Hello everyone. I am a postdoctoral researcher with 2 years of experience at my current job, from the global south, and now working at a large quantum information institute.
I have published research in a range of topics around quantum physics, from practical aspects of quantum computing (from a theoretical perspective, though. I'm not an experimentalist, I just do pen-and-paper and code), to some quantum field theory in curved spacetime, and one small contribution on policymaking around quantum technology development (I find these things really important for scientists to engage with).
I also like to engage with scientific outreach, and I am trying to practice this side more, so I would be thrilled to explain all sorts of topics to non-specialists, to the best of my abilities (which can vary with the distance to my area of specialisation, of course...).
Hit me with quantum information theory questions, relativity questions, some quantum foundations and philosophy, I can give my scientist's opinion on science policy, job and profession related things, personal background, and whatever!
What are your spiritual beliefs and have they changed over time in your profession?
I'm not a big spiritual person. I grew up in a slightly practicing catholic family in a mostly christian region, so I think some of the values I learned from that shaped me, but I also don't share many of them. Some are really important, some are really harmful. And I do believe in "some God". I don't think my beliefs have changed too much in my profession, but I think it helped me understand them better.
Good question
I’m here for this one too. Great question
You mind if I ask you a couple of different things simultaneously?
consider yourself measured
When will you think we will be able to bend time as a species? What happens if you get stuck in a wormhole?
I believe that we exist in multiple planes every time we make a divergent decision, how does quantum physics explain this?
- bend time as a species? On demand, with technology, never
- get stuck in a wormhole? I don't know to be honest, probably not survive
- we exist in multiple planes? Not by making a divergent decision, that's not exactly how quantum physics works. Quantum physics also doesn't explain this, if you're talking about many-worlds, this is one way to explain quantum physics actually
😉🤘
What do you think is your greatest aspiration in your field? What would you like to discover or try?
I am fairly invested in trying to understand physics more in terms of quantum information. I think we can gain a lot by investigating how nature "computes" things. In other words, how physical phenomena can be understood in terms of a physical notion of computation, see for example the Landauer principle.
What kind of software is helping you explore this and test theories? Do you have access to a quantum computer? If you don’t, do you think it would help you find answers you’re seeking better?
I don't have access to a quantum computer. I could get it if I wanted, but I don't think it would help find answers to other topics now, only to investigate the workings of the computer itself.
As for software I use, I use Mathematica a lot to do symbolic calculations for instance
Is Quantum theory still evolving rapidly or are we at a slower time for new discoveries about Quantum behavior than the early and mid 20th century
I'd say we're accelerating at the moment. The efforts to build a quantum computer are a good drive for it and I'm excited for what will come out of this endeavour
Why does a state vector have to be in a Hilbert space? Yes, was a physics major in college 3 decades ago. Yes, I wish I'd studied a bit harder so I could remember the answer to this question.
I'll interpret "have to be" as in "it seems useful that the quantum theory framework states this"... well, it provides good computational and predictable power. The mathematics used in this model (functional analysis, operator algebra, ...) is robust and well studied, provides us with good conceptual ideas and postulates about physical states in a wide range of phenomena, etc. Hopefully that answers your question
Hi! My 16 year old son is very interested in quantum physics and he asked: What are the properties of an electron cloud?
thank you for the question! I'd say that one defining property is that an electron cloud is not too much like a cloud at all. It's "fuzzy" for sure, but it "only" a description of the chances of finding an electron (or maybe many) in a region (for instance, around an atom). It doesn't behave like regular objects we're familiar with, it cannot be blown away like a real cloud either. It's an interesting concept, but also just a part of many other interesting things about quantum physics :)
What is your current research topic?
I have a few, but to provide an answer let's say quantum position verification. I'd like to know more about how we can localize quantum systems in space
Very interesting, I have never heard of that specific field before, does it have something to do with information?
it does. We want to learn the information of position of a material quantum system, in a robust and possibly safe way (in a cryptographic sense)
Insert Heisenberg driving joke here.
Did you think you would get this many questions?
I was actually hoping I wouldn't >.>
I mean, I'm having fun, but this is so much work lol this is more tiring than a regular day at the job
I skipped to your question because it was relevant. I'll be taking a break now T_T
Do you think Quantum Entanglement has any role in human consciousness or do you think this is malarkey?
I don't think it plays too much of a role, no. But it's an interesting question that some people can investigate
When I was in college out bar hopping with friends a cute guy said hello and as convo progressed I told him I was a quantum physicist. Turns out he was a quantum physicist. Fun laugh after.
quantum physicists are great lol
This is super cute lol
I’ve heard other physicists say that it’s theorized that it is possible to create a Black Hole from a single grain of Sand if it were compressed enough, but that such a tiny Black Hole would evaporate near instantaneously.
Assuming we had the ability to create small Black Holes on demand, for the sake of conservation, what do you think is the smallest Black Hole which would be stable enough to be dangerous if in fact we created one in an average kitchen?
hmm assuming that the evaporation rate is inversely proportional to the mass of the black hole, the most stable black hole created in an average kitchen would have the mass and energy of the whole average kitchen. Does that answer your question?
