Harvard wants to advance basic and applied quantum physics

Quantum Science – Physics and Engineering of the world at sub-microscopic scales – Harvard today announced an initiative that will combine research that is both fundamental and applied to the world. very promote collaboration with partners from governments, industry and peer institutions. Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow said in a university announcement: "The diverse skills of our faculty create a nutrient-rich environment in which this emerging discipline can flourish. I am delighted to see how collaboration with other partners is accelerating progress. "

Under the direction of his co-directors – John Doyle, Professor of Physics at Silsbee, Evelyn Hu, Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at Tarr-Coyne, and Mikhail Lukin, Professor of Physics at Leverett -, Harvard Quantum Initiative (HQI) will combine fundamental scientific exploration with quantum engineering "solutions-oriented". The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) are looking to coordinate the recruitment of faculty working in this field, which will help to the rapid establishment of quantum science and engineering initiative. Christopher Stubbs, Dean of Science Acting for FAS, said that "FAS currently has two relevant research going on, and that others are coming". And Dean of SEAS, Francis J. Doyle III, added that he saw "clear opportunities to hire electrical engineering, computer science and applied physics" to support the initiative.

In addition, HQI establishes relationships with Lincoln Labs, a research center of the Department of Defense; with local startups and well-established companies (perhaps including Zapata Computing, a startup created by a former Harvard faculty member to develop software and quantum computing algorithms to solve problems in the classroom. 39; industry); and with MIT colleagues, deepening the collaboration in quantum science between the two institutions that began almost 20 years ago with the creation of the Center for Ultracold Atoms, a center of the National Science Foundation of the National Science Foundation.

Combining Science and Engineering

John Doyle, co-director of HQI (No relationship with the Dean) said in an interview that the initiative "combined basic science and applied science or engineering" and described engineering as "a related but distinct intellectual discipline" with "ideas and ideas. We hope that this initiative will strengthen communication and work between these people – this type of integration and synergy -. "

According to the co-directors of the initiative, the ultimate goal is to set up a study program in quantum sciences, focusing in particular on the technologies of computer science, communication and detection. Harvard currently offers courses in quantum mechanics at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as in related fields such as solid state physics (ak, materials science) and photonics.

Quantum behaviors, ie physical properties related to small size or discrete energy states of individual atoms (the term "quantum" refers to the number – quanta – of electrons of an atom) include particles appearing and disappearing, even in vacuum. ; two states of matter called superimpositions; entanglement, in which the spin of an electron is diametrically opposed to the spin of its entangled pair, no matter where or how far from the universe lies the entangled counterpart; and particles that can pass through a solid material without slowing down or leaving a hole. (For more information on quantum science and engineering, see "Think Small".)

"We use what we call quantum mechanics as a resource," said Doyle in the same interview, "either to detect the world or to perform new types of computation," like a quantum simulation – a special kind of computation can be used to: understand, for example, the behavior of materials. "On the sensor side," he continues, "Harvard researchers are developing quantum objects embedded in diamond crystals that can be used as biological sensors – and" a large number of professors are working cooperatively here to turn them into neural sensors. We also use [quantum mechanics] for things like precision measurement, for probing even finer scales of the world, as well as on the scale of particle physics.

What makes the launch of HQI timely, Doyle said, is the new ability to control physical behaviors at the quantum object level, like an atom. For example, researchers can now trap particles in layered quantum materials, or capture them with beams of light, and then probe their properties to exploit their quirks. These capabilities have allowed scientists to begin assembling the pieces that could someday give birth to powerful, high-speed quantum computers. In other words, a domain called "voodoo physics" is about to emerge from the theoretical domain to the field of applied technology.

Read the announcement of the university here.