pontiff | January 13, 2010Bad New Scientist has an article up today entitled Brain 'entanglement' could explain memories, which certainly must have sent Roger Penrose's brain into a state of multiple correlated back-flips (twistor flips?) However, from the article:Subatomic particles do it. Now the observation that groups of brain cells seem to have their own version of quantum entanglement, or "spooky action at a distance", could help explain how our minds combine experiences from many different senses into one memory.
First of all, damnit New Scientist, entanglement is not just between "subatomic particles."…
pontiff | January 13, 2010Missed this over the break: a facebook note about the future of funding of the arXiv. The post points to two documents of interest, the first a statement about support:...We intend to establish a collaborative business model that will engage the institutions that benefit most from arXiv -- academic institutions, research centers and government labs -- by asking them for voluntary contributions.
and also a handy dandy FAQ about the changes.
pontiff | January 13, 2010"The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve." - E. P. Wigner
Our universe, or at least our understanding of the universe, appears to allow us to see its naked underbelly only through the use of mathematical reasoning. As Wigner says about this state of affairs, we neither understand nor deserve this. On the other hand, I've come to believe, this observation can also be a huge aid in describing the world of theoretical computer science. There is no doubt in most…
pontiff | January 13, 2010As you can imagine, due to extenuating circumstances, I won't be able to attend QIP in Zurich. Luckily my collaborator Steve Flammia will be there to give the talk on our recent work on adiabatic protocols (arXiv:0905.0901 and arXiv:0912.2098.) I know there will probably be a few bloggers attending QIP, but if anyone is interested in making guest posts here on the Pontiff about the conference (anonymously, using your real name, or any combination thereof) please send me an email (see contact tab above).
Anyone know if the conference talks will be taped? Enjoy Zurich all, but make sure to…
pontiff | January 12, 2010Richard, a long while back (yes, I'm cleaning my inbox!), sent me some cartoons that were apparently floating around in the 70s when he did his BS in Chemistry that are quite amusing:
pontiff | January 12, 2010Another one from Michael, who spotted an article about one of my favorite mathematical words to use in everyday speech (much the chagrin of non-scientists) used in the Supereme Court of the United States:Supreme Court justices deal in words, and they are always on the lookout for new ones.
University of Michigan law professor Richard D. Friedman discovered that Monday when he answered a question from Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, but added that it was "entirely orthogonal" to the argument he was making in Briscoe v. Virginia.
Friedman attempted to move on, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.…
pontiff | January 11, 2010Michael sends along an entry in the best title ever competition, this time a special baby Bacon edition: The pulse wave arrival time (QKd interval) in normal children
The Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 95, Issue 5, Pages 716-721
B. Bercu, R. Haupt, R. Johnsonbaugh, D. Rodbard
"In this household, young man, we will keep our quantum key distribution pulses above the rate of 1000 keys per second!"
pontiff | January 11, 2010A while back I posted a short, hopefully jocular, note about the machine learning algorithm for catching card counters at blackjack. Here is a more substantial article about the system. I wonder if systems like these will find use outside of gambling: anywhere an employee performs a repeated physical task (think a grocery store clerk?) and the company want to catch the errors. Boy those jobs are going to stink it up kind of rotten: "Johnny, if you make one more computer detected error tomorrow at the check stand, we're going to have to let you go!" Is it better to be fired by a computer…
pontiff | January 7, 2010Katherine passes along an amusing article about Bacon:As America's bacon-frenzy illustrates, when culture, technology and economy allow mankind the option of unlimited bacon -- for bacon to fill every moment and aspect of its life -- Mankind will hit the "Bacon Me" button like an unhinged mandrill. In David Lynch's Dune, when Kyle gnomically insisted: "The spice is the worm! The worm is the spice!" we can see, now, that both worm and spice were, in fact, bacon. Bacon is the Dark Matter that holds together the Universe. Richard Bacon has just taken over from Simon Mayo on BBC 5 Live*. We are…
pontiff | January 5, 2010About that talk at UBC which I posted about on Sunday...
Q: How'd the talk in Vancouver go Monday, Dave?
D: The slides were awesome and the animations dazzling.
Q: So the talk went well?