No, okay, switch it to an empty spot in the desert or something, or in near Earth orbit so it’s less to do with the mass of the materials immediately surrounding it, and imagine the mass of the black hole is somehow teleported in on demand upon creation…
If a single grain of sand is too small and too lacking in mass to be stable and dangerous, how big (in mass and diameter) would a Black Hole need to be before before being stable and dangerous to an adult human standing nearby?
okay, so I didn't know the evaporating time scale of a black hole. Wikipedia gives an answer this as ~10^(-67) * mass^3, in units of solar mass. Assuming the black hole to survive for one minute so it can have influence on a human at arm's length (one minute is more than enough time for that), it would need to have 10^5 kg in mass, that of large animals or an aircraft.
The Schwarzschild radius of this black hole is of 10^(-22) m, much smaller than an atom. From this it sounds that some other considerations are in place, but as an estimate, this black hole generate enough tidal forces to have some real effect on a person
Will quantum computing be a security threat if materialised?
yes, and the threat is big enough to warrant us to take measures for safety in advance
Does your research have any real-world applications?
I would hope so! haha
on a short term, "real world" here is restricted to what can be done in specialized research laboratories. More long term, is on the creation of quantum computers, for instance, which can allow us to create better drugs, understand materials science better (and thereby the benefits coming from this), measure phenomena more precisely (maybe allowing us to monitor and predict earthquakes better through gravimetry)...
I don’t know anything about quantum physics.
What do you guys do to help progress society/daily life for people?
quantum physics has existed for a while, with a wide range of outcomes for everyone. Regular, everyday computers were built on our knowledge of quantum physics from a century ago. Also nuclear weapons, unfortunately. Also magnetic resonance imaging.
A lot of what we do advances science, and advances the engineering of devices for many purposes, good or bad, in short to long terms.
So maybe unfortunately it's not too direct, the path from what we do and create, to the progress of society and daily life of people. It depends a lot on what some of us believe, and on other people that get involved in the process
What are your thoughts on the 15 yr old who has a phd in quantum physics?
sounds great, good for them. I hope they can have a fulfilling life, that they are not exploited because of their talent, and that they do not use their talent to exploit anyone and use it to be a positive force in society, helping develop it and take care of other who need, directly or indirectly
How old are you and what advice do you have for someone who's drifting and trying to figure out what to do with their life. I feel that you have depth and clarity with what you want to do with your life
I'm in my 30s. I think I've been very privileged for having wanted to do this one thing I'm doing now for decades, and still liking it. And I judge I'm now successful "enough" now.
My "success", however, has not been ironclad. I'm always reconsidering because I'm always on the edge. Becoming a professor is difficult, the job market is packed and it's far from guaranteed. I think one thing that helped me, honestly, is a stubborn insistence on doing what I like, maybe some naivety too comes with that.
But as I write this, I'm also reminded that during my undergraduate and graduate career, I had to adapt and work through research and periods of time where I was really disappointed with what I had been doing. Either because it was a topic I didn't like, or because my academic advisor was not a good person.
I hope maybe just sharing a bit of my background works as a form of advice. Other than that: try finding good people around you, that believe in you and would invest in you (whatever that means). And invest in people too, help them. Many will help you back
Would you share an apartment with Sheldon?
What’s it like to be smarter than 99% of the population?
I don't think I'm smarter than 99% of the population. I just have a lot of specialized training
Do you think we’ll have a final theory of quantum gravity in our lifetimes?
I don't know about "final", but I think we'll have made good progress towards something that works. I trust the current advances around the holographic principle and the tabletop experiments of (newtonian) gravity-induced entanglement
Did the CERN discoveries of sub atomic particles like Higgs Boson, create doorways to potentially other dimensions, as commonly reported on the internet?
it did not, as amazing as that sounds :(
careful around those corners of the internet! Exercise some healthy skepticism
What are the common misconceptions people have about quantum physics? What beliefs scientists had about quantum physics that were proven wrong?Also, what branches of math does quantum physics mainly use?
how quantum physics applies to everyday life (it does but in very specific ways, and this get conflated with a lot of mysticism). An interesting one though is that quantum physics "is about the very small", which is largely true but not fundamentally true. Quantum physics is a fundamental description of how everything emerges, it underpins classical physics (although it is not entirely understood how yet).
Quantum physics is really broad, uses from linear algebra to operator theory, functional analysis, calculus, information theory, probability, ...
I think what people mean when they say the part about "the very small", is that you can't see quantum mechanics with the naked eye, but we can see a lot of classical mechanics with our eyes. So even if quantom mechanics underpins classical physics, that doesn't mean that we can actually see it happen, right?
I didn't think of this perspective to be honest, and definitely there is this aspect of not "seeing" quantum physics, for sure. But some people definitely just talk about small things in length, and that is not strictly true.
This problem starts at determining what is quantum and what is not. That's a very difficult question, and in some sense there's hardly such a thing (what I mean by quantum underpinning classical). These are more convenient but simplifying ways to describe complicated things that we usually don't have time to go through in outreach scenarios
Thanks for the response Damm that's a lot of branches of math. I also have a quick follow up question to that, which is how much does it annoy you when people apply mysticism and pseudoscience using quantum physics concepts? Especially since that has been a big contributed to the misconception of quantum physics?
it annoys me when I see this is being done to exploit people for their money, for instance. Knowingly or not from the person doing the exploiting. It's also just sad how pervasive this is. It's fine people believe in whatever they want believe, but we need to be careful about these things. A lot to be said there
How do you even start with with quantum field theory in curved spacetime? I don't see how you can combine the dirac equation with the Einstein equation for example.
