Distinguished Speaker Lecture with John Preskill

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.

About the Columbia Quantum Initiative:

In the first half of the 20th century, the first quantum revolution gave us a new way of thinking about the way the world works and brought us technologies such as lasers, MRI machines, and the transistors that underpin all aspects of modern life. Today, the second quantum revolution is underway, and it’s all about control.

The coming generation of quantum technologies will be built on new physical principles and demand new materials, new methods of investigation, and new collaborations. At Columbia, we’re tackling these demands together and training the next generation of quantum scientists and entrepreneurs.

Building on the collaborative culture long fostered at Columbia, the Quantum Initiative is combining interdisciplinary expertise in materials science, photonics, quantum theory, and more, all while taking advantage of our unique position in the global hub that is New York to develop novel quantum technologies that will open new frontiers into how we compute through complex problems, communicate with one another, and sense the world around us.

Learn more at https://quantum.columbia.edu/.

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