Lifeboat Foundation

The state of perfect stillness known as absolute zero is one of the Universe’s impossible achievements. As close as we can get, the laws of physics will always prevent us from hitting thermal rock bottom.

An international team of researchers has now identified a new theoretical route to reach the mythical mark of zero Kelvin, or-273.15 degrees Celsius (−459.67 degrees Fahrenheit). No, it’s not more likely to break any laws and remove every last shimmer of heat, but the framework could inspire new ways of exploring matter at low temperatures.

As a consequence of the third law of thermodynamics, the removal of increments of heat energy from a group of particles to cool them to absolute zero will always take an infinite number of steps. As such, it requires an infinite amount of energy to achieve. Quite the challenge.

Inside the proton are elementary particles called quarks. Quarks and protons have an intrinsic angular momentum called spin. Spin can point in different directions. When it is perpendicular to the proton’s momentum, it is called a transverse spin. Just like the proton carries an electric charge, it also has another fundamental charge called the tensor charge. The tensor charge is the net transverse spin of quarks in a proton with transverse spin.

The only way to obtain the tensor charge from experimental data is using the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) to extract the “transversity” function. This universal function encodes the difference between the number of quarks with their spin aligned and anti-aligned to the proton’s spin when it is in a transverse direction. Using state-of-the-art data science techniques, researchers recently made the most precise empirical determination of the tensor charge.

Due to the phenomenon known as confinement, quarks are always bound in the proton or other hadrons (particles with multiple quarks). The challenge is to connect the theory of quark interactions (QCD) to experimental measurements of high-energy collisions involving hadrons.

Graphene is a special material. Among its many talents, it can act as a superconductor, generate a super-rare form of magnetism, and unlock entirely new quantum states.

Now graphene has another amazing credit: it can record levels of magnetoresistance without a need to push the temperature down towards absolute zero.

High magnetoresistance – a material’s ability to change its electrical resistance in response to a magnetic field – is relatively rare, yet materials that can shift their properties in this fashion are useful in computers, cars, and medical equipment.

Author and Wordsmith Kel Richards says Quantum computing will do “astonishing things” but the current problem is trying to make them operate at a higher temperature than “below zero centigrade”.

“Quantum computing is apparently … amazingly fast and will do all kinds of astonishing things … the problem at the moment is they have to operate below zero centigrade, otherwise they don’t work, so they’re trying to work out how you can make these really tiny, really fast computers operate at room temperature,” Mr Richards said.

“There is work to be done and if Australia could be in the front of this … brilliant for us.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become commonplace, and quantum computing is set to alter the landscape radically. The potential of quantum computers to process vast amounts of data at unprecedented speeds could render existing AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, obsolete.

The intricacies of quantum computing intertwine with understanding the evolution of artificial intelligence. This journey reveals the convergence of two transformative technologies, uncovers challenges, opens opportunities, and underscores the vital role of safeguarding innovations through patent law.

Continue reading “Quantum Computing Supremacy Unleashed: AI Chatbots Are Doomed” »

The mysterious phenomenon of “spooky action at a distance,” which once troubled Einstein, could soon become as commonplace as the gyroscopes used to measure acceleration in smartphones.

A recent study in Nature Photonics.

<em>Nature Photonics</em> is a prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by the Nature Publishing Group. Launched in January 2007, the journal focuses on the field of photonics, which includes research into the science and technology of light generation, manipulation, and detection. Its content ranges from fundamental research to applied science, covering topics such as lasers, optical devices, photonics materials, and photonics for energy. In addition to research papers, <em>Nature Photonics</em> also publishes reviews, news, and commentary on significant developments in the photonics field. It is a highly respected publication and is widely read by researchers, academics, and professionals in the photonics and related fields.

Perpetual motion machines are impossible, at least in our everyday world. But down at the level of quantum mechanics, the laws of thermodynamics don’t always apply in quite the same way. In 2021, after years of effort, physicists successfully demonstrated the reality of a “time crystal,” a new state of matter that is both stable and ever-changing without any input of energy. In this episode, Steven Strogatz discusses time crystals and their significance with the theoretical physicist Vedika Khemani of Stanford University, who co-discovered that they were possible and then helped to create one on a quantum computing platform.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn or your favorite podcasting app, or you can stream it from Quanta.

From René Descartes to the Wachowskis (directors of the Matrix trilogy, amongst others) to Elon Musk, many have envisioned that our existence is just part of the scheme of a superior intelligence and our lives are merely part of a simulated reality. There’s obviously no evidence for it and there are actually many arguments against it, and now researchers think they have found a physical property that occurs in metals that cannot be simulated, telling us once and for all that our lives, good or bad, are actually real.

We’re hearing this week from two very different parts of the string theory community that quantum supremacy (quantum computers doing better than classical computers) is the answer to the challenges the subject has faced.

New Scientist has an article Quantum computers could simulate a black hole in the next decade which tells us that “Understanding the interactions between quantum physics and gravity within a black hole is one of the thorniest problems in physics, but quantum computers could soon offer an answer.” The article is about this preprint from Juan Maldacena which discusses numerical simulations in a version of the BFSS matrix model, a 1996 proposal for a definition of M-theory that never worked out. Maldacena points to this recent Monte-Carlo calculation, which claims to get results consistent with expectations from duality with supergravity.

Continue reading “Quantum Supremacy” »