The dirac equation determines the sort of quantum system we're talking about. Solutions to it can be used to describe the energy-momentum tensor T_\mu\nu of such fermionic fields, and this can be pluged into the Einstein equation on the level of a quantum averaga <T\_\\mu\\nu>, roughly speaking. This is one way to do it.
QFT in curved spacetime typically deals with exactly that: quantum systems on top of classical gravity. It's limited in what it can describe, but it touches on the realm of Hawking radiation, for instance
So it comes down to finding a suitable energy momentum tensor? And then classical GR?
well there's a lot more to it. See books by Birrell and Davies, Fulling, Parker and Toms, Wald, Mukhanov... that was just one kind of direct way of displaying what I meant
What kind of music do you listen to? Who are some of your favorite artists? Does your work in physics give you an interesting perspective on music?
interesting question. I don't know how to classify into genres too much so I'll pick artists a bit at random as they pop in my head: Eminem, Billie Eillish, Outkast, The Strokes, Daft Punk is a big favourite, Floating Points, Death Grips, Injury Reserve, Radiohead, Idles, Wet Leg, KGLW, Fleet Foxes...
I don't think physics gives me a particular perspective on music. I also haven't really thought about that
recommend a book In could give to a 15 year who could start to learn this.
for the novelty of it, and because I just spotted it near me, I will recommend Timothy Gowers' (a Fields medalist) Mathematics, A Very Short Introduction, an Oxford series.
but more traditionally, I could go for something by Carlo Rovelli, who has some modern outreach books, like Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, and is a good researcher
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4530090 have a look sometime when you have time, if time even exists
It’s a process philosophy thing, though experiment about what if story about things are more primal than things itself.
never heard of this, will take a look when my brain is less fried
Unfortunately it might never happen. https://www.reddit.com/r/HighStrangeness/s/rAQY9X4LLE Here is one of my short articles that will bring a certain new emotion to you. It’s about oscillation from a point of view you never thought existed.
Okay, apparently I can get access to a quantum computer with IBM free for 10 minutes a month.
Do I need custom code? How do you run something on that. Especially things that require crazy processing power
I'm sorry but I don't have answers to that d.d I don't work with IBM at all
What do you think about ai if ai gets integrated into maths and physics research? I hear a lot of different things from different people . . . I was interested in hearing what it's like for you where you work and do research. Is anyone using it? Are you? What's the consensus about it, if there is any?
I also wanted to ask about the measuring thing that you also referenced as a joke in one of your comments. I'm thinking about it in terms of the the double-slit experiment which many of us know. I guess the question is something along the lines of asking what constitutes a measurement? If a measurement just is creating something that is sensitive to . . . whatever it is that's physically going on there in the experiment, what's the difference between the interactions that constitute a measurement and the interactions that don't? Because everything is always interacting with things right? But some of those things don't seem to cause a collapse into a definite state?
Am I getting this question right? 😅
I use AI very minimally, purposefully too. I try to keep it to a minimum out of principles, because we should be more careful with how it is being developed commercially. I mostly use it to produce simple code faster, and as a powered up search engine. It doesn't help me actually thinking about new things. I think most people use it similarly.
I'm from the belief that measurement is just a regular interaction between quantum systems. It is strong interaction in a particular sense, where information of the system being measured gets imprinted in the measurement apparatus. It is not something simple to model, and the exact mechanism taking interaction models to measurement models, connecting the quantum system to the classical outcome we see, is still being understood
Do you think quantum theory can ultimately be used to describe classical physics, in a novel manner or do you think we need some hitherto unknown "bridge" of physics to marry the two systems?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but with quantum entanglement, two or more atoms share their states regardless of distance. Is this affected by time?
So say you had radioactive atom that decayed and became a different atom, would the entangled atom decay at the exact same time? And if so, would it not be affected by time dilation, for example should that the entangled atom be traveling at light speed and thus experiencing time differently, would it (to us) decay faster?
those are all very interesting questions.
To answer the first, I think that would be a very interesting state of affairs, if we needed something else for complex systems as we study the transition from quantum to classical. I'd say that our progress in building quantum computers and understanding quantum matter with a lot of entanglement, and error correction, will probe that. But there's no reason to believe that's the case for now. Quantum should be sufficient from this standpoint.
It should be affected by time in a naive way by decoherence, so by decreasing the entanglement.
For the last question, I'm sure that has an aswer, but I think I would have to work it out, it's not obvious to me. I haven't yet, sorry. Maybe later. Just a small point: an atom cannot be traveling At the speed of light
Most surprising or cool fact you have to share?
a cosmological horizon has an intrinsic temperature, the Gibbons-Hawking effect, much like a black hole and much like the Unruh effect
This is what Gemini thinks you mean, is it right?
