Naomi Matsvai says that being a part of Young Gifted and Black is so special because of 'the polyphony of young black voices' included. India Wilson attributes the supportive atmosphere to the 'unwavering support of Phillippe Cato, Suzann McLean and the entire team at Theatre Peckham', adding that 'it's nothing short of a privilege to be considered for this season amongst such brave, necessary and powerful work'.
In this three-part series, BroadwayWorld speaks to artists from each of the performances to get a taste of what to expect from the season, taking a deep dive into the inspiration behind the stories told within it.
NO ID, written and performed by Tatenda Shamiso
3 - 5 October, 7.30PM
Tell us about the show!
In No I.D., I'm sharing my experience as a black transgender immigrant in the UK. It's a tender, wacky, surreal show about the silly and absurd nature of our bureaucratic systems. I tell this story in my own words, alongside letters, reports, signatures, and the songs I wrote during my first year on testosterone. From colossal tasks in the healthcare sector to tiny troubles at the post office, I'm searching for valid proof of the joyful life I live - which is hard to find in our current system!
It's a story about a guy stalking himself, tracking his gender transition to prove he's real, sifting through childhood, adolescence and early adulthood to form a narrative that will please the many arms of our beloved government. Follow me down a red-tape rabbit hole to find out what it takes to validate black and queer identities in the eyes of the law...
What is it like to make and perform a show that is so personal?
Sometimes it's daunting to think about explaining what my junk looks like to 200 people at a time, three nights in a row, but I've found this process so liberating and joyful. I've gotten to revel in the actual comedy of our oppressive systems, explore my existence as a marginalized person without traumatising myself, and give voice to parts of the trans existence that I feel are often misrepresented. It's equal parts scary and fulfilling.
What were some of the audience responses to the piece in its first run at the Peckham Fringe?
Many people thanked us for sharing such an intimate story, said they learned something from the show, laughed a lot, and a few even cried! It felt like I had really created the kind of experience any solo artist would hope for their audience to walk away with. Generating empathy; making spiritual connections. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we can achieve something similar, and even bigger, with this upcoming run of the show.
Dark Matter by Tatenda Naomi Matsvai
7 - 9 October, 7.30 PM
Tell us about the show!
Dark Matter is a lyrically playful piece that explores the power of reclaiming and remixing traditions. Told through spoken word, movement and music, the show explores themes of Afrofuturism, grief, queerness and tradition through concepts of quantum physics.
Takura Mapafunga, a Zimbabwean immigrant raised in south London, loses her last remaining grandparent, which spirals her into questioning what happens after death and how little she knows of her cultural inheritance. Takura voyages to reconnect with her ancestors through constructing a makeshift burial rite for her grandmother's spirit. Despite the disapproval of her family, Takura voyages through Google in an attempt to connect with the ancestral plane.
Dark Matter creates an origin story that challenges the colonial histories of demonising African cultural knowledge. Takura blends western ideas of quantum physics and astrology with Zimbabwean myth to reconnect with the spirit of her dead grandmother.
There are so many BIG themes in Dark Matter... what was it like crafting a performance with such big thematic ambitions?
Crafting this show was such a playful and exciting process, I learned so much about the quantum world and subsequently myself. Quantum physics and cosmology open the door for new myths to be made around our origins in the cosmos. As Takura grieves, she finds new ways of making sense of her world, which made these abstract concepts of cosmology and quantum physics accessible, and human.
How has the piece developed since its work-in-progress in 2021?
The show is longer than it was. It's an hour packed with more poetry, some live looping and new collaborations with exciting artists. The movement direction from Tinovimbanashe Sibanda, animations from Gisela Mulindwa, set design from Phyllys Egharevba and cosmic sound design from Joseph Browning propel this show into the cosmos.
Aesthetically it feels more cohesive like the audience will really feel what it's like in Takura's mind.
Ellipsis by Tambo Silavwe
10 - 12 October, 7.30 PM
Tell us about the show!
Ellipsis is a vulnerable, authentic and honest one-woman show of a woman's experience of child loss and stillbirth. This show takes the audience on an emotional journey, shedding light on a topic that pockets of society experience but often don't openly speak about. With such a topic, most would assume that they are in for an emotionally draining play... but, actually, it does have its moments of levity and fun.
