'Quantum Computing and Schrödinger’s Cat'

Nobel Laureate David Wineland to speak at CU-Boulder April 1

 



Many people are familiar with the term, “quantum,” and are aware that scientists are furiously working toward a better understanding and application of this truly mind-boggling concept in physics.

But here’s one example of the astounding potential of one quantum application: A “quantum computer” of 300 quantum bits—aka qubits—could store more information than if we took every particle of matter in the universe and stored it in using memory based on classical physics.

And no, that’s not mere science fiction.

“We are still in the very crude stage, but we can see and invoke all the operations necessary to create a quantum computer,” says David Wineland, recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics. “We’re in a marathon on this research. We’re in the lead, but we can still look over our shoulder and see the starting line.”

Wineland,  a fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and professor adjoint at the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Physics, will speak on “Quantum Computing and Schrödinger’s Cat” at the 49th Annual George Gamow Memorial Lecture at CU-Boulder April 1.

The talk will explore everything from the development of quantum computing to the idea of “superposition” implicit in the mental puzzle posed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. In that thought experiment, an imaginary cat in a box is simultaneously alive and dead—a state of superposition—until it is observed, when it becomes one or the other.

That may be a brain twister for non-physicists, but Wineland says “we have a pretty good sense of hot this works on the level of atoms and small particles. The theory should also describe macroscopic conditions we experience in everyday life.”

Wineland received his B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He did postdoctoral research under Norman Ramsey and Hans Dehmelt, who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics. He shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics with Serge Haroche, for “ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.”

Gamow lectures honor the late physicist and faculty member of the CU-Boulder Department of Physics. The lectures are made possible by an endowment left to the university by George Gamow’s widow, Barbara, who died in 1975.

If you go:

David Wineland, 2012 recipient, Nobel Prize for Physics
Annual George Gamow Memorial Lecture
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 1
Where: Macky Auditorium, University of Colorado Boulder campus
Tickets: Free and open to the public
Click here for more information or call 303-492-6952

March 2014