This is one of the most profound realizations in modern physics. It suggests that "temperature" isn't just about atoms jiggling in a gas; it is a fundamental property of spacetime geometry and information. To understand why a cosmological horizon has a temperature, we have to look at how it relates to its "cousins": the Unruh effect and Hawking radiation. 1. The Common Thread: The Horizon In physics, a horizon is a boundary in spacetime beyond which events cannot affect an observer. * Black Hole Horizon: Light cannot escape from the inside to the outside. * Cosmological Horizon: In an expanding universe, galaxies sufficiently far away are receding so fast that their light will never reach us. * Rindler Horizon (Unruh Effect): If you accelerate constantly, there is a region of spacetime "behind" you that can never catch up to you. 2. The Three Effects Compared All three effects arise because a horizon "splits" the quantum vacuum. In quantum field theory, the "empty" vacuum is actually filled with virtual particle pairs popping in and out of existence. | Effect | The "Horizon" | Who sees the temperature? | |---|---|---| | Unruh Effect | Rindler Horizon | An accelerating observer in flat space. | | Hawking Radiation | Black Hole Event Horizon | A stationary observer outside a black hole. | | Gibbons-Hawking Effect | Cosmological Horizon | An observer in an expanding universe (like us). | 3. Why does it feel "Hot"? The "interesting fact" the physicist mentioned relies on the Equivalence Principle. * The Mechanism: When a horizon exists, it "clips" the quantum fluctuations of the vacuum. One member of a virtual particle pair may fall behind the horizon while the other escapes. * The Result: To the observer, those escaping fluctuations look like a steady stream of real, thermal particles. * The Cosmological Case: Because our universe is expanding (specifically, if it has a "dark energy" or de Sitter expansion), we are surrounded by a cosmological horizon. According to Gary Gibbons and Stephen Hawking, this horizon emits a faint thermal radiation. 4. How hot is the Universe's horizon? The temperature of a cosmological horizon (T_{GH}) is determined by the expansion rate, known as the Hubble constant (H): For our current universe, this temperature is incredibly low—roughly 10{-30} Kelvin. It is far too cold to measure because it is drowned out by the Cosmic Microwave Background (which is about 2.7 K). However, during the very early universe (Inflation), this effect was likely massive, providing the "heat" that seeded the formation of galaxies. Why this matters It tells us that information and thermodynamics are inseparable. If you have a boundary that hides information from you (a horizon), that boundary must behave like a physical object with entropy and temperature. It suggests that the universe itself is a thermodynamic system.
That… was not in terminology I understood. Any cool facts for the laymen here?
I see you are interested in policymaking. I think that is SUPER important. How do you deal with people that are truly anti-science? Flat Earthers. Young Earth creationisists/anti-evolution types? I'm assuming you were a TA or something like that at some point, so you might have had to deal with them first hand.
For better or worse, I think I haven't interacted much with people that believe in this sort of things, especially as a TA. Not to the extent of engaging most in an argument at least. In that scenario, I had the luck maybe of only meeting people that seemed really interested in science.
With that said, What I've tried so far is to engage with earnest, meaning that I try to understand where they are coming from, why they believe in what they believe, etc. My goal in those situations is to try to convince them on the usefulness of science, rather than focusing on correctness. From my experience, people like this come from a place of emotion, disguised as reason, so they can exercise control of their lives when their situation may have fallen short of providing them with comfort.
Not to say that that are people who are beyond my power to convince, or that my approach is the best. A lot more can be said about these things
What's your stance on the impact of space weather on our geomagnetic field (especially seismic activity and human physiology)? Do you think there could be or will be any tangible way to measure the effects beyond correlation and anecdotal evidence?
What's your advice for people who want to study physics, but have struggled with math and organized academia?
Thank you for your time! :)
not sure I can provide a very good answer here. Can you be more specific about the impact of space weather and Earth's magnetic field? I'd naively say we can measure these things fairly well. Wether we can model them effectively is a more difficult question, as the complex systems that govern this interaction are a complicated subject. Maybe AI can help with these predictions... but I'm spitballing here. Does this answer your question somewhat?
About the advice: I trust that most people can do good enough math, just try to enjoy doing it, and explore as much as possible to find what you can enjoy more. Then you can focus on physics and maybe not go into the more mathy side of research, if that's not entirely your thing.
I don't know if I understood what you mean about organized academia, maybe you can elaborate?
I guess my question is more about the quantum/magneto/thermodynamics (unsure if that's the correct term, sorry!) of solar weather on the organisms on earth, as well as our geomagnetic field. For example, there is a direct correlation between CMEs and cardiac events, quantified by ER records. But the medical research is in infancy, if it even exists at all. There also seems to be a direct correlation between seismic activity and CMEs/solar activity, which is again difficult to actually quantity due to the lack of a measurable nexus between the two (to my knowledge).
As for my academia question: like a lot of neurodivergent people, we can intellectually bat pretty high, but fitting into the "system" and conventional learning methods is extremely challenging. The biggest barrier I personally face is having dyscalculia, which doesn't bode well for numbers-based learning. I really want to learn more about physics, but I have no one to talk with about it, and I don't even know where to start to gain the baseline knowledge to teach myself more. I am fairly confident if I tried taking college/uni courses I would not do well based on the dyscalculia alone.
