Public Lecture

An Aspen Center for Physics Public Lecture

Abstract: Quantum mechanics ---with all its oddities--- underpins our our most complete and successful descriptions of nature. Quantum theory describes matter on virtually all scales: from atoms to quarks and from neutron stars to the early universe. (If only gravity could be described by a quantum theory!)

I will discuss experiments with atomic Bose-Einstein condensates: some of the coldest matter in the universe where 100 billionths of a degree above absolute zero is a warm day. By engineering the quantum...

Title: Controlling Correlations:  Linear-, Nonlinear-, and Hydrodynamics in Quantum Materials

Abstract: The physics of quantum materials hosts spectacular excited-state and nonequilibrium effects, but many of these phenomena remain challenging to control and, consequently, technologically under-explored. My group’s research, therefore, focuses on how quantum systems behave, particularly away from equilibrium, and how we can harness these effects¹. By creating predictive theoretical and...

Dr. Scott J. Aaronson, David J. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin, will give the PQI2020 Public Lecture.

Last fall, a team at Google announced the first-ever demonstration of "quantum computational supremacy"---that is, a clear quantum speedup over a classical computer for some task---using a 53-qubit programmable superconducting chip called Sycamore.  In addition to engineering, Google's accomplishment built on a decade of research in quantum complexity theory.  This talk will discuss questions like: what exactly was the contrived...

13th Elsevier Distinguished Lecture in Mechanics

Quantum Information Science (QIS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are having a dominant influence in many aspects of life in industrial societies. The importance of these fields to the global economy and security are very well recognized, promoting the rapid growth of the related technologies in the upcoming decades. This growth is fueled by very large investments by many governments and leading industries. An arena in which QIC and AI are being promoted to play a more significant role is combustion. The fact is that...

This event will tentatively take place in Fall 2020.

A large scale quantum computer could change the world.  Performing certain calculations in minutes that would take the largest supercomputer millions of year.  The impact to applications such as cryptography, chemistry, finance, etc would be huge.

Today’s quantum processors are limited to 10’s of entangled quantum bits.   If you believe the hype, a commercially relevant system is just around the corner that can outperform our largest supercomputers.   The reality, however, is that we are still at mile 1 of...

A talk based entirely on pictures. Seas sparkle, sunshine generates rainbows, ships make waves. The explanations of these familiar phenomena are as abstract as elsewhere in physics, but pictures are helpful because in light and waves on water we can often see what we are thinking about. There are other optical phenomena that are not immediately perceived (associated with polarization or fine-scale interference, for example), but even with these we can generate pictures to help our understanding. Poets and novelists, as well as painters, have sometimes represented optical phenomena in ways...