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Long live Yale’s cemetery
Call me morbid, but, the moment I arrived at Yale, I couldn’t wait to visit the graveyard. I visited campus last February, to present the Yale Quantum Institute (YQI) Colloquium. The YQI occupies a...
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Quantum information in quantum cognition
Some research topics, says conventional wisdom, a physics PhD student shouldn’t touch with an iron-tipped medieval lance: sinkholes in the foundations of quantum theory. Problems so hard, you’d have a...
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Thermodynamics of quantum channels
You would hardly think that a quantum channel could have any sort of thermodynamic behavior. We were surprised, too. How do the laws of thermodynamics apply in the quantum regime? Thanks to novel ideas...
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The importance of being open
Barcelona refused to stay indoors this May. Merchandise spilled outside shops onto the streets, restaurateurs parked diners under trees, and ice-cream cones begged to be eaten on park benches. People...
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What distinguishes quantum thermodynamics from quantum statistical mechanics?
Yoram Alhassid asked the question at the end of my Yale Quantum Institute colloquium last February. I knew two facts about Yoram: (1) He belongs to Yale’s theoretical-physics faculty. (2) His PhD...
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Quantum conflict resolution
If only my coauthors and I had quarreled. I was working with Tony Bartolotta, a PhD student in theoretical physics at Caltech, and Jason Pollack, a postdoc in cosmology at the University of British...
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The quantum steampunker by Massachusetts Bay
Every spring, a portal opens between Waltham, Massachusetts and another universe. The other universe has a Watch City dual to Waltham, known for its watch factories. The cities throw a festival to...
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The paper that begged for a theme song
A year ago, the “I’m a little teapot” song kept playing in my head. I was finishing a collaboration with David Limmer, a theoretical chemist at the University of California Berkeley. David studies...
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An equation fit for a novel
Archana Kamal was hunting for an apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was moving MIT, to work as a postdoc in physics. The first apartment she toured had housed John Updike, during his...
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Sense, sensibility, and superconductors
Jonathan Monroe disagreed with his PhD supervisor—with respect. They needed to measure a superconducting qubit, a tiny circuit in which current can flow forever. The qubit emits light, which carries...
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The shape of MIP* = RE
There’s a famous parable about a group of blind men encountering an elephant for the very first time. The first blind man, who had his hand on the elephant’s side, said that it was like an enormous...
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A quantum walk down memory lane
In elementary and middle school, I felt an affinity for the class three years above mine. Five of my peers had siblings in that year. I carpooled with a student in that class, which partnered with mine...
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Random walks
A college professor of mine proposed a restaurant venture to our class. He taught statistical mechanics, the physics of many-particle systems. Examples range from airplane fuel to ice cubes to...
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Project Ant-Man
The craziest challenge I’ve undertaken hasn’t been skydiving; sailing the Amazon on a homemade raft; scaling Mt. Everest; or digging for artifacts atop a hill in a Middle Eastern desert, near midday,...
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Learning about learning
The autumn of my sophomore year of college was mildly hellish. I took the equivalent of three semester-long computer-science and physics courses, atop other classwork; co-led a public-speaking...
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Quantum steampunk is heading to bookstores!
I’m publishing a book! Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday’s Tomorrow is hitting bookstores next spring, and you can preorder it now. As Quantum Frontiers regulars know, steampunk is a genre...
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How a liberal-arts education has enhanced my physics research
I attended a liberal-arts college, and I reveled in the curriculum’s breadth. My coursework included art history, psychology, biology, economics, computer science, German literature, archaeology, and...
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One equation to rule them all?
In lieu of composing a blog post this month, I’m publishing an article in Quanta Magazine. The article provides an introduction to fluctuation relations, souped-up variations on the second law of...
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These are a few of my favorite steampunk books
As a physicist, one grows used to answering audience questions at the end of a talk one presents. As a quantum physicist, one grows used to answering questions about futuristic technologies. As a...
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Quantum connections
We were seated in the open-air back of a boat, motoring around the Stockholm archipelago. The Swedish colors fluttered above our heads; the occasional speedboat zipped past, rocking us in its wake;...
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