I guess my question is how to navigate accessible learning as someone who has struggled in the past to be recognised as a person who wants to learn, but has barriers to conventional learning?
okay thank you for elaborating. I am really uninformed about space weather, sorry. My naive view is that it doesn't affect us too much, directly. The effects of weather here on Earth would overshadow that. I also don't know much about the status of research on the subject. I'd say that if these effects were significant enough, we would be able to address them with current technology and mundane effort.
I'm also not very knowledgeable about accessible learning, and I feel like this can vary a lot from place to place. Unfortunately it's not every university that provides a lot of support. I think it's good that we have online resources these days, for instance Khan academy (which I never used but have heard good things about). Especially if these are free, you can try to take your time in those platforms.
If you can manage to acquire some minimal knowledge on a subject, maybe consider engaging in a citizen science effort, which can include just letting your computer run computations for research. Another thing is maybe learning how to code. I don't know how dyscalculia interacts with that, but maybe you can learn enough programming to build tools useful to scientists?
Sorry I cannot be more helpful. Hopefully I gave some insight
That was all actually really helpful, thank you so much! Happy Christmas, I hope you have a really nice night. :)
How close are we to a fully functional quantum computer?
What’s your thoughts on Infleqtion (the company)?
I didn't know about Infleqtion. Neutral atom is big right now though. Maybe I should get to know more
Yeah, I’m decently invested in the company. Things look good but I’m in no was a quantum physicist. lol.
When do you think quantum will have a chatGPT moment? ML was around for decades and then for the past few years it's nonstop AI since gpt release.
Are we decades out? Or 5-10 years?
I'll interpret chatgpt moment as "a technology that, despite being impressive and world-changing, the hype is so big that has a life on its own".
Quantum will take a few decades to become practically useful to society as whole. Before that, it might reach usefulness in research (maybe imagine quantum computers as part of high-performance computing clusters inside of universities and research institutes only).
But I think quantum technology will never have a chatgpt moment in that sense. The types of applications are also world-changing, but not as marketable. The utility lies on areas that are kept on the background of everyone's lives, and because of that, we hardly perceive it. Think of better medicine maybe. It saves lives, but we "get used to it" and then kind of forget it. It's not a new artificial friend with whom we talking to on a daily basis (like AI) and lives in our pockets
Moreso in that ML has been around for a long time, though not much of it was very useful. It was more a constant R&D with sub human efficiency. Today, we're actually seeing regular uses in industry of it being key components of many technologies.
Would quantum ever reach industry, or is it likely to remain a largely govt/university tech due to the niche problems it benefits and the cooling required?
Do you think quantum effects or processes could survive in the warm, noisy environment of the brain? And what do you think about consciousness and subconscious mind?
I don't know enough to not be vague, but there are quantum phenomena that survives seemingly strongly decohering environments. But I have never seen a concrete mechanism through which the make up of the brain can be quantum in any non-trivial way.
I do think that consciousness and all that is an interesting object to study and warrants attention. But I think this is niche and can stay that way until something new is found. Otherwise, I don't see a lot of reasons to believe that quantum physics plays a particular role in consciousness
What do you think the timeline for real advancements in quantum hardware, fault tolerance, and post quantum encryption solutions looks like given the latest advancements? What do you think the biggest things standing in the way of key advancements taking place will be moving forward?
I believe that we will see plenty of very interesting QEC experiments scaling up. I wonder what the landscape of different platforms will be, moving forward. Neutral atoms was an interesting surprise form the last few years
About PQC, I think it's more of a matter of implementation. Given the present state of things, it won't be difficult to convince and push for services to get up to speed.
What do you think about three dimensional time?
Also, if a black hole shrunk down to an incredibly small size and rotated as fast as it could (to the point where it can't feed), would it be indistinguishable from an electron?
I don't know about any theory of three-dimensional time. About your conjectured black holes, I think it's a bit far fetched to get to that conclusion. There are a number of things to answer before reaching that conclusion. For one, an electron doesn't have a size. What about the black hole? What is "size"? Are you talking about the Schwarzschild radius of its event horizon? In that, it already cannot be the case. This is Very speculative
It comes from this: black holes evaporate, and electrons also have a point source of mass and rotate incredibly. Black holes distort time, but so does all mass. What is mass but a cloud of electrons and protons and neutrons and nothing in between.
We think of things scaling up infinitely, but what if a black hole can be scaled down to its "plank size" as it were? What if, during the big bang (or if using infinite time model they are the sum end of all black holes) there was enough localized energy and matter to create an almost infinite number of micro black holes that shrunk to what we now call electrons? What if their "charge" pulled the protons into existence by their very nature as opposites? I'm an electrician but I've always asked "why electrons?" and pondered their nature. I always try to ask why not, and reexamine all my assumptions, like the above with a lower limit to a black hole's size.
I've seen an image of an electron rotating with "belts" attached to explain the 1/2 spin, and wondered if that stretching is what is at the heart of time dilation and subsequently, Gravity's illusion. And if the dilation of time around an electron is the same as a black hole. Sorry if I took too long saying it, but I hope you get my idea. Thanks for responding.
Ok, stupid question because I don't know anything about this. But does quantum physics address the hypothesis of parallel universes? And from this hypothesis, could quantum computers be a 'gateway' to those parallel universes ?
depends a bit on what do you mean by "address". The many-worlds intepretation is one way to understand quantum theory (albeit not the most used one). There are other notions of "parallel universes" which are not entirely quantum, such as bubble universes in cosmology (idk much about those though, I may be wrong).