D: Don't know. I didn't give the talk.
Q: Didn't give the talk? Why not?
D: Well at the time I was supposed to be giving the talk I was on the US / Canada border.
Q: Oh so you were late for your talk ...due to being stuck at the border crossing?
D: Actually I was heading back into the US at the time.
Q: Huh? Why were you heading the wrong direction?
D: Well because the fireman called.
Q: The fireman? Why…
pontiff | January 3, 2010Late notice, but I'm giving the theory seminar at UBC tomorrow, January 4, 2010 at noon:Title: Adiabatic Cluster State Quantum Computing
Location: Hennings 318
Abstract:
Models of quantum computation are important because they change the physical requirements for achieving universal quantum computation. For example, one-way quantum computing requires the preparation of an entangled state followed by adaptive measurement on this state, a set of requirements which is different from the standard quantum circuit model. Here we introduce a model based on one-way quantum computing but without…
pontiff | December 17, 2009The Optimizer has gotten tired of everyone asking him about D-wave and gone and written a tirade about the subject. Like all of the optimizer's stuff it's a fun read. But, and of course I'm about to get tomatoes thrown on me for saying this, I have to say that I disagree with Scott's assessment of the situation. (**Ducks** Mmm, tomato goo.) Further while I agree that people should stop bothering Scott about D-wave (I mean the dudes an assistant professor at an institution known for devouring these beasts for breakfast), I personally think the question of whether or not D-wave will…
pontiff | December 17, 2009Yep, Bacon Christmas tree ornaments at etsy. Better not show this one to the Mrs. Pontiff.
pontiff | December 16, 2009Lately I feel like my reading material has gotten stuck in a rut. The feel is that everything I'm reading is a rehash of something I've read before. Okay, maybe it is just that the rain has returned to Seattle :) Since I'm a subscriber to the belief that books that show you something outside of your current view of the world are the most important, a challenge to all two of remaining readers of this blog: what should I be reading that is most likely to be of such high information content? Recommendations? (For comparison, I think my library is available on librarything. Fiction, non-…
pontiff | December 14, 2009A paper dance today! Yes, indeed, it's another slow dance (scirate, arXiv:0912.2098):Adiabatic Cluster State Quantum Computing
Authors: Dave Bacon, Steven T. Flammia
Abstract: Models of quantum computation are important because they change the physical requirements for achieving universal quantum computation (QC). For example, one-way QC requires the preparation of an entangled "cluster" state followed by adaptive measurement on this state, a set of requirements which is different from the standard quantum circuit model. Here we introduce a model based on one-way QC but without measurements…
pontiff | December 10, 2009Ha, well, not nearly the soap opera that is the "University of East Anglia" emails, but fun to watch, nonetheless. A letter from American Physical Society president Cherry Murray:Dear APS Member:
Recently, you may have received an unsolicited email from Hal Lewis, Bob Austin, Will Happer, Larry Gould and Roger Cohen regarding the APS and climate change. Please be assured that this was not an official APS message, nor was it sent with APS knowledge or approval. A number of members have complained to APS regarding this unsolicited e-mail. If the e-mail addresses used to send this message…
pontiff | December 3, 2009I'm in D.C, attending the sorters meeting for the APS March meeting. Traveling in early December is always nice as the planes seem to be empty (*stretch*) and sheesh, it's downright balmy here in D.C. Now I've absconded to a second rate hotel in the middle of what I can only guess is somewhere near the mythical land of suburbia, since the place is surrounded by office complexes, watching the civil war (no, not that civil war, that one.)
Things I've been thinking about when I'm not obsession about my latest research:
Has anyone ever tried sending a prop to a conference?
Because I hate advice…
pontiff | November 30, 2009Stuff to read while you wait around for finals and the Christmas holidays:
Via alea one of the odder invocations of NP-completeness: Rowing and the Same-Sum Problem Have Their Moments
An update on the status of US science funding for the next budget year at Computing Research Policy Blog
An interesting paper is out on Quantum Metropolis Sampling. The key insight (slaps head) in getting a Metropolis like algorithm to work is not to make a full energy measurement but to only reveal a small bit of the information relevant for whether to accept or reject the move. I spent many an hour trying to…