It infuses elements of music, spoken word and storying to draw audiences in, so they feel safe to go on this journey with our lead actress. In essence, what I want the audience to see is a love story unfold - with a tragedy at the centre - and this brave black woman trying to "snatch her life back".
Is the performance in some way responding to the way that stillbirth and child loss are talked about (or not talked about) in society?
I wouldn't say the show is a direct response but more of an acknowledgement, a nod to a situation that happens more often than we think, especially when you look at the statistics for black and brown women. It's such a sensitive topic that we don't talk about enough. The performance opens up the conversation, creating and adding to existing dialogues and through one woman's journey, we want the audience to see it and then start talking.
What part might theatre play in helping people to handle their grief?
Theatre is a shared experience lived out in real time. There is something extremely comforting and cathartic about sharing each other's joys, pains and griefs through the lens of someone else, almost living vicariously through them.
I believe this play says to those who are grieving or have experienced child loss and stillbirth: "you are seen, you are not alone, and we feel your pain". I'm not going to pretend that this production has all the answers, but if every night one person comes and shares in that experience, then Cerise Davis (the lead), myself and the rest of the production team can walk away knowing we've done our job.
Innocent Means Not Guilty by India Wilson
14 - 16 October, 7.30 PM
Tell us about the show!
Innocent Means Not Guilty is a comedic drama about four black women who are in their final year of a top law school in the UK. It is set on their last night of studying before their final criminal law exam. What should have been an ordinary Thursday night study session quickly derails into a dinner date with chaos. In the midst of the madness, they begin to test one another, question the unquestioned and challenge the unopposed.
Apart from unpacking the deeply rooted intersectional issues of society and the system, the play is jokes. It intends to activate and incite socio-political conversation, but it also entirely intends to bring the big belly laughs. For anyone who has ever been "the other", whether in the room or in the world, you will find a little piece of you inside this story.
What is the show investigating in its exploration of the British higher education system?
The story is set in a predominantly white institution which, through my studies in the UK, I realised is a topic that can often go unspoken about in academia and art. My intention is to explore the unity in difference, but also recognise there is also distance in that existence.
Experiences of black women in this system are being unapologetically exposed and unpacked with respect and emphasis on these experiences as varied, at times contrasting and distinct.
Has having a comedic element to the show made it fun to rehearse and create?
I'm a firm believer that a good laugh can bring light to even the darkest of moments. This play lends itself to painful realities and a truth that can be hard to even think about, let alone say out loud. Therefore, comedy was not only essential in the writing process but also for the rehearsal room as it is a constant reminder to see the light. I also love to laugh.
Young Gifted and Black season at Theatre Peckham 3 October - 2 November
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Revealing the Existence of Tetraneutrons – AZoQuantum
Sep 26 2022Reviewed by Mila Perera
For several years, the presence of the tetraneutron has perplexed nuclear theorists and experimentalists.
New experimental evidence of a tetraneutron agrees with Quantum Monte Carlo predictions and other calculations. The black symbols show experimental measurements. The red symbols correspond to selected theoretical predictions of a tetraneutron resonance. Image Credit: Stefano Gandolfi, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Except in the extreme conditions of neutron stars, atomic nuclei are made up of one or more protons and neutrons, so researchers have a limited understanding of systems that include neutrons alone.
The tetraneutron a meta-stable nuclear system can decay into four free neutrons. To comprehend the nucleis properties, the measurements and prediction of tetraneutron properties are crucial.
Since 2016, several studies by the NUCLEI collaboration have forecasted the presence of the tetraneutron system.
Researchers have now witnessed tetraneutrons in experimental conditions. Experimental measurements of the tetraneutron system can be inferred by measuring the missing energy in nuclear reactions.
These experimental outcomes are in accordance with the simulations made using parallel supercomputers.
The results will substantiate theoretical predictions and progress theoretical calculations. This is especially true of the newest experimental outcomes.
Nuclear physicists have a decent comprehension of proton-neutron and proton-proton interactions andunderstand how scattering data constrain these interactions from particle collision.
They stillrequire direct validation of the forces among pure neutron systems. Understanding nuclear interactions among neutrons is essential in numerous fields, such as studyingneutron stars and neutron-rich nuclei.
The tetraneutron resonance discovery will pave the way for new challenges in nuclear physics. Specifically, new calculations and experiments will be crucial to assess scientists knowledge of nuclear interactions.
