Summary: Study suggests quantum processes are part of cognitive and conscious brain functions.
Source: TCD
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin believe our brains could use quantum computation after adapting an idea developed to prove the existence of quantum gravity to explore the human brain and its workings.
JILA and NIST Fellow James K. Thompson’s team of researchers have for the first time successfully combined two of the “spookiest” features of quantum mechanics to make a better quantum sensor: entanglement between atoms and delocalization of atoms.
Einstein originally referred to entanglement as creating spooky action at a distance—the strange effect of quantum mechanics in which what happens to one atom somehow influences another atom somewhere else. Entanglement is at the heart of hoped-for quantum computers, quantum simulators and quantum sensors.
A second rather spooky aspect of quantum mechanics is delocalization, the fact that a single atom can be in more than one place at the same time. As described in their paper recently published in Nature, the Thompson group has combined the spookiness of both entanglement and delocalization to realize a matter-wave interferometer that can sense accelerations with a precision that surpasses the standard quantum limit (a limit on the accuracy of an experimental measurement at a quantum level) for the first time.
A fundamental principle in statistical mechanics called microscopic reversibility has been extended to the quantum world.
“We adapted an idea, developed for experiments to prove the existence of quantum gravity.”
According to Trinity College Dublin scientists, our brains could use quantum computation after applying an idea created to prove the existence of quantum gravity to investigate the human brain and its workings.
As stated, the correlation between the measured brain functions and conscious awareness and short-term memory function suggests that quantum processes are also a part of cognitive and conscious brain functioning.
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Samsung will soon launch another Galaxy Quantum smartphone in its home country. While previous Galaxy Quantum series phones were based on Galaxy A series devices, Samsung has changed that trend this time.
The Galaxy Quantum 3 has been revealed in South Korea, and it’s coming soon to SK Telecom’s network. The smartphone will be available for pre-order from April 22 to April 25, 2022. The first 10,000 buyers of the phone will get a Google Play gift card. Neither Samsung nor SK Telecom has revealed the price tag of the upcoming device.
The smartphone is based on the Galaxy M53 5G, which was silently revealed in Europe a few days ago. The Galaxy Quantum 3 features a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It features a 108MP primary rear camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, a 2MP macro camera, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 32MP front-facing camera. It can record 4K 30fps videos using both front and rear cameras.
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin believe our brains could use quantum computation. Their discovery comes after they adapted an idea developed to prove the existence of quantum gravity to explore the human brain and its workings.
The brain functions measured were also correlated to short-term memory performance and conscious awareness, suggesting quantum processes are also part of cognitive and conscious brain functions.
If the team’s results can be confirmed—likely requiring advanced multidisciplinary approaches—they would enhance our general understanding of how the brain works and potentially how it can be maintained or even healed. They may also help find innovative technologies and build even more advanced quantum computers.
Rolls-Royce quantum computing chief tells Tech Monitor the aerospace giant plans to use quantum and classical machines in tandem.
In quantum physics, Fermi’s golden rule, also known as the golden rule of time-dependent perturbation theory, is a formula that can be used to calculate the rate at which an initial quantum state transitions into a final state, which is composed of a continuum of states (a so-called “bath”). This valuable equation has been applied to numerous physics problems, particularly those for which it is important to consider how systems respond to imposed perturbations and settle into stationary states over time.
Fermi’s golden rule specifically applies to instances in which an initial quantum state is weakly coupled to a continuum of other final states, which overlap its energy. Researchers at the Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Princeton University, and Universität zu Köln have recently set out to investigate what happens when a quantum state is instead coupled to a set of discrete final states with a nonzero mean level spacing, as observed in recent many-body physics studies.
“The decay of a quantum state into some continuum of final states (i.e., a ‘bath’) is commonly associated with incoherent decay processes, as described by Fermi’s golden rule,” Tobias Micklitz, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. “A standard example for this is an excited atom emitting a photon into an infinite vacuum. Current date experimentations, on the other hand, routinely realize composite systems involving quantum states coupled to effectively finite size reservoirs that are composed of discrete sets of final states, rather than a continuum.”
Given the rapid pace at which technology is developing, it comes as no surprise that quantum technologies will become commonplace within decades. A big part of ushering in this new age of quantum computing requires a new understanding of both classical and quantum information and how the two can be related to each other.
Before one can send classical information across quantum channels, it needs to be encoded first. This encoding is done by means of quantum ensembles. A quantum ensemble refers to a set of quantum states, each with its own probability. To accurately receive the transmitted information, the receiver has to repeatedly ‘guess’ the state of the information being sent. This constitutes a cost function that is called ‘guesswork.’ Guesswork refers to the average number of guesses required to correctly guess the state.
The concept of guesswork has been studied at length in classical ensembles, but the subject is still new for quantum ensembles. Recently, a research team from Japan—consisting of Prof. Takeshi Koshiba of Waseda University, Michele Dall’Arno from Waseda University and Kyoto University, and Prof. Francesco Buscemi from Nagoya University—has derived analytical solutions to the guesswork problem subject to a finite set of conditions. “The guesswork problem is fundamental in many scientific areas in which machine learning techniques or artificial intelligence are used. Our results trailblaze an algorithmic aspect of the guesswork problem,” says Koshiba. Their findings are published in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.
