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Quantum Physics
Topics about the science of the quantum world
The road to Quantum Computers – What’s the progress so far? Will we ever see a quantum computer in our lifetime?
Oct 21st
Unlike conventional computers which by their nature perform one task at a time, quantum computers’ strong ace will be that they will be able to perform an unimaginable large amount of computational tasks in parallel at each time cycle of their operation; this technological knack is to be made possible by quantum mechanics’ strange laws which govern each and every element of our subatomic world.
Imagine, at your fingers, a computing power so potent that is capable of doing as much operations in a second as there are particles in our observable universe. Leaving aside some of its apparently “blunt” applications like cracking all the cryptographic codes invented so far, searching and instantly finding elements from databases so big that wouldn’t fit all the servers on the internet, factorizing numbers so large that no network of present-day supercomputers could ever have the chance at succeeding in our lifetimes, imagine how this could give us the power to build all of our future, but highly advanced and unimplementable on today’s computers, artificial intelligence systems. With the help of quantum computers we could build super brains, simulate complex molecule interactions that are completely intractable on present day supercomputers, find out the secrets to unlimited resources, and maybe discover the ultimate secrets of reality.
The parallelism I’m talking about is not achieved by any advancement in parallel computing of the currently available Turing machine systems, but by the property of every subatomic particle to find itself in multiple places at the same time. No matter how weird this might seem, parallel universes have long stopped to be the topic of science fiction novels. The components of a quantum computer manage to compute different tasks in an infinite number of parallel worlds and them combine the results from all those computations into one result ready to be made available to the output register located in the quantum computer’s electronic components that are of course constrained to our set of universes.
So how do we build them? Unlike a normal Turing machine that uses bits, that is, electrical circuits that can be put into two different electrical states, 0 and 1, albeit only one at a time, quantum computers will have to be build using Qubits. The difference between a Qubit and a bit is that the former one can store the value 0, or 1, or any combination of the two values at the same time, whilst a bit can only memorize a single value, 1 or 0, at the same time. Let me clarify this! Qubits can have 76% the value 1 and 24% the value 0, or 43.23% the value 0 and 56.77% the value 1, all at the same time. And you can dream of any other combination. This translates to : in 76% of the parallel universes belonging to the Multiverse the Qubit which I’ve exemplified earlier will poses the value 1 and in the rest of 24% it will poses the value 0. In the other example the Qubit will poses the value 0 in 43.23% of the parallel universes and in the other 56.77% it will poses the value 1. That’s a lot of parallel computing considering the total number of parallel universes calculated to be possibly perceivable by an observer lies around the figure of 10^10^16 universes (source).
What’s all this clap-trap about parallel universes and the multiverse? Quantum mechanics, the field of physics that deals with sub-atomic particles has solved and clarified some of our most mysterious experimental data that even Einstein couldn’t get the grips with. The interactions between all subatomic particles can well be explained and predicted with an accuracy worthy of envy by using the well worked mathematical model of Quantum Mechanics. But, although we can predict and calculate the subatomic world with very delicate precision, paradoxically, we do not understand why subatomic particles behave the way they do. As renowned quantum physicist Richard Feynman said : “If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics“. And why is that? It’s because atoms, electrons, protons, and all the rest behave in strange ways; they can be in multiple places at the same time; they sometimes behave like particles, sometimes like waves; they can travel back in time and even be connected one with another in ways that defy classical physics’ logic. Many explanations exist on the scientific highway as to why the quantum world behaves the way it does, but the most widely known, the Many Worlds Interpretation (MWI, Parallel Universes , Multiverse) first introduced by physicist Hugh Everett is converting with an ever increasing rate physicists from all kinds of fields. If you read Russell Standish’s The Theory of Nothing you can find that in a survey done by David Raub on quantum mechanics experts and cosmologists 58% of them believed that the MWI is true.
So, in order to build a quantum computer we must have bits that can find themselves in multiple universes at the same time and these are called, as we’ve stated earlier, Qubits. The fact that they must be made to work together in order to show their prowess, just like normal bits do, is a real impediment because quantum systems are easily vulnerable to the outside world; their small size and the risk of interference with other particles gives a real challenge to the experimentalists in this field.
Practically the challenge is to build a set of isolated-from-the-outside-world qubits, which are all interconnected with one another through what we call Entanglement. Unlike bit computing systems, which are relatively easy to put together and to integrate with one another because they are very large so they are immune to interference from other particles therefore they can be easily manipulated through classical physics methods, qubit quantum systems are very hard to make practical. Qubit systems must be read, written, and protected from alien particles all at the same time without disturbing the already established quantum entangled system. Entanglement, or “spooky action at a distance” is one of the strangest phenomenon that governs the quantum world. For example, when two particles are entangled, modifying a certain quantum property belonging to one of the two particles will also instantaneously modify the same property belonging to the other particle no mater the distance between the two; to translate this into quantum computing terms, measuring a certain property of a certain particle will instantaneously give you information about the property of the other entangled particle. Entangling a sufficient number of qubits (ions, electrons, photons, superconducting devices – solid-state qubits), and keeping them entangled and isolated from all the outside world an adequate amount of time is the main challenge that lies ahead in building the quantum computer.
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Book Review – Theory of Nothing written by Russell K. Standish – The Multiverse, Quantum Immortality and the Meaning of Life
Jun 3rd
Theories of Everything. That is what world class scientists today consider to be the hallmark of the tenacious mind battles of which the hopped result is to elicit an understanding of what makes atoms, molecules, brains, and the whole of living complexities of life tick.
As if not enough turmoil was cluttering the ocean in which these theories are bathing in, a select group of physicists, cognitive and computer scientists are already beginning to wonder if this “path of least resistance” towards reductionism, that is, towards explaining the emergent structures of matter like DNA, organisms, minds, psychology, consciousness, by analyzing the structure and mechanistic behavior of the most simple constituents from which they emerge, is the right way to go if we want access deep down the rabbit hole.
Quantum Physics’ Standard Model (Bruce A. Schumm’s book, Deep Down Things
But is this enough? Does knowing all the voltages and intensities that express the electrical states of your computer suffice for you to understand how it works as a whole? Could you ever comprehend how a computer program works only by analyzing its machine code language consisting of blithely long strings of 0’s and 1’s? A handful of scientists doubt this is the right path towards understanding all there is.
If we want to answer the most fastidious questions that bedeviled human minds from the beginning of their existence we sure as hell wouldn’t want to mistake the crumbs for the whole bread. Ensemble Theories of Everything promise to stop the bungled attempts at explaining how reality works as a whole made by Reductionist Theories of Everything that try to usurp answers to the above questions, answers that they were never even designed to possibly be able to contrive in the first place.
Similarly to how computer programmers make sense of software by using high level programming languages, the same way we should draw inferences about the nature of reality by using the meta-levels of understanding, which the Ensemble Theories of Everything purportedly provide.
Even though not as long as Daivd Deutsch’s The Fabric of Reality
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Книжное обозрение – ‘Tеория ничего’ написано Рассел К. Стандиш – Мультивселенной, Квантовая бессмертие и смысл жизни (по-английски)
Jun 3rd
(Потому что наши русские читатели очень важны, мы сейчас в поисках профессионального переводчика. Мы приносим свои извинения, что на данный момент, мы можем лишь предоставить текст на английском языке.)
Theories of Everything. That is what world class scientists today consider to be the hallmark of the tenacious mind battles of which the hopped result is to elicit an understanding of what makes atoms, molecules, brains, and the whole of living complexities of life tick.
As if not enough turmoil was cluttering the ocean in which these theories are bathing in, a select group of physicists, cognitive and computer scientists are already beginning to wonder if this “path of least resistance” towards reductionism, that is, towards explaining the emergent structures of matter like DNA, organisms, minds, psychology, consciousness, by analyzing the structure and mechanistic behavior of the most simple constituents from which they emerge, is the right way to go if we want access deep down the rabbit hole.
Quantum Physics’ Standard Model (Bruce A. Schumm’s book, Deep Down Things
But is this enough? Does knowing all the voltages and intensities that express the electrical states of your computer suffice for you to understand how it works as a whole? Could you ever comprehend how a computer program works only by analyzing its machine code language consisting of blithely long strings of 0’s and 1’s. A handful of scientists doubt this is the right path towards understanding all there is.
If we want to answer the most fastidious questions that bedeviled human minds from the beginning of their existence we sure as hell wouldn’t want to mistake the crumbs for the whole bread. Ensemble Theories of Everything promise to stop the bungled attempts at explaining how reality works as a whole made by Reductionist Theories of Everything that try to usurp answers to the above questions, answers that they were never even designed to possibly be able to contrive in the first place.
Similarly to how computer programmers make sense of software by using high level programming languages, the same way we should draw inferences about the nature of reality by using the meta-levels of understanding, which the Ensemble Theories of Everything purportedly provide.
Even though not as long as Daivd Deutsch’s The Fabric of Reality
More >
The Multiverse – Explaining Parallel Universes – From type 1 to type 4, from our own space to the deep hyperspaces of reality
May 10th
The Multiverse is a concept with more than one meaning and with breathtaking implications on the understanding of the natural laws that govern reality. This documentary tries to explain one of the most recent developments in theoretical physics. Although the concept of the Multiverse (or meta-universe, metaverse) was first introduced in the beginning of the 20th century, the later experiments done with single particles (photons, electrons, even molecules) convinced the vast majority of physicists working in fields like String Theory and Quantum Mechanics of the very high chance that this concept could in fact reflect the true nature of reality.
Level 1 Multiverse: This multiverse is just an extension of our own infinite Universe (see WMAP for evidence for infinite and flat Universe), it is part of our Space but distanced so far away that light from it will never reach us. Max Tegmark estimates that such a Universe, similar to ours, should be about 10^10^115 meters away from our Universe.
Level 2 Multiverse: This Multiverse is made of an infinite number of giant soap bubbles that float in hyperspace (the bulk). Each bubble contains an entire universe. In the infinite vastness of the hyperspace there are an infinite number of bubbles containing a Universe like the one we are living in, and a infinite variety of other Universes. What is more interesting is that these bubbles spawn new baby universes by colliding with each other creating a hierarchy of universes, a tree of Universes. You can imagine this tree equivalent to the tree-of-life but with the fruits and branches replaced by Universes and baby Universes.
Evidence supporting the possible existence of a Type 2 Multiverse comes from the theoretical science field of String Theory. String Theory states that all the constituents of matter, protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos, all of them, are made of tiny vibrating strings that oscillate at different frequencies. String Theory predicts the existence of 11 dimensions, as opposed to the 3 (4 with the time dimension), necessary for the strings to vibrate and emerge into what we know as matter and reality. Additionally, the M-Theory (a further development of string theory) predicts the existence of vibrating membranes. More to that, theoreticians say our universe may be a giant membrane, in the bulk (hyperspace) of the Type 2 Multiverse, vibrating in these 11 dimensions.
Some Big Bang theorists speculate on the idea that our Universe began when two such giant membranes (M-brane) collided with each other some 13.75 billion years ago.
Level 3 Multiverse: Quantum mechanics predicts, and indeed experiments done on single particles provide the evidence, that each constituent of matter can find itself in several places at the same time (see Double-slit experiment). When you zoom in to the quantum level everything becomes foggy. Yes, every particle is to be found in several dimensions (universes) at the same time, that is, in several universes that are in the same space and time as our universe but from other dimensions inaccessible to us. There is a parallel universe out there where you don’t read this article or you may have never been born.
Level 4 Multiverse: The Type 4 Multiverse contains all universes resembling our own, but also includes those having physical laws different from ours. The vast majority of the universes with these tweaked laws of physics may not be able to harbor life at all and probably are dull dark places with nothing interesting to show.
More >
Мета-Стих – Объясняя Параллельные вселенные – С 1 типа к типу 4, от нашего собственного пространства для глубокой гиперпространств реальности
May 10th
(Потому что наши русские читатели очень важны, мы сейчас в поисках профессионального переводчика. Мы приносим свои извинения, что на данный момент, мы можем лишь предоставить текст на английском языке.)
The Multiverse is a concept with more than one meaning and with breathtaking implications on the understanding of the natural laws that govern reality. This documentary tries to explain one of the most recent developments in theoretical physics. Although the concept of the Multiverse (or meta-universe, metaverse) was first introduced in the beginning of the 20th century, the later experiments done with single particles (photons, electrons, even molecules) convinced the vast majority of physicists working in fields like String Theory and Quantum Mechanics of the very high chance that this concept could in fact reflect the true nature of reality.
Level 1 Multiverse: This multiverse is just an extension of our own infinite Universe (see WMAP for evidence for infinite and flat Universe), it is part of our Space but distanced so far away that light from it will never reach us. Max Tegmark estimates that such a Universe, similar to ours, should be about 10^10^115 meters away from our Universe.
Level 2 Multiverse: This Multiverse is made of an infinite number of giant soap bubbles that float in hyperspace (the bulk). Each bubble contains an entire universe. In the infinite vastness of the hyperspace there are an infinite number of bubbles containing a Universe like the one we are living in, and a infinite variety of other Universes. What is more interesting is that these bubbles spawn new baby universes by colliding with each other creating a hierarchy of universes, a tree of Universes. You can imagine this tree equivalent to the tree-of-life but with the fruits and branches replaced by Universes and baby Universes.
Evidence supporting the possible existence of a Type 2 Multiverse comes from the theoretical science field of String Theory. String Theory states that all the constituents of matter, protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos, all of them, are made of tiny vibrating strings that oscillate at different frequencies. String Theory predicts the existence of 11 dimensions, as opposed to the 3 (4 with the time dimension), necessary for the strings to vibrate and emerge into what we know as matter and reality. Additionally, the M-Theory (a further development of string theory) predicts the existence of vibrating membranes. More to that, theoreticians say our universe may be a giant membrane, in the bulk (hyperspace) of the Type 2 Multiverse, vibrating in these 11 dimensions.
Some Big Bang theorists speculate on the idea that our Universe began when two such giant membranes (M-brane) collided with each other some 13.75 billion years ago.
Level 3 Multiverse: Quantum mechanics predicts, and indeed experiments done on single particles provide the evidence, that each constituent of matter can find itself in several places at the same time (see Double-slit experiment). When you zoom in to the quantum level everything becomes foggy. Yes, every particle is to be found in several dimensions (universes) at the same time, that is, in several universes that are in the same space and time as our universe but from other dimensions inaccessible to us. There is a parallel universe out there where you don’t read this article or you may have never been born.
Level 4 Multiverse: The Type 4 Multiverse contains all universes resembling our own, but also includes those having physical laws different from ours. The vast majority of the universes with these tweaked laws of physics may not be able to harbor life at all and probably are dull dark places with nothing interesting to show.
