Lifeboat Foundation

What would happen if an electric current no longer flowed, but trickled instead? This was the question investigated by researchers working with Christian Ast at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research. Their investigation involved cooling their scanning tunnelling microscope down to a fifteen thousandth of a degree above absolute zero. At these extremely low temperatures, the electrons reveal their quantum nature. The electric current is therefore a granular medium, consisting of individual particles. The electrons trickle through a conductor like grains of sand in an hourglass, a phenomenon that can be explained with the aid of quantum electrodynamics.

Flowing water from a tap feels like a homogeneous medium — it is impossible to distinguish between the individual water molecules. Exactly the same thing is true about electric current. So many electrons flow in a conventional cable that the current appears to be homogeneous. Although it is not possible to distinguish individual electrons, quantum mechanics says they should exist. So how do they behave? Under which conditions does the current not flow like water through a tap, but rather trickles like sand in an hourglass?

The hourglass analogy is very appropriate for the scanning tunnelling microscope, where a thin, pointed tip scans across the surface of a sample without actually touching it. A tiny current flows nevertheless, as there is a slight probability that electrons “tunnel” from the pointed tip into the sample. This tunnelling current is an exponential function of the separation, which is why the pointed tip is located only a few Ångström (a ten millionth of a millimetre) above the sample.

Hundreds of researchers in a collaborative project called “It from Qubit” say space and time may spring up from the quantum entanglement of tiny bits of information.

A new approach to a once-farfetched theory is making it plausible that the brain functions like a quantum computer.

The mere mention of “quantum consciousness” makes most physicists cringe, as the phrase seems to evoke the vague, insipid musings of a New Age guru. But if a new hypothesis proves to be correct, quantum effects might indeed play some role in human cognition. Matthew Fisher, a physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, raised eyebrows late last year when he published a paper in Annals of Physics proposing that the nuclear spins of phosphorus atoms could serve as rudimentary “qubits” in the brain—which would essentially enable the brain to function like a quantum computer.

Congrats geordie rose and jeremy hilton ; d-wave ROCKS!

News posting on T-Net)

Burnaby, BC, November 4, 2016—(T-Net)—D-Wave Systems Inc., the world’s first quantum computing company, announced the promotion of Jeremy Hilton to senior vice president, systems, with responsibility for driving the company’s quantum processor and systems research and engineering functions.

Continue reading “D-Wave Names Jeremy Hilton as Senior Vice President, Systems, Founder Geordie Rose Now Special Advisor” »

AWESOME!

Atoms, photons, and other quantum particles are often capricious and finicky by nature; very rarely at a standstill, they often collide with others of their kind. But if such particles can be individually corralled and controlled in large numbers, they may be harnessed as quantum bits, or qubits — tiny units of information whose state or orientation can be used to carry out calculations at rates significantly faster than today’s semiconductor-based computer chips.

In recent years, scientists have come up with ways to isolate and manipulate individual quantum particles. But such techniques have been difficult to scale up, and the lack of a reliable way to manipulate large numbers of atoms remains a significant roadblock toward quantum computing.

Now, scientists from Harvard and MIT have found a way around this challenge. In a paper published in the journal Science, the researchers report on a new method that enables them to use lasers as optical “tweezers” to pick individual atoms out from a cloud and hold them in place. As the atoms are “trapped,” the scientists use a camera to create images of the atoms and their locations. Based on these images, they then manipulate the angle of the laser beams, to move individual atoms into any number of different configurations.

Continue reading “Scientists set traps for atoms with single-particle precision” »

All right, who’s up for sum geeky stuff? Well if yes, you’ve just landed on the right corner of the WorldVillage. This is video about what might the quantum mechanics looks like.

This smart dude here uses some silicone droplets and hopefully this might help us unlock some of the questions about one of the biggest question marks in Physics- Quantum Mechanics. Enjoy!

A new theory explains how fragile quantum states may be able to exist for hours or even days in our warm, wet brain. Experiments should soon test the idea.

By Anil Ananthaswamy

AN ICONIC physics experiment may be hiding more than we ever realised about the nature of reality. The classic “double-slit” experiment reveals the strange duality of the quantum world, but it may behave more strangely than we thought – and could challenge one of the most closely held assumptions of quantum mechanics.

Revisiting it could help unify quantum mechanics with the other pillar of theoretical physics – Einstein’s general relativity – a challenge that has so far proven intractable.

Continue reading “Classic quantum experiment could conceal theory of everything” »