The collaborations of NUCLEI as part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Scientific Discovery Through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program have performed a vital role in theoretical work in this field.
This study was financially supported by DOE, the NUCLEI SciDAC project, and the DOE Office of Sciences Office of Nuclear Physics and Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research.
Source: https://www.energy.gov/
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Harvard and AWS launch alliance to advance research in quantum science – Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard University and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have launched a strategic alliance to advance fundamental research and innovation in quantum networking.
This effort provides significant funding for faculty-led research at Harvard and will build capacity for student recruitment, training, outreach and workforce development in this key emerging technology field. The initiative focuses on driving rapid progress toward specific research aims in quantum networking at the Harvard Quantum Initiative (HQI).
By working together, academia and industry can accelerate discovery and technological progress, said Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber. Through this alliance with AWS, we will bring scientific scholarship and education to bear on some of the most exciting frontiers in quantum science. Together we will advance the goals of the Harvard Quantum Initiative, an interfaculty initiative that exemplifies the rewards of collaboration across different scientific domains.
Quantum networking is an emerging space with promise to help tackle challenges of growing importance to our world, such as secure communication and powerful quantum computing clusters, said Antia Lamas-Linares, quantum networking lead at AWS. The collaborative initiative between AWS and Harvard will harness top research talent to explore quantum networking today and establish a framework to develop the quantum workforce of the future.
Expanding the Potential for Quantum Impact
Through a three-year research alliance enabled by Harvards Office of Technology Development, AWS will support faculty-led and designed research projects at HQI in the areas of quantum memories, integrated photonics, and quantum materials. A portion of that funding will also allow an upgrade to the quantum fabrication capabilities of the NSF-supported Center for Nanoscale Systems at Harvard, a critically important facility for nanofabrication, materials characterization, soft lithography, and imaging, with locations in Cambridge and at the Science and Engineering Complex in Allston.
The overall goal of the research projects is to develop foundational methods and technologies for what eventually will become a quantum internet, where communication and information processing is performed according to the laws of quantum mechanics. As the world faces relentless threats to privacy and security, exploring possible quantum networking applications is an important area of focus. The behavior of information in a quantum network is expected to enable unprecedented security and anonymity. Yet, for those aspirations to be realized, physicists, engineers, and materials scientists must overcome challenges to store, manipulate, repeat, and transmit quantum information over long distances.
Exploring this potential requires a deep understanding of the industrys toughest scientific challenges that will lead to development of new hardware, software, and applications for quantum networks, said Lamas-Linares.
These projects build upon fundamental work that has been done at Harvard labs for well over a decade by several generations of students and postdocs who have pushed the frontier, starting from theory, to experimental physics, to device engineering, to materials development, said Mikhail Lukin, the George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics and codirector of HQI.
In parallel with research efforts at Harvard, researchers at AWS will strive to advance the engineering maturity and scalability of quantum memory technology. Todays news builds on Amazons June 2022 announcement around the AWS Center for Quantum Networking where AWS will focus on addressing scientific and engineering challenges with the goal to develop new hardware, software, and applications for quantum networks that connect and amplify the capabilities of individual quantum processors. The alliance will be led by Antia Lamas-Linares, who leads a team of AWS Quantum Research Scientists at the AWS Center for Quantum Networking.
Innovation in advanced technology areas like quantum will require collaboration by academic labs, small industry, leading corporations, and likely also government labs, Lukin added. It is part of the HQI mission to enable these kinds of collaborations, and this alliance with AWS is a critical step in that direction.
In quantum, we have a unique opportunity because the research is still so much in the early stages of basic discovery, yet also at the threshold of commercial implementation, said HQI codirector Evelyn Hu, the Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). This is very unusual in science and technology. For students training in this field, especially, its important to get an appreciation of what science and engineering can do, but also what it needs to do to be scaled up, go to the outside world, and be relevant.
Diversifying the future
In addition to the quantum research collaboration, supplementary philanthropic support from AWS will help Harvard train and support graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, especially with an aim to welcoming aspiring scientists and engineers from underrepresented backgrounds.
