Technically, the meeting started Tuesday, but all that happened was a welcome reception, which I missed due to travel. The real beginning of the meeting was Wednesday morning, with the traditional unscheduled half-hour welcome from local dignitaries. That was followed by the Prize Session, featuring the frighteningly smart Misha Lukin, who was awarded the I.I.… Continue reading DAMOP Day One
Category: Quantum Optics
Dorky Poll: How Do You Like Your Waves?
I made it to Charlottesville, and am all checked in to the Econo Lodge, which is a little more Econo than I was expecting. It’s an old-school motel, with rooms that open right into the parking lot, the sort of place where the towels are tiny and scratchy, the pillows and mattresses are thin, and… Continue reading Dorky Poll: How Do You Like Your Waves?
The Wall Street Journal Gets Entangled
I was surprised, a few days ago, to see a post from ZapperZ recommending a Wall Street Journal article on quantum entanglement. It was surprising not only because it’s weird to see anything in the WSJ that doesn’t have an immediate financial connection, but more than that, I was surprised because the article contains a… Continue reading The Wall Street Journal Gets Entangled
Quantum Computing in Diamond, on the Arxiv Blog
As I understand it, the Physics ArXiv Blog is not affiliated with the people who actually run the Arxiv (Paul Ginsparg et al.). Which is probably good, as I’m never entirely sure how seriously to take the papers they highlight. Take yesterday’s post, Diamond Challenges for Quantum-Computing Crown, which is about a paper that asks… Continue reading Quantum Computing in Diamond, on the Arxiv Blog
Transporting Ions Through an X-Junction: Quantum Computing Inches Closer
Physics World has a nice news article about a new experimental development in quantum computing, based on a forthcoming paper from the Wineland group at NIST in Boulder. I’d write this up for ResearchBlogging, but it’s still just on the arxiv, and I don’t think they’ve started accepting arxiv papers yet. The Physics World piece… Continue reading Transporting Ions Through an X-Junction: Quantum Computing Inches Closer
Non-Locality Is Created Locally
Scientific American has an article by David Albert and Rivka Galchen with the New Scientist-ish headline Was Einstein Wrong?: A Quantum Threat to Special Relativity and the sub-head “Entanglement, like many quantum effects, violates some of our deepest intuitions about the world. It may also undermine Einstein’s special theory of relativity.” An alternate title for… Continue reading Non-Locality Is Created Locally
Atoms as Little Solar Systems
Most people’s first exposure to the ideas of modern atomic physics comes through the Bohr model of hydrogen, which treats the atom as something like a little solar system, with the positively charged nucleus as the sun, and negatively charged electrons orbiting in well-defined circular orbits. It’s a very compelling picture, and works well for… Continue reading Atoms as Little Solar Systems
How Not to Write a Press Release
EurekAlert had a press release yesterday titled Quantum paradox directly observed — a milestone in quantum mechanics, which sounds like it ought to be great. The actual release, though…. For one thing, the description of the actual experiment is so vague as to be completely useless. It’s not easy to quote without copying the whole… Continue reading How Not to Write a Press Release
Photons Are Particles
Over at Dot Physics, Rhett is taking another whack at photons. If you recall, the last time he did this wasn’t too successful, and this round fares no better: So back to the photon. In my original post I made the claim that the photoelectric effect is not a great experiment to show photons. Maybe… Continue reading Photons Are Particles
The Prestige for Ytterbium: Quantum Teleportation with Separated Atoms
My graduate alma mater made some news this week, with a new quantum teleportation experiment in which they “teleport” the state of one ytterbium ion to another ytterbium ion about a meter away. That may not sound like much, but it’s the first time anybody has done this with ions in two completely separate traps,… Continue reading The Prestige for Ytterbium: Quantum Teleportation with Separated Atoms