Abstract:
The quantum laws governing atoms and other tiny objects seem to defy common sense, and information encoded in quantum systems has weird properties that baffle our feeble human minds. John Preskill will explain why he loves quantum entanglement, the elusive feature making quantum information fundamentally different from information in the macroscopic world. By exploiting quantum entanglement, quantum computers should be able to solve otherwise intractable problems, with far-reaching applications to cryptology, materials, and fundamental physical science. Preskill is less weird than a quantum computer, and easier to understand.
Speaker Biography:
John Preskill is the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, and Director of the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at Caltech. Preskill received his Ph.D. in physics in 1980 from Harvard, and joined the Caltech faculty in 1983. Preskill began his career in particle physics and cosmology, but now his main research area is quantum information science. He's interested in how to build and use quantum computers, and in how our deepening understanding of quantum information can illuminate issues in fundamental physics. You can follow him on Twitter @preskill.
This is an in-person event that is open to the public with RSVP. Please note that all non-Columbia Affiliates must show proof of vaccination prior to entering the building, per the University's COVID Safety guidelines.