While industry reports estimate quantum technologies will create several hundred billion in value over the next decade, there are still not enough quantum experts to take on this work. This quantum technology workforce shortage was also noted in President Bidens recent directives. The goal of the AWS Generation Q Fund at the Harvard Quantum Initiative is to begin to establish a diverse talent pipeline of highly qualified researchers to train the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers.
AWS appreciates that HQI can play a profound and seminal role in helping build the future of the quantum workforce, making opportunities possible for the next generation of leaders and innovators, said Hu, including by embracing the goals of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Research Scholar Initiative (RSI) and other programs that provide exploratory bridges towards higher-degree programs, Hu said. Such programs can provide mentored research and training, introduce students to quantum research, and provide funds for coursework and to attend and present at conferences. These academic bridges are important in bringing in a wider group of people into the community.
There is a shortage of qualified quantum-educated workforce, and its not just physicists but engineers and even people involved in running these businesses, added Lukin. Were in a unique position to contribute, he explained. Essentially, all major quantum research centers in the U.S. and abroad have several faculty members and group leaders who have been educated at Harvard.
These efforts build upon rising momentum. Harvard announced last year a new PhD program in Quantum Science and Engineering and is finalizing plans to comprehensively renovate an existing campus building into a new physical home for HQI, as well as a quantum hub, a project made possible by gifts from Stacey L. and David E. Goel 93 and several other alumni.
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The most powerful laser in the U.S. will have a three-quadrillion-watt maximum output – Interesting Engineering
During the first run, the ZEUS team will start the laser up at a power of 30 terawatts (30 trillion watts), which is roughly three percent of the output of the most powerful lasers in the U.S., and only one percent of ZEUS's eventual maximum power. When at full power, it will have an impressive maximum power of three petawatts, or three quadrillion watts.
The first target area for the laser is called the high-repetition target area, which is used for more frequent but lower-power laser pulses. This will be used to help explore a new type of X-ray imaging. Michigan alum Franklin Dollar, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California Irvine, is leading that investigation.
Dollar and his team will use ZEUS to send infrared laser pulses into a gas target of helium in order to turn it into plasma. The plasma then accelerates electrons to high energies, producing extremely compact X-ray pulses. These could potentially be used in medicine to greatly reduce the amount of radiation applied to a patient while taking X-ray images of soft tissue and tumors.
"We could see every little organ as well as the tiny micro hairs on its leg," Dollar explained. "It's very exciting to think of how we could use these laser-like X-rays to do low-dose imaging, taking advantage of the fact that they're laser-like rather than having to rely on the absorption imaging of the past."
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Is the Multiverse Science or Religion? – Discovery Institute
Image source: Wikimedia Commons.
Some science controversies arise in disputes over findings. The currentflap overtheJames Webb Space Telescopedata, for one. Others sound like clashes over philosophy claims about the multiverse (countless universesout there) are a good example.
Theoretical physicistSabine Hossenfeldertakes on the multiverse in in her new book,Existential Physics:A Scientists Guide to Lifes Biggest Questions(2022). She also addresses the topic concisely and wittily in a short video and a blog post at Back(Re)Action. She looks at three popular multiverse models: Many Worlds, Eternal Inflation, and String Theory Landscape.
Heres her take onEternal Inflation:
We dont know how our universe began and maybe we will never know. We just talked about this the other week. But according to a presently popular idea called inflation, our universe was created from a quantum fluctuation of a field called the inflaton. This field supposedly fills an infinitely large space and our universe was created from only a tiny patch of that, the patch where the fluctuation happened.
But the field keeps on fluctuating, so there are infinitely many other universes fluctuating into existence. This universe-creation goes on forever, which is why its called eternal inflation. Eternal inflation, by the way lasts forever into the future, but still requires a beginning in the past, so it doesnt do away with the Big Bang issue.
In Eternal Inflation, the other universes may contain the same matter as ours, but in slightly different arrangements, so there may be copies of you in them. In some versions you became a professional ballet dancer. In some you won a Nobel Prize. In yet another one another you are a professional ballet dancer who won a Nobel Prize and dated Elon Musk. And theyre all as real as this one.
Where did this inflaton field go that allegedly created our universe? Well, physicists say it has fallen apart into the particles that we observe now, so its gone and thats why we cant measure it. Yeah, that is a little sketchy.
Dont miss her take on Many Worlds and the String Theory Landscape, especially if you wish to experience elephants in the room which you coincidentally cant see oh, and getting married to Elon Musk (but maybe only inthatuniverse). On a serious note, she later addresses specific claims from physicists who defend the idea.
The concept of a multiverse arises from an alternative interpretation of the movement of elementary particles in quantum mechanics alternative, that is, to the more widely acceptedCopenhagen interpretation.In the Copenhagen interpretation, if the particle goes left rather than right, the universe just updates. In the alternativeMany Worlds interpretation,a new universe is created in which the particle goes right. There are other versions but thats the best known.
Read the rest at Mind Matters News, published by Discovery Institutes Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence.
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Is the Multiverse Science or Religion? - Discovery Institute
Einstein’s theory of general relativity just passed its most rigorous test yet – Yahoo News
collage shows einstein, galileo, the microscope satellite and experiment, and the leaning tower of pisa
Scientists have demonstrated that Einstein's theory of general relativity is correct to a remarkable degree of accuracy, despite having been around for more than a century.
The team behind the research wanted to test a component of Einstein's theory of general relativity called the weak equivalence principle, which states that all objects, regardless of their mass or composition, should free-fall the same way in a particular gravitational field when interference from factors like air pressure is eliminated. To do so, the scientists measured the acceleration of free-falling objects in a French satellite called MICROSCOPE, which launched in 2016.
One of the most famous tests of the weak equivalence principe occurred during an Apollo 15 moonwalk, when astronaut David Scott dropped a feather and a geological hammer at the same time; without air resistance, both objects accelerated toward the moon's surface at the same rate. In similar style, MICROSCOPE carries free-falling test masses made of platinum and titanium alloys. Electrostatic forces keep the test masses in the same relative positions to each other, so any difference generated in this applied electrostatic force would have to be the result of deviations in the objects' accelerations.
Related: Why physicists are determined to prove Galileo and Einstein wrong
collage shows einstein, galileo, the microscope satellite and experiment, and the leaning tower of pisa
The team's results, which are the culmination of 20 years of research, revealed that acceleration in pairs of objects in free fall differed by no more than 1 part in 10^15, or 0.000000000000001, meaning they found no violations in the weak equivalence principle larger than that.
As well as placing constraints on deviations in the weak equivalence principle, the findings also disfavor any deviations in Einstein's 1915 theory of gravity, general relativity, as a whole. Scientists continue to look for such deviations because general relativity, the best description we have of gravity, doesn't jive with quantum physics, the best model we have of reality at incomprehensibly small scales.
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No sign of deviation, then, means still no hint of extensions to general relativity waiting to be found that could bridge the gap to quantum physics.
"We have new and much better constraints for any future theory because these theories must not violate the equivalence principle at this level," Gilles Mtris, a MICROSCOPE team member and a scientist at the Cte d'Azur Observatory in France, said in a statement from the American Physical Society, which published the research.
boxy gold satellite with earth in background
MICROSCOPE launched in April 2016 and mission personnel released its preliminary results 2017. Data analysis has continued ever sense, even after the experiment ended in 2018.
The fact the new research found no violation of the weak equivalence principle puts the highest constraints yet on this element of general relativity, and the results also lay the groundwork for even more sensitive tests in the future.
That's because the scientists included suggestions for how the experimental setup they used could be improved. Potential upgrades include reducing imperfections in the coating of satellites that can impact acceleration measurements as well as replacing wired systems with ones that use wireless connections, they wrote.
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10 mind-boggling things you should know about quantum physics Albert Einstein: His life, theories and impact on science Was Einstein wrong? The case against space-time theory
A satellite implementing these improvements could potentially pick up violations of the weak equivalence principle as tiny as 1 part in 10^17, 100 times more sensitive than MICROSCOPE. But the team predicts these improvements won't be feasible for some time yet, meaning that for now, the MICROSCOPE experiment will remain the best test of the weak equivalence principle.
"For at least one decade or maybe two, we won't see any improvement with a space satellite experiment," Manuel Rodrigues, a MICROSCOPE team member and a scientist at ONERA, a French research institute specializing in aerospace, said in the same statement.
The team's research was published Wednesday (Sept. 14) in the journal Physical Review Letters and a special issue of Classical and Quantum Gravity.
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Einstein's theory of general relativity just passed its most rigorous test yet - Yahoo News