I don't think quantum computers can be a "gateway to those universes" in many ways to interpret "gateway" :(
ok thank you for you answer, I'm not a native English speaker so when I said "address", I meant does this science take into account this theory but your answered my question :)
thank you for your question! And yes, quantum physics does take into account "parallel universes" in some particular way. This notion does not play a very big role in current research, though
I heard we've been able to teleport information, what's missing before we can use that tech in an actual product to instantly communicate across the planet?
I believe that quantum teleportation can already be done routinely in the lab (and in that direction, not in a way that sounds as awesome as it can). But quantum teleportation also doesn't allow instantaneous communication, regular means of communication are necessary to make it work. The interesting bit is a different one that I could try to explain later (too many questions >.>)
How useful are quantum computers? Will they be able to optimize and simulate things in the future that current classical computers can’t? Are these companies all hype?
I believe quantum computers will have a widespread and practical impact, yes. The companies are not all hype (although there is a lot of hype on what's being done now, and how far we are from all that impact...). There's always a little bit of chance that they'll never happen, but we have good theory to back them up and we keep closing the gap to making them reality
What are some companies you like? I actually interviewed at PsiQuantum but really didn’t like the team. But they look good and tech looks scalable.
I'm not too invested in that. I don't think I like any one particular company. Sorry to hear you didn't have a good interview process, but there are many options, good luck!
When I was a little girl I saw the movie The Incredible Shrinking Man. I must have been around 5 and it caused a lifelong quest (I admit I was a strange child) to discover how far does small go?
Life being unpredictable, I never had the opportunity to finish school. But 60 years later the question still comes to mind. I’ve read about String Theory, but what goes beyond that?
well, disregarding the question of how real string theory is, we have some notions of smallest length scale, the Planck length. Have you looked into that?
Are you mainly close with other physicist or do you find yourself connecting with people through other interests of yours as well?
interesting question from someone called PsychologicalClue6 lol. I would say I mainly connect with other physicists (or academics a bit more generally), but because of my professional environment. It's diverse and very socially active (I get to know a lot of new people on a regular basis). But I do connect with people outside of academia too that have nothing to do with it. It's important and healthy
What do you think about dark matter? Is it just an indication our theory has reached its limits or is a proper scientific concept that shouldn't be doubted and should be explored further as it is defined today.
precisely because it is an indication that our theories have reached a limit it is that it shouldn't be doubted and and should be explored further. And the way it is defined today is legitimate, and there's a lot of legitimate research and good people working on it. Truly interesting subject that may have big consequences
Well, there is a difference between just trying to pin down those elusive dark matter particles or trying to find a replacement for the standard model. I think the good people need to make up their minds in that regard.
Many claim physics is in a deep crisis, with no ground breaking discoveries reached for almost a century. Would you agree? I mean the stuff you are working on got its framework put down almost exactly 100 years ago, and people still refer to it like it's the cutting edge of science today.
If you were to learn quantum physics from scratch, how’d you do it?
realistically, I don't think I would change much. On a very personal note, I would have not taken "quantum physics 1" and "quantum physics 2" before "quantum physics 0" LOL problems with university bureaucracy.
Being a bit more loose on how I interpret this question, I would have liked to learn of quantum theory more from a quantum information side first, with finite-dimensional systems (qubits for instance), than with wavefunctions and orbitals, etc
What is the bleeding edge of what we actually definitively know in this area -- e.g., maybe some important things confirmed in the last 5-10 years that most people may think were still outstanding questions?
there has been a big growth in our capacity to do quantum error correction. This is one of the most important bits towards building a fault tolerant quantum computer, we've been successful so far in applying the theory to practice here. Still a long way to go, however
Related to teleportation discoveries this year, will we be able to apply it to humans? Are there any power sources that might allow us to time travel to the future
what teleportation discoveries this year? I might have missed that. But in so far as we are talking about quantum teleportation, it will not be applied to humans. That "teleports" only information. I also don't know how a power source would allow to time travel to the future (not in an interesting way...)
When do you believe time frame wise will the public start seeing tangible effects in their lives from quantum physics progress?
about quantum physics progress strictly speaking, we already see tangible effects. From consumer products to medicine. From modern quantum technologies, we are not far from seeing quantum sensors being applied in areas where benefits trickle down to society, also in medicine, also in monitoring environment, etc
what are resources you would recommend for learning physics/qm for non academic purposes? Podcasts, YouTube etc.?
I'd say some famous youtube channels such as Veritasium, 3Blue1Brown, should be good enough. There are the books by Carlo Rovelli, Sean Carroll, Leonard Susskind, ... I don't know about podcasts :(
I'm not very inspired in this answer, but maybe I should think more about it to share during outreach. Thanks for the insight!
Sean Carroll has a podcast 🌿😊I like it a lot:)
If you could recommend 3 books for the common person to read, about science or anything you find especially important, what would they be?
hmm I recommended books by Carlo Rovelli and Timothy Gowers earlier. More generally what comes to mind that I like (and with no other pretence) would be the short stories Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick, and The Master of Go by Kawabata.
can you tell us the best way to get familiar with quantum algorithms? And how you specifically work on searching for new ones?
I don't know much about quantum algorithms sorry. I'd just go for textbooks and for scientific journals dedicated to quantum. Because I'm more of a physicist than a computer science guy, I'm more familiar to PRX Quantum. But you can find other sources from IEEE for instance
Why does the electronic not fall into the nucleus?
the electron doesn't fall into the nucleus because it's stationary state doesn't radiate even though it looks like the electron should be accelerating. The Schrödinger equation is what describes the electron orbital correctly and it is predicted by that equation that the electron doesn't fall... I'd be happy to elaborate later
What is your favourite Sade song?
How will we see quantum computing being used in the near future? What modern society problems would it ne able to solve?
chemistry problems will be a big one but on a longer term. I'll reinterpret quantum computing for quantum technology more broadly, in which case the near future includes quantum sensors that provide improved resolution for magnetic phenomena, gravity, ...
Do you work with entanglement?
How far are we in realtime comunication via quantum entanglement?
entanglement is pertinent in my research, yes. It's widespread in quantum physics (after all, it's one of its defining properties). I think we are somewhat far from genuinely robust quantum communication protocols. In some sense, even further than from quantum computing
What's you take on quantum immorality?
I imagine you're talking about quantum immortality? I don't know enough about it and it seems to me that it's a fringe topic, more talked about in popular science than in research. I have some healthy skepticism about it, meaning I would rather spend some time thinking before I say something specific. And I wouldn't do that now
how does superposition relate to everyday life
one way quantum superposition relates to everyday life is by being far removed from it :P it doesn't affect everyday life. Decoherence takes care of it. On the other hand, electromagnetism obeys a classical notion of superposition, and that is a fundamental part of all the EM phenomena we experience everyday :)
Does nature select for technology?
maybe you can elaborate? In a darwinian sense? For that the answer I think should be "whenever technology is advantageous for the organism" or something like this. Also need to have a better understanding of what we mean by technology. I don't know enough to give a more elaborate answer without doing some research
Sorry, I was deliberately vague because I didn’t want to skew your answer in any direction. I liked what you wrote. As an example, silicon is a insulated conductor naturally because silicon oxide naturally grows on it at room temperature, at least some very famous scientists have said this. I was wondering what you thought about Natural selection at the quantum level, if there’s any evidence of it, or is this just a hair brained question?
that sounds a bit far fetched to me, but maybe I don't know enough, sorry. Also what I've heard about "quantum natural selection" is a very specific thing about emergence of classical physics, which I'm not sure is what you're talking about
You nailed it, thanks for your thoughts.
Does there seem to be any likelihood of us having a functioning quantum computer within the next decade?
maybe being strict with the "any likelihood" yes haha
I think we are getting close. And there can always be "happy accidents". Who knows if there'll be a particular transforming breakthrough. But it's more likely it'll still take a few decades
So what do you think? Entanglement: hidden local variables, or non-locality?
I think entanglement, by Bell's theorem, precisely implied that local hidden variables are impossible? Either there aren't hidden variables, or the hidden variables are non-local (in the relativistic sense).
I'm for entanglement and the quantum notion of non-locality (i.e. standard quantum mechanics)
Is it considered bad form to really inquire about the interpretation of quantum physics and still just shut up and calculate?
depends on who you ask I guess. I'd say wanting people to shut up is just bad form in general, but whether you want to inquire about interpretations, or just calculate, that's up to you. Both are needed
This is probably really stupid but how do you get yourself to study that much everyday?
well to be honest I should exercise more the other sides of my life, I'm not the most healthy person lol and I don't recommend that
but maybe just try finding something you like to study, things that make you excited when you find out!
Do you think that quantum entanglement and the ‘twin particles’ could one day be the key to wormhole discovery and creation?
What are the "twin particles"? I also think that, although there are conjectured connections, it's not the moment to rely on them to draw big conclusions, such as wormhole discovery and creation
Do you investigate or research spatial folding at all? If so, do you mind sharing the methods you might use to experiment in laboratory settings (in layman's terms of course) with it and what you hope to gain through this experimentation?
Which part of your work screws with your head the most? Double slit etc.
a bit removed from my work strictly speaking, but the cosmological horizons. A bit because of just trying to "really understand" the concept, but also about its consequences (for example, to science)
How much money do you make?
Okay I’m reading up on quantum computers now. The number of qbits seems to vary. Does every additional qbit mean exponentially more computing power?
How long before Quantum Computers that can break bitcoin security are prevalent?
prevalent? A few decades (like I commented in some other answers). We first need to build One quantum computer. And then scale that production, etc. It'll take some time
How do you grapple with math theories, even as successful as they are with predictions, not explaining what is really there? Is it all just waves of energy at the bottom? What is energy?!
When do you think we will have any experiments for quantum field theories?
quantum field theories are now routinely tested in the form of particle physics, at CERN with the LHC for example. Do you mean something more specific?
So, the physicists who say quantum is a dead end because there are no tests for it are wrong? What am I missing?
there are plenty, a lot of tests of quantum physics. Quantum physics is part of the framework that has given us the most accurate theoretical prediction-to-experiment observable.
What physicists say is string theory is a dead end because there are no tests for it. In that case, my personal opinion is that we should keep investigating it to a certain extent. Maybe not as before, and that its popularity has reduced to the point of having a smaller workforce, that's already happening
Can you read Hard Sci Fi Books without laughing? Or do you cringe upon the „Physics“ in those?
What do you feel is the most promising approach to unifying physics?
unifying physics in what sense? If you're talking about unifying forces etc, string theory is not bad. A lot of work before we can test it though
Do you work on ising machines and can you explain what they are?
I don't work and actually didn't know about Ising machines, so I cannot explain them, sorry. But interesting stuff, thanks for sharing!
What’s your favorite cereal?
Also, cereal over milk, or milk over cereal?
What’s consciousness
well, consciousness is... a phenomenon really hard to model and explain :P
sorry I don't know what more to say about consciousness without more input
Why is there no fix for my shoelaces opening randomly when we do have quantum physics ?
Can you explain that to me again like im 5, no really please 🙏, you sound super interesting 🧐
How do you take your tea?
Whats your go to food you bring to a potluck?
Is quantum tunneling possible today?
Ever read Michael Crichton’s Timeline?
A 15 year old whose interested here, and thank you so much for doing this ama, it’s amazing that you’ve gotten where you are! When and why did you decide this was what you wanted to spend the rest of your life doing, and what did you do at about my age within physics? Did/do you have other interests and hobbies, and do you still continue with them? How would you suggest I got started with quantum physics at my age, and what does a day look like in your life, what do you do? I’ve heard that it can be isolating sometimes. How does it feel to be understanding the secrets of the universe, if I can phrase it like that, and do you get a sense of fulfilment you think you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise? Also, do you think the scientific academia world has changed, is it more collaborative now? Sorry for asking so many questions, or if you’ve already answered them elsewhere, and thank you again for doing this ama!
What do you think about the law of attraction?
How often do you use math in physics?
Are you a 50% virgin?
Aliens ;YES or No?
Sheldon…?
Hello, I go by “QuantumZER0” for my online presence for things like gaming and drumming.
Speculation that a mixture of AI and quantum computing are able to tap into the multiverse.
Technology the U.S. uses for military and defense is often not made public for many years.
I think when the bullet grazed Trumps ear a measure was used to alter time ever so slightly to prevent his death.
Do you think the super nations each have their own versions of sentient AI?
What are your thoughts on 31/ATLAS?
How do you feel about “simulation theory”?
Have you seen the DMT laser experiments?
People who use the psychoactive drug DMT and stare at lasers from an angle.
It is like they are seeing the source code of our universe.
Their is a ton of YouTube videos online about this phenomenal effect:
https://youtube.com/shorts/BMOvLRsX7Qs?si=HguEU9cBkDE3JsEx
Do you think we as humans are locked in some sort of binary simulation like “The Matrix”?
How do you feel about Quantum Immortality? “consciousness will always follow a path of survival into a parallel universe”
Have you seen the movie Event Horizon?
My story: I went to the theater with a friend as a teenager. I walked out and was really impressed how scared I was. It took me awhile to fall asleep that late night. It was one of the most terrifying movies I had ever seen in a theater.
Genuine question: WTF is going on with our Universe at the quantum level?! Make it make sense that all “things” are in a superposition of states till they are measured. Like WTF! How does anything stable even exist with this underlying operating system feature? Also, Entanglement and Decoherence/Collapse! Like WTF! What makes it possible for “paired things” that have been created unobserved to seem “connected”?
Just curious and passionate about understanding fundamental reality.
I have a child who is passionate about the work you're doing and is a senior in HS he's very smart, and loves math. At what should they be looking in terms of career path? What are the things that are common among folks that are successful in your field? What did you wish you knew before starting down this path? What isn't nearly as important as folks make it out to be? Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Four questions! 1. How hard was it to get where you are now? 2. What's your IQ? 3. Do you believe the nature of quantum physics is true randomness, or that there's some other external force beyond quantum that makes the quantum seem random? Is there anything pointing for or against that? 4. What do you think about quantum immortality?
What are you doing in Antarctica? Was 911 an inside job? Was Hitler actually the good guy? Did they ever go the moon? Can you use a particle accelerator to "teleport" an apple? Why was JFK assassinated? Who built the pyramids? Why is China not allowed on the ISS?
What do you feel about the current state of high energy physics? I'm an ex-physics student and currently a math grad student and I hear conflicting reports about how things are somewhat stalled in the HEP-theory side of things. Do you feel like it is currently an exciting time for physics?
If we could somehow 'see' the quantum vacuum fluctuations (the 'empty' space in atoms and the universe that's actually full of energy and virtual particles), what would the world around us look like?
Nice! Do you believe that quantum information theory can help us better understand consciousness? E.g. how a particular physical organization can come to have phenomenal experience?
Have you read The physics of Immortality by Frank Tipler? My Physical chemistry professor recommended the book as a Catholic. If you have read it? What is your opinion on it?
Is teleportation possible ? So many forward thinking technologies have been realized that were introduced- phasers, talking to computers , 3D printing if food for example
Maybe too late, but how much do you cringe when you here "fringe science" people use "quantum mechanics" to justify any absurd theory they happen to have